When you have people today who are not loyal to our traditions, does this prove that they are not from the זרע אברהם, from the seed of Avraham?
A:
The Rambam says that. Now, I’m not going to be able to tell you a definite answer about any individual today, because many of these people will change later in life. Today there are so many people with big beards who I knew personally once upon a time, and they wouldn’t have even dreamed of a wearing a beard. I remember them from years ago. But they changed, they changed. So it could be that many will eventually come back to the Torah.
However, it could be that those who will never come back are not מזרע אברהם. It could be. I’m not able to tell you clearly. I once said this in the presence of a chasidishe Rav, and he was angry at me. Because I was saying all the people who go lost don’t belong to us anyhow. And he didn’t agree with me. So I wouldn’t be stubborn as to tell you definitely. There may be some exceptions to the rule. But according to the pashtus, that’s what the Rambam says. I told him that the Rambam said that, but he wasn’t happy.
TAPE # E-115