OU Israel Center Torah Tidbits - Parshat Devarim 5784
Avot Chapter 3 | Shabbat Chazon
United We Stand
Baderech, to Geulah Rabbi Judah Mischel Page 34
The Sick Fasting on Tisha B’av Rabbi Daniel Mann Page 64
TISHA B'AV Laws & Customs » Pages 46-49
Rabbi
Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra
Rabbi Reuven Tradburks
A Time and a Place
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
The Book of the Covenant
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l
Rabbi Nachman Winkler
Rabbi Shalom Rosner
Rebbetzin Shira Smiles
Baderech, to Geulah
Rabbi Judah Mischel
Tisha B’Av Laws & Customs 50
to Geulah
Rabbi Moshe Taragin
Rebbetzin Dr. Adina Shmidman
Malka
Zemira Ozarowski
Sin of the People
The Sick Fasting on Tisha B’av Rabbi Daniel Mann
Life of the Embryo
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman
Thinking About Tisha B’Av Shoshana Judelman
Marking Day 300 of the War and the Hostages’ Captivity During the Three Weeks
Rabbi & Rebbetzin Billet
The Y-Files Comic Netanel Epstein
Torah 4 Teens by Teens
Rabbi Yosef Ginsberg // Hadar Markowitz
Photographed by Sara Heiney. I made aliyah with my parents 2 years ago and we live in Rechavia. I always photographed family shoots but since moving to Israel I started capturing something new - street life in the Holy Land (which have been published on various sites). My joy and passion is capturing special moments like erev Shabbos bustle and Chagim and sharing them with those I miss who live far away. I took this photo erev Shabbos in the shuk. Amongst the busyness was this chayal holding the hands of his two children. The strength and security the father gives his children whilst holding their hands reminds me of the feeling of strength and security I have in Hashem who holds us in His hands even in the hardest of times. IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Kiddush Levana: [Many wait until after 9 Av]
Earliest Kiddush Levana 3 Days After Molad: 5 Av/ Thurs. night Aug, 8
7 Days After Molad: 10 Av/ Tues. night Aug. 13
Last Opportunity to Say Kiddush Levana until: 16 Av /Mon. night Aug.
Fast of Tisha B’Av begins at 7:29pm and concludes at 7:53pm (Jerusalem)
CANDLE LIGHTING
AND HAVDALA TIMES
AND HAVDALA TIMES
Adumim
Aza Area (Netivot, Sderot et al)
Raanana/Tel Mond/Herzliya/K.Saba
OTHER Z'MANIM
JERUSALEM
JERUSALEM
Ranges 11 days Wed–Shabbat
/ Givat Shmuel
/ Bikat HaYarden
Rabbeinu Tam (Jerusalem): Devarim 8:44 PM • Va’etchanan 8:37 PM
All Times According to MyZmanim (20 mins before Sunset in most Cities; 40 mins in Yerushalyim and Petach Tikva; 30 mins in Tzfat and Haifa)
All Times According to MyZmanim (20 mins before Sunset in most Cities; 40 mins in Yerushalyim and Petach Tikva; 30 mins in Tzfat and Haifa)
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Earliest Tallit and Tefillin 5:04–5:12 Sunrise 5:59–6:05
Sof Zman Kriat Shema
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Sof Zman Tefila
(According to the Gra and Baal HaTanya)
Sof Zman Kriat Shema 9:21–9:24 Magen Avraham 8:41–8:45 Sof Zman Tefila 10:29–10:30 (According to the Gra and Baal HaTanya)
Chatzot (Halachic Noon)
Chatzot (Halachic Noon) 12:44–12:42
Mincha Gedola (Earliest Mincha)
Mincha Gedola (Earliest Mincha) 1:18–1:16
Plag Mincha
Plag Mincha 6:05–5:57
Sunset (Including Elevation)
Sunset (Including Elevation) 7:34–7:24
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DEAR TORAH TIDBITS FAMILY
DEAR TORAH TIDBITS FAMILY
RABBI AVI BERMAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OU ISRAEL ABERMAN@OUISRAEL.ORG
Rabbi Avi Berman Executive Director, OU Israel
One of the many great things about having children is that they are often the first ones to remind you about an upcoming holiday. Two weeks before Purim, the kids are already in Adar mode. Two weeks before Pesach, they’re already off from school. Before Chanukah, they’re already making their chanikiyot. It seems to be that the school system in Israel does a great job of planning their material around these holidays and special times. There are many challenges we experience in the period of the Three Weeks in general and Tisha B’Av in particular. These are sad times, which are something we generally try to avoid thinking about, yet we are forced to remember them in so many different ways in our lives during this period. But it is also difficult educationally for kids. Many don’t have school now, and besides, what would they bring home if they did? What cute art project would we want to put up on our fridges to remember the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash?
So, our kids aren’t reminding us, and the days themselves aren’t quite doing this job either. Yes, there are many things we avoid.
We don’t buy new clothes in the Three Weeks, or eat meat and drink wine during the Nine Days, but what tangible action do we take to actually prepare for the saddest day of the year? Is eating dairy for dinner tonight enough to feel like we are preparing for Tisha B’Av?
In addition, forcing people to feel a certain way emotionally is incredibly hard. I’d even say it is much more difficult to make someone feel sad than happy. We can spend time with a person, do fun activities or eat good food to help a person feel happy, but how do you convince someone to feel sad when they aren’t sad? The prohibitions of the Three Weeks help with this, but they don’t always seem enough, especially in this day and age.
On
Friday, August 16th
Last year, OU Israel prepared an incredible video for Tisha B’Av, which received over 50,000 views. My opening line in that video was to note that we obviously have no footage of the destruction of the first and second Temples 2,000 years ago, and as a result, many find themselves connecting and talking about the loss of Europe’s Jewry 80 years ago as a way to find an emotional tie to massive tragedy. (Clearly, this year we will not need to use a distant horror to inspire our tears.) I talked about how we know that the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash was a tremendous tragedy for the Jewish People, how so many died, were tortured, and Jewish religious life was completely upended, and it is important to remember this and try to feel it, even though it happened so long ago.
Baruch Hashem, the feedback received
from last year’s Tisha B’Av video was extremely heartwarming. One phone call in particular stands out in my mind, “Rav Avi, it changed my Tisha B’av and gave me a new perspective on what we’re doing on that day. Thank you and the whole team for working so hard on this video because Tisha B’Av was so much more meaningful to me this year.” This is what it’s all about - giving new and meaningful perspective to our Jewish lives and holidays is exactly what we are trying to do in our educational programs, from our daily shiurim to our signature Torah Yerushalayim and Torah Modiin events.
We were not given these commemorative days just to check off a box and say we did it. It’s supposed to change something inside us. A modern person watches so many videos and listens to so many podcasts. Many educators I speak to agree that these tools should be used to connect ourselves and the next generation to the Torah and Jewish ideals.
That’s why this year, we once again felt it necessary to take advantage of technology in order to help people make their Three Weeks and Tisha B’av experiences more meaningful, more inspiring, and give people the ability to feel not only the loss of the Beit HaMikdash long ago, but also the impact of this past year on us.
Therefore, I want to thank Laya Bejell, our Director of Marketing, as well as Nina Broder, our Director of Social Media, and our film director, Zeev Schwartz, for working so hard to make this video – Mashiach, We Are Ready. They thought deeply about the messages of
the video in order to give people the most meaningful ideas for Tisha B’av taking into account the reality of this year’s current events. The link to the video can be found on OU Israel’s YouTube channel: youtube. com/@theouisrael, and it will go live on erev Tisha B’av. We want to hear from you about it. How did this video help your Tisha B’Av experience? Did it make it more meaningful? While I’m writing these words, I’m praying to God that we will not have to release this video because we will all be celebrating the Beit HaMikdash itself in Yerushalayim. If, unfortunately, that does not happen, we hope
Condolences to Daniel Fliegler and family on the passing of his
this video will help all those who watch it have a deeper and more meaningful Tisha B’Av. I also want to invite all of our readership to participate in our many Tisha B’Av programs. This upcoming Sunday, Torah Efrat in loving memory of David & Norma Fund z”l by their children, which we are running in partnership with Kehillat Shirat David, will help you prepare for Tisha B’Av. Torah Efrat is part of our ongoing commitment to bring OU Israel programs to more communities throughout Israel. On Tisha B’Av morning we will be having our annual Shacharit and kinot at the OU Israel Center, “From Pain to Promise” with Rabbi Azarya Berzon. Rabbi Berzon’s kinot will be live broadcast on OU Israel’s YouTube channel. (See ads for more details or visit www.ouisrael.org.) These programs are part of the OU’s global Tisha B’Av offerings to help Jews around the world connect to the day.
Finally, I encourage you to visit us at the Kotel for the last hour and a half of the fast. It is always an uplifting experience sitting with hundreds of NCSY Kollel summer participants who come to Israel to learn Torah for six weeks under the leadership of my friend and colleague, Rabbi Moshe Benovitz. This year, I hope that it will be with dancing and celebrating, with Mashiach. But if not, we will
be on the ground, singing meaningful songs that open our hearts and souls to HaKadosh Baruch Hu to show Him the yearning we have for the Beit HaMikdash. It is an honor that Mayor Moshe Lion joins us every year, sitting on the floor with us and connects to the English-speaking population that are here in Yerushalayim.
May we have the most meaningful Tisha B’Av this year. Hopefully with redemption, but if not, through meaningful videos such as ours, through song, and through our tefillot to HaKadosh Baruch Hu about how badly we need the geulah, now more than ever.
Wishing you all an uplifting and inspiring Shabbat,
Rabbi Avi Berman Executive Director, OU Israel aberman@ouisrael.org
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FROM THE DESK OF RABBI MOSHE HAUER
OU EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Anchoring Our Future in Our Past
The Jewish People’s future must be based firmly on a deep respect for our past, on the tradition of values that have characterized our people since Avraham and Sarah and since we stood as a nation at Sinai.
This point is underscored every year, on the Shabbos before Tisha b’Av, when we read about the sin of the spies, the story of the original Tisha b’Av that undermined our permanent connection to Eretz Yisrael. As told in the Parshat Devarim version, the story began on the initiative of the Jewish people, and from the very first words of that account, the dye is cast and our critical failing is highlighted (Devarim 1:22):
“Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send agents ahead to explore the land for us….”
Rashi notes the contrast between the approach as described here – a low point for the Jewish people - in contrast to a description we will read next week that describes the Jewish people in a far better place, at the feet of Har Sinai. Here it describes “all of you” approaching, in a disorganized crowd, in contrast to what it describes there (Devarim 5:20): “You approached me, all the heads of your
tribes and your elders.’’ As Rashi explains, based on the Sifrei: “That approach to me was a fitting one — young people showing respect to their elders, letting these precede them, and the elders showing respect to the heads of the tribes that should precede them. Here, however, you approached me in a crowd, the young pushing aside their elders, the elders pushing aside the heads.”
At the core of our failure in initiating the mission of the spies was our lack of respect for the continuity of values within Klal Yisrael, reflected in the absence of genuine deference to our parents and leaders and their values. Honoring parents is not only an expression of gratitude and decency; it serves as the foundation of our Mesorah, the tradition of both our knowledge and values. It is when we abandon that genuine respect that we lose our connection to that which anchors us, to the morasha kehillat Yaakov, the ultimate heritage of our nation, the Torah given to us at Sinai. Along with that, we similarly undermine the other element referred to as our mora sha , our connection to our homeland, Eretz Yisrael. Ramban makes this clear in his commentary to the original version of the story of the spies (Bamidbar 14:17):
“Moshe did not pray [for mercy] here based on the merit of the patriarchs, and [therefore] he did not mention Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov at all in this prayer. The reason [for not mentioning them] was because the Land was given to the
patriarchs, and it is from them that they were to inherit it, but they rebelled against their ancestors, and did not want the gift which the patriarchs desired very much, so how could he say now, “Remember Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yisrael, Thy servants, to whom You did swear by Your own self, … and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, (Shemos 32:13), since they were saying: “We do not want this gift!”
During this month of “Av”, we need to reset our own values such that they affirm and reflect that which was cherished and valued by our “Avos”, reestablishing in both heart and mind our firm bond with our twin legacies of Torah and Eretz Yisrael.
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PARSHAT DEVARIM
The book of Devarim is different from all the other books of the Torah. It is a long, 30 chapter speech by Moshe. The oft repeated verse “G-d spoke to Moshe saying” is absent, save for the very end of the book. This is all Moshe speaking.
Moshe knows he will not enter the Land. He and the people are standing on the East Bank of the Jordan. The people will enter the Land shortly but not under his leadership. Rather, they will be led by Yehoshua. The book is Moshe’s parting words, his charge to the people.
The book of Devarim is known by the English name Deuteronomy; the Midrash calls it Mishneh Torah. Both mean two – the second version of the Torah, or the repetition of the Torah. But those names are misleading. Moshe does not review the entire Torah. He relates only some stories, reviewing with the people some of what has occurred earlier in the Torah. So, while it is a repetition of some stories, Moshe leaves out much more than he reviews. He does not mention any of the book of Breishit. Nor any of the story in Egypt. Nothing of the slavery. Or the plagues. Or the splitting of the Sea. Or of the instructions for the Mishkan. Or most of the book of Vayikra relating to Tuma and Tahara and Offerings. So, the review is not of the Torah; the review is of some, selected stories and laws of the Torah. But that is to be understood. Moshe is not
preparing the people for the final exam on the Torah, reviewing it all. He is preparing the people for life in the Land; life that will be without him. This book, or more accurately, this long speech is a masterfully crafted motivational charge to the people. He carefully chooses the stories he wants to review, relating to the people's immediate fears, their concerns, their faith, and later, what their future holds.
And as a last point of introduction. The language of Devarim is different. It is emotional. There is a lot of concern, of worry, of fear. Concern of failure, challenges that will be unmet, or met with failure. There is love: love of G-d for us and love of us for Him. Lots of zeal and passion; many emphatic forms. Moshe, in this departing speech, is sharing a lot of himself in a most revelatory fashion to the people from whom he is imminently departing.
1ST ALIYA (DEVARIM 1:1-10)
Moshe related the events of the journey, the 11-day journey from Chorev to Kadesh Barnea. On 1 Shevat, year 40, Moshe related to the people all that G-d had instructed him about them. This was after the defeats of Sichon and Og, on the banks of the Jordan. He related: G-d instructed us to travel from Sinai and to take the Land of Israel, the land promised to the forefathers. And I said: these people are now so numerous that I cannot bear them alone.
Moshe begins his parting words with a description of the journey to the Land of Israel. Not with the story of the Exodus. Not even with the story of the giving of the Torah.
His emphasis is the journey to the Land. The people are about to enter the Land; they are preoccupied with that. Moshe meets them where they are, addressing their immediate concerns. He’ll get to speaking about Sinai and about religious belief and about religious challenges. But right now, let’s address the issue at hand: entering the Land.
2ND ALIYA (1:11-21)
I said then: Let’s choose wise people to lead you. You agreed that this was a good idea. Wise leaders were appointed over thousands, hundreds, tens and officers of enforcement as well. I charged the judges saying: listen and rule fairly without bias. I commanded you in all the things you are to do. We traveled the desert to the Mount of the Emori, Kadesh Barnea. There I said: let’s go without fear and take the Land. It is curious that the first story Moshe feels a need to review is the appointing of the various upper court and lower court judges. After all, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the march to the Land. In fact, there are other stories that do occur as part of the march, like the complaints for water that are simply skipped. Why mention the appointment of judges?
Perhaps Moshe is addressing the unspoken concern of the people; how in the world are we going to manage without the leadership of Moshe? We will not prevail in the battles without him. Moshe, subtlety tempers his indispensability. I can’t do it all. I couldn’t do it all then; I needed help from the beginning. And now too. I am dispensable. You will be fine without me.
3RD ALIYA (1:22-38)
You approached me to send spies to scout out the Land. I
thought that was a good idea, choosing the leaders of the tribes for the task. They toured and returned with fruits of the land exclaiming: The Land G-d is giving us is good. But you refused to go and rebelled against G-d saying: these have damaged our resolve telling us of the large people and the fortified cities. I insisted that G-d will fight the battle as He has done until now. But you did not trust in G-d Who has been guiding you by cloud and fire. You were told that all who do not believe they can enter the Land, will not enter the Land. And I too was told I would not enter; Yeshoshua will lead the people into the Land.
Moshe is creating a bond with the people: I asked you for judges and you thought my idea was a good one. You asked me for spies and I thought your idea was a good one.
The differences in how Moshe relates this famous story of the spies and how the Torah itself described it is rich material for discussion. One of numerous differences is the role of the spies in this account: it’s missing. Little is said of the spies. In Bamidbar it sounds like their bad report started a cascade of fear. Here, Moshe places the guilt on the people: based on the report of the spies, but clearly at the feet of the people.
Perhaps Moshe is deliberately shifting emphasis from leaders to followers. You need good leaders: but you also need to be good followers. Blame for all national failures cannot be laid at the feet of the leaders. The people need to also bear full responsibility for their decisions. And here the decision of the people was to rebel against G-d.
4TH ALIYA (1:39-2:1)
Upon hearing that you would not enter the Land, you regretted your
sin. You said: let us go to the Land. But you were warned that G-d would not be with you in this and the Emori chased you away like bees to the region of Seir. We dwelt in Kadesh and Har Seir for a long time. When we follow the Divine plan, we will succeed. When we venture off on our own, devoid of Divine support, then we will be chased away like bees. Our success in taking the Land is due to our Divine partner.
5TH ALIYA (2:2-30)
It was time to travel northward. Do not confront the descendants of your brother Esav who dwell in Seir. Circle their land; pay for the food and water that you need from them. In addition, do not confront Moav for it is the rightful possession of the descendants of Lot. Past the land of Moav is Amon; do not confront Amon for it too is the rightful possession of the descendants of Lot. The region north of the Arnon is the land of Sichon and Og; those lands I have given to you. I offered to Sichon to pass through his land, but he refused; G-d made him stubborn so that we could take his land.
This description of our family ties with Esav and Lot is surprising; don’t engage in war with Esav’s descendants nor Lot’s descendants. They are relatives. And we are to give regard to those relatives. Yaakov’s brother Esav settled in Seir. He deserves brotherly deference and hence leave him alone. Moav and Amon are nations from Lot, Avraham’s nephew. Leave them alone as well; they are your relatives. Brothers, even when pursuing entirely different legacies, remain brothers nonetheless.
6TH ALIYA (2:31-3:14)
G-d told us to take the lands of Sichon in war. The lands were conquered up to the Gilad. Og confronted
us in the region toward the Bashan and he too was conquered. Their lands were given to Reuven, Gad and half the tribe of Menashe.
These confrontations with Sichon and Og are the last stories in the book of Bamidbar, not too long ago. Moshe relates these stories right at the beginning of his long speech, even though if he were reviewing our history chronologically, they would have to wait 25 chapters. He does so to begin his long speech with success and with encouragement. He will want to warn the people, chastise them, tell them of their future failures: but that can all wait. Start with encouragement.
7TH ALIYA (3:15-22)
The lands on the east of the Jordan including the Gilad and the lands from the Kineret to the Dead Sea were settled by Reuven and Gad and half of Menashe. I instructed these tribes to join the battle for the Land of Israel and then to return to their lands.
The area that the tribes of Reuven and Gad and half of Menashe settled on the east side of the Jordan is a very large patch of land; from the Dead Sea all the way up to the Hermon has been conquered and will be settled by the Jewish people. These early victories and Moshe’s repetition of their stories allows Moshe to begin his long directives to the people on a high note, an optimistic one. The description until here is how we got to where we are. Now he will focus on the much more crucial directives: how to live in the Land.
HAFTORAH YESHAYAHU 1:1-27
This week's haftorah is the third of a series of three "haftarot of affliction." Yeshayahu
conveys to the Jewish people of a G-dly vision he experienced, chastising the residents of Judah and Jerusalem for having rebelled against G -d. He criticized them for repeating their errors and not engaging in teshuva. "Woe to a sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, evildoing seed, corrupt children. They forsook G‑d; they provoked the Holy One of Israel." The navi employs harsh words by comparing the Jewish leaders to the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Yeshayahu then speaks gentler words, encouraging the people to repent sincerely and to perform acts of justice and chesed towards the needy, orphans and widows, and promising them the best of the land in return for their obedience. "If your sins prove to be like crimson, they will become white as snow; if they prove to be as red as crimson dye, they shall become as wool." The haftorah concludes with an uplifting promise that G-d will one day reestablish Israel's judges and leaders, when "Zion shall be redeemed through justice and her penitents through righteousness."
The first word of the haftorah is "Chazon"
A SHORT VORT
)ה,ג:ב(
("The vision"). The Shabbat when this hafto rah is read, the Shabbat before Tisha b'Av, is thus called "Shabbat Chazon," the "Shabbat of the Vision."
STATS
44th of the 54 sedras; first of 11 in Devarim.
Written on 196.5 lines (rank: 26th).
5 parshiyot; 1 open, 4 closed.
105 pesukim - ranks 32, 6th in Devarim tied with Chayei Sara, but larger.
1548 words - ranks 26th, 6th in Devarim.
5972 letters - ranks 24, 5th in Devarim tied with Vayeishev, but smaller.
Jump in rankings from pesukim to words & letters due to relatively long pesukim.
MITZVOT
2 mitzvot - both prohibitions. One of only three sedras that have only prohibitions (lo taasei). Vayishlach and Beshalach are the other two, with one lav each.
“You have long enough compassed this mountain turn you northward…do not contend with them” (2:3,5)
Approaching the enemy, the children of Eisav, G-d gives very important instructions to the Israelites.
The Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Kagan 1838-1933) tries to infer the meaning of G-d’s instructions. Is it a warning? Advice?
He quotes the Midrash (Devarim Rabbah 1:17) asking what is the meaning of “turn to the north- הנופצ?”
Rabbi Hiyya said that G-d instructed the Israelites that whenever they detect that Eisav is coming to incite violence against them, best to conceal themselves and avoid confrontation, from the word “Hatzfinu-Conceal” Upon asking G-d where to hide, how were they to escape Eisav? G-d answered that the answer to escape Eisav is to be found in the Torah. (Yatzpin-Hidden the Torah, Mishei 2:7)
Rather than standing up openly against the nations of the world, best to follow the steps of Yaakov Avinu, using cunning strategy in his battle with Eisav. Whatever occurred with our forefather regarding his confrontation with Eisav, will subsequently recur with our encounters with Eisav. Using the same approach, pray to G-d, offer diplomatic ideas, but undoubtedly, we must be prepared to fight in case of battle, to minimize casualties and maximize salvation. We do not stand to succeed unless we remain faithful to the Torah’s prescribed manner of action and reaction. May G-d continue to bless His people mercifully and protect us from all enemies. - Shabbat Shalom
and our next step will be to plant a fruit tree. I never thought of myself as being the agricultural type, but the feeling of settling and planting a portion of Eretz Yisrael, has been truly euphoric. Iy”H, when we plant our tree, and eat the fruits that will grow one day, I think we will be able to truly appreciate that unique Kedusha found in the fruit of Eretz Yisrael!
To conclude, when you buy your Tu B'shvat fruit this year, don’t search for those dried apricots and banana chips imported from Turkey. Rather, head over to the fresh produce and buy yourself some nice juicy Kedusha-filled Jaffa oranges and thank Hashem for bringing you to this land in order to be able to הבוטמ
, imbibing that Kedusha in every bite that you take!!
THE PERSON in the parsha
THE PERSON IN THE PARSHA
BY RABBI DR. TZVI HERSH WEINREB OU EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EMERITUS
BY RABBI DR. TZVI HERSH WEINREB OU EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EMERITUS
A Time and a Place
"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time." We have all heard this phrase, and many of us have used it. It is especially apt when it is used to describe a person with many virtues and talents who just can't use them because of the social or physical circumstances in which he finds himself. That such a person faces profound frustration is, to say the least, obvious.
Many Jewish immigrants came to the United States blessed with spiritual gifts and intellectual skills, but found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. For you see, America was viewed in two very different ways by the Jews back in the shtetl of the old country. On the one hand, it was seen as the goldene medina, the golden country, the land of material opportunity. But on the other hand, it was also viewed as the treifene medina, the non-kosher country, the lands of insurmountable religious challenges.
The usual "success stories" of Jewish immigration to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are narratives of "making it" financially, but utterly "losing it" from the point of view of traditional Jewish culture. American Jewish fiction, and even American Jewish history, know these narratives well and relate them in graphic detail.
What is largely missing from this body of literature are the stories of those who came to these shores imbued with religious fervor, committed to traditional observance. Lacking are the stories of men and women who found it difficult, if not impossible, to live out their faith convictions in this new place and time.
