! On!the!occasion!of!the!naming!of!Yael!Zipporah! Shabbat!Parshat!Chazon!2015! ! This! year! Shabbat! pushes! off! the! fast! until! Saturday! night! and! Sunday! and! also! cancels! all! of! the! restrictions! concerning! the! meal! before! the! fast.! In! a! regular! year,! we! enter! the! fast! with! a! meal! of! bread!and!eggs!dipped!in!ashes!and!eaten!in!solitude.!This!year,!we! can!eat!meat,!drink!wine!and!rejoice!because!of!Shabbat.!There!are! many!explanations!why.!The!simplest!is!that!Shabbat!is!so!important! (it’s! one! of! the! Ten! Commandments)! that! it! outweighs! the! mourning! for!the!Temple.! ! !!A! deeper! approach! is! offered! in! the! teachings! of! Chassidut.! The! Prophet! Zechariah! teaches! that! the! ninth! of! Av,! together! with! the! other! fasts! that! are! connected! to! the! destruction! of! the! Temple,! will! be! transformed! to! rejoicing! and! great! holidays.! Seemingly,! these! fasts! should! be! canceled! in! the! future,! not! changed! to! celebration.! Zechariah!is!teaching!us!that!when!Moshiach!comes,!we!will!realize! that! every! step! in! the! exile! was! a! necessary! preparation! the! redemption,! much! like! the! Egyptian! exile! was! a! necessary! step! in! order! to! receive! the! Torah! and! the! Land! of! Israel.! Until! Moshiach! comes,! we! feel! the! destruction! and! therefore! we! fast! and! mourn.! When!we!will!receive!the!third!Temple,!we!will!see!the!ninth!of!Av!as! being! a! happy! day,! the! beginning! of! a! new! and! higher! connection! with!Hashem.!This!is!alluded!to!in!the!Jerusalem!Talmud!that!refers! to!the!ninth!of!Av!as!Moshiach’s!birthday.! ! !!The!day!of!Shabbat!is!a!taste!of!the!times!of!Moshiach.!The!soul!is! on!a!higher!plane,!and!perceives!the!deeper!meaning!of!this!period.! Therefore,!just!as!when!Moshiach!will!come!these!three!weeks!will!be! a! time! of! rejoicing,! we! rejoice! now! on! Shabbat! during! the! three! weeks.! When! Moshiach! will! come! Tisha! B’av! will! be! a! celebration,! and!so!when!it!falls!on!Shabbat!we!rejoice.! ! !!Shabbat!Chazon!gives!us!an!additional!reason!to!rejoice.!The!word! Chazon!means!vision.!Rabbi!Levi!Yitzchak!of!Berditchev!taught!that! on!Shabbat!Chazon!every!soul!sees!the!third!Temple.!He!explained! by!a!parable:!! !
Once!a!father!made!a!beautiful!garment!for!his!son.!The!son!was!not! careful,!and!ruined!it.!The!father!waited!and!made!a!second!garment,! which!the!son!watched!more!carefully,!but!ruined!the!second!one!as! well.!The!son!made!a!far!superior!garment,!but!in!order!to!assure!that! the!son!deserved!it!and!would!treat!it!properly,!he!only!showed!it!to! him! on! special! occasions.! Each! time! that! he! saw! it,! his! desire! and! appreciation!grew!stronger.!When!he!finally!received!it,!he!deserved! it!and!treated!it!properly.!! The! first! Temple! was! a! magnificent! edifice,! both! physically! and! spiritually.! Through! our! sins,! it! was! destroyed.! The! second! Temple! lasted!longer,!but!was!also!destroyed!through!strife.!The!third!Temple! is!waiting!in!Heaven,!and!every!year!on!Shabbat!Chazon!we!view!it.! This! gives! us! the! thirst! and! desire! for! the! redemption.! Although! our! eyes!don’t!see!it,!our!souls!perceive!it!and!this!is!a!cause!for!rejoicing! and!intense!yearning.! ! The!Sfas!Emes's!Ma'amar!in!year!5634!begins:!"Kol!Dor!..."!(That!is:! Any! generation! in! which! the! Beis! Hamikdash! is! not! rebuilt! is! on! the! same!low!spiritual!level!as!the!generation!which!merited!the!Churban! ^^!the!destruction!of!the!Beis!Haikdash.)! ! If! taken! seriously! and! literally,! this! is! a! very! powerful,! if! enigmatic,! statement.! So! much! so! that! that! the! Sfas! Emes! observes! that! there! were,! in! fact,! many! generations! following! the! Churban! in! which! exceptionally!worthy!and!pious!people!("Tzaddikei!Elyon")!lived.!Can! we! honestly! say! of! those! generations,! he! asks,! that! they! literally! merited!the!Churban!of!the!Beis!Hamikdash!in!their!days?!Likewise,! do!we!truly!expect!that!there!will!arise!a!generation!so!virtuous!that!it! will,! on! its! own,! merit! the! Ge'ula! (the! Redemption)! that! no! earlier! generation!deserved?! ! To!this!the!Sfas!Emes!answers!the!Ge'ula!will!come!as!the!result!of!a! cumulative! process,! in! which! the! spiritual! achievements! of! each! generation! will! be! added! to! those! of! all! preceding! generations! until! finally! we! reach! the! "target! level".! Thus,! every! generation! that! adds! spirituality! to! the! world,! by! bringing! light! to! where! darkness! had! previously! reigned,! participates! in! building! the! Beis! Hamikdash.! (Note:! This! perspective! implies! a! view! of! history! as! progress! rather! than! of! decline! or! degeneration.)! It! turns! out,! then,! that! the! Jewish!
people!have!actually!been!rebuilding!the!Beis!Hamikdash!throughout! the!entire!duration!of!the!Golus!! Further,! we! can! be! building! it! right! now.! The! Sfas! Emes! notes! that! this!ongoing!process!is!precisely!referred!to!(twice)!in!our!Siddur!(in! the! daily! Shemoneh! Esrei! and! in! Birkas! Hamazon):! namely,!"Bonei' Yerushalayim"'("He!who!builds!^!present!tense!!^^!Yerushalayim").! ! The! Sfas! Emes! explains! that! this! Chazal! ("Any! generation! in! which! the!Beis!Hamikdash!is!not!rebuilt!...!")!refers!to!a!generation!that!does! not!participate!at!all!in!the!cumulative!process.! ! Today!we!named!our!lovely!new!granddaughter!Yael!Zipporah! She! is! the! new! generation! that! binds! the! Srors! and! the! Ungar! families.! ! She!is!yet!another!brick!laid!on!top!of!the!wall!that!will!become!the!3rd! Bayis,!for!all!our!kehillah!and!nation.! ! May! she! be! a! source! of! nachas! to! both! our! families! and! to! all! klal! Yisroel.! ! ! Shabbat!Shalom!parshat!Chazon!2015.!