Rabbi's Blog

Spring training for the 2025 baseball season is underway. As many of you know, I consider ‘Baseball’,  L’havdil, Holy of Holies! Once again, (to my shagrin) Major League Baseball is implementing two on-field rule-changes beginning this season.             One of these rule changes involves a modification to the shift rules established prior to the 2023 season. Those rules require that the defensive team have no more than two infielders on either side of second base prior to a pitch being thrown. In addition, each infielder must be standing on the infield -- in other words, no shifting into the shallow outfield.

Previously, if an infielder was caught violating the rule -- e.g. a shortstop was on the second base side of the bag, resulting in three infielders on the right side before the pitch was delivered -- the batting team could accept the result of the play or have the hitter  awarded an automatic ball. Under the new rules, the batting team may accept the result of the play, or the batter will be granted a free base (enabling any other runners to advance one base).

I am still ambivalent about this rule. During a game, why not let the team decide how to set up. Nevertheless, there is some kind of precedent established in other sports, such as basketball, whereby a team must play man-to-man and will be called for a technical foul if they fall into a zone defense. My other pet peeve is if the game is tied after nine innings of regulation time, the next and subsequent innings begin with a runner on second base. My biggest contention is the lack of consistency and, ironically, the consistent changing of the rules. This latter rule mentioned does not apply during the playoffs, only during a regular season game. I cry out, Why?!” A rule is a rule and should be a rule throughout.

In this week’s Parshas Mishpatim the Torah states in Shmos 21:1 "ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם"  “These are the laws that you must set before the Israelites”. Rashi explains, ‘Wherever the term אלה  (these are) is stated, it cuts off the preceding sections from what follows. But the term ואלה  (and these are) adds to and continues the preceding. Just as the preceding laws were given at Sinai, so, too, these were given at Sinai’. Rav Yeruchum Levovitz z”l, in his sefer Daas Torah, explains that Rashi is revealing to us the essence of difference between the laws of every other nation and the laws of the Torah. We will refer to the laws of the other nations as man-made laws versus the laws given by Hashem. Man-made laws are influenced by time, place and people. Therefore, it happens that one day a law is enacted and the next day it may be changed. Man-made laws are created from the philosophy of the day, providing an outlook that is different from one man to the next. Another driving force of man-made laws is agenda. When an individual or group wants to create a new kind of society, they coordinate laws to maneuver how and where a society should be. We tend to alter or change our thinking over the course of our lifetimes; so, too, certain positions of laws will change based upon a person’s age. This is a noticeable change among politicians who flip flop between being hawkish and dovish. As a result of the ever-changing landscape that man witnesses over generations, contradictions, flawed reasoning, and senseless actions will occur.

The Torah HaKedosha, the Holy Torah, is the antithesis of a man-made rule book. If we believe God is perfect, can do no wrong, and is always right, then a set of laws given by God cannot be anything other than perfect and timeless. The Torah is not founded upon the fundamentals of people and with the approbation of people. To the contrary, the Torah is the foundation of man! The Rabbis say that Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world. Hashem created the standards and laws of the world first, and then He created man. Mankind would first conquer a land, settle it and then draw up a set of rules and laws.

Reb Yeruchum explains the creation of man was matched to the warnings of the Torah and its commandments. Meaning, man was made to fulfill the mandates of the rules to fulfill the commandments and to avoid committing sin. The Zohar, in parshas Vayishlach, writes that there are two hundred forty-eight parts of the human body which corresponds to the same number of positive commandments. Simultaneously, there are three hundred sixty-five sinews and connections corresponding to the three hundred sixty-five mitzvos Lo Taaseh, ‘the’ don’t do or negative commandments.  The words of the Torah are alive and will exist forever. Our Torah will never be switched for another, the Torah and mankind are one. A human being remains the same forever: the limbs of man do not change, and do not even change over time. From time immemorial until the present time man is created with two eyes, two ears. Similarly, human beings have two hands with five fingers on each hand. So, too, with the Torah, the way it was it will always remain. So, too, regarding the Torah, it will remain that way forever. This is mentioned in a warning in Devarim 4:2 where the Torah commands: Do not add on to the Torah that which Hashem commanded you, nor is one permitted to take away from it, because the reality is constant, and the Torah needs not to change.

Unfortunately, society infiltrates and influences our Torah world. It tries to convince us that the laws we have are archaic,  outdated, and we need to modernize and be with the times. In my humble opinion, any time we challenge the Torah and try to change the rules of the game, it is an offense to the Creator. I would compare this to taking a board game of sorts and creating your own set of rules. This could be a violation of copyright and would surely be a slap in the face to the originator of the game and its rules. So, too, with our world being the game and the Ribono Shel Olam the Creator of this world.  Let’s be careful with the rules and regulations that we all received at Sinai and play by the rules set forth in the rule book called the Torah!