Particularly lacking are the narratives of the struggles that rabbinic leaders had in coping with the treif, albeit golden, American environment. One such rabbinic leader was Rabbi Jacob Joseph, the first and only Chief Rabbi in the history of New York City, who died 122 years ago, and whose yahrzeit was last week, the 24th of Tammuz. How ironic it is that his yahrzeit fell only a few days after the ultimate American holiday, July 4th.
Rabbi Jacob Joseph, a disciple of the master moralist Israel Salanter, was a rising star in the Lithuanian rabbinic constellation, a gifted orator, a noted pedagogue, and an ardent proponent of meticulous ethical behavior. He accepted a call to the New York Chief Rabbinate, and he soon found himself "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Rabbi Joseph was certainly not the first great man to find himself in a human context in which he was misunderstood, and in which he was beset by deep disappointment, nay disillusionment. I have long insisted that the first such individual was Moses himself, which brings us to this week's Torah portion, Devarim.
This week, we begin not only a new
portion but an entirely new book, the book of Deuteronomy. This book, Sefer Devarim, can be read as a personal retrospective of Moses as he reviews the highlights of his life, and particularly of his relationship with the Jewish people. Time and again he expresses the frustrations he experienced in trying to bring his followers to the ideas and practices which he espoused.
There can be no greater frustration than that experienced by one who has encountered God face to face, but who cannot convey His message to his audience. And hence we have verses such as, "I cannot bear the burden of you by myself" (Deuteronomy 1:9). Or, and this the reader intones with the classic melody of lament, "How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering!" (Deuteronomy 1:12)
Moses had a unique set of personal experiences, unprecedented visions of the divine, natural tendencies toward all that is just and right, and above all, unparalleled humility. And he was predestined to live in a specific time and place. But how often he must have felt that this was the "wrong time at the wrong place," and certainly, "the wrong people."
Millennia after Moses came Rabbi Jacob Joseph. He was born in Eastern Europe, educated in its old-fashioned yet positively formative schools, and began a successful rabbinic career. He spoke widely and wrote prolifically. His themes were the importance of ethical behavior and the need to be considerate of other human beings. He was, by nature, meditative and would often take his young students into the fields and forests for their lessons. He was an expert in halacha and meticulous in its observance.
And then he was thrown into the American fray. He encountered fraud where he expected honesty, and violence when he was accustomed to gentleness. He found a land where materialism and profit were primary values, and where spirituality and charity were scoffed at and mocked.
He suffered a stroke at an early age, and he died in anonymity and neglect. His funeral was attended by thousands, but it became the scene of a vicious anti-Semitic riot which made the front page of the newspapers of the time. He was indeed a great man in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
One can only speculate about what Rabbi Joseph's accomplishments would have been had he lived in a different place and a different time. For the United States of America is still a goldene medina for the Jewish people, a land of religious freedom unprecedented in our history. But it is no longer a treifene medina, for it has been transformed into a land of spiritual opportunity and religious accomplishment for our people.
Rabbi Jacob Joseph would have been proud of the "yeshiva constructed upon his grave." The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School was known as the mother of all yeshivot when it was situated on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and when I was a student there. It has since been transplanted to a new locale and continues to educate hundreds of Jewish children.
His writings have now been compiled and are available for all to see and study. And his biography is incorporated into numerous anthologies of American Jewish history and into the history of the Mussar Movement, which tried so valiantly to emphasize the importance of ethical behavior in our religious tradition.
Like many others who experienced the frustration of being in "the wrong place at the wrong time," he left a lasting impact on our place and our time. And so did his predecessor, Moses our teacher, so very long ago.
Although in Moses' case we can only conjecture about his inner feelings, in the case of Rabbi Joseph, we know from records of his final sermons that he indeed believed he "was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Our tradition, however, teaches us a contrary lesson, namely that none of us are in the wrong place or wrong time. Each of us has a mission in life, and the Almighty Himself chooses the time in history and the place in the world where that mission is to be accomplished. Moses was the right man at the right time. That is apparent. And even Rabbi Joseph, although he could not realize it in his lifetime, served a specific purpose as a transitional figure in American Jewish history, helping to bridge the divide between the doomed shtetls of Eastern Europe and the traif but changing New World.
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That we all ultimately are in the "right place at the right time" is the deeper meaning of teaching of our sages: "Despise no one and disdain nothing, for