The idea of the excommunication of the Gra would not be so interesting if it was not for that the fact that he did sign it. If it was only a question of whether one should put an excommunication on someone then there would be little of interest about the subject.
For we know that there is a law that as soon as you see something doing an איסור a prohibition the you put them into חרם. That is the straightforward law in the Shulchan Aruch straight from the gemara itself. But we don't do this nowadays for obvious reasons.
But the question about the חרם of the Gra is different because it in fact was done. And it still has validity.
It means that one that is interested in let's say for example praying with a minyan can't do that mitzvah with a group under the ban because the people under that ban can't be counted as part of a minyan.
It means that one that wants to lean Torah can't do so with members of that group because they are not allowed to learn Torah nor teach it. So it has a great deal of relevance today, even for people that do almost no mitzvot. Because the idea of the ban is that any mitzvot done in connection with that group have no validity. Any connection at all with that group will lead to punishment in this world and the next in spite of their own delusions of grandeur.
The most interesting thing about the חרם is that it has a דין of a neder. That is at least how the Mishnah LaMelech understands it. That is juts like when a person says This bread is forbidden to me like a sacrifice the bread becomes forbidden of him to eat so is the case with a חרם. Ignoring the prohibition does not make it go away. Even if one thinks that it should not have been made it still remains in force.
For we know that there is a law that as soon as you see something doing an איסור a prohibition the you put them into חרם. That is the straightforward law in the Shulchan Aruch straight from the gemara itself. But we don't do this nowadays for obvious reasons.
But the question about the חרם of the Gra is different because it in fact was done. And it still has validity.
It means that one that is interested in let's say for example praying with a minyan can't do that mitzvah with a group under the ban because the people under that ban can't be counted as part of a minyan.
It means that one that wants to lean Torah can't do so with members of that group because they are not allowed to learn Torah nor teach it. So it has a great deal of relevance today, even for people that do almost no mitzvot. Because the idea of the ban is that any mitzvot done in connection with that group have no validity. Any connection at all with that group will lead to punishment in this world and the next in spite of their own delusions of grandeur.
The most interesting thing about the חרם is that it has a דין of a neder. That is at least how the Mishnah LaMelech understands it. That is juts like when a person says This bread is forbidden to me like a sacrifice the bread becomes forbidden of him to eat so is the case with a חרם. Ignoring the prohibition does not make it go away. Even if one thinks that it should not have been made it still remains in force.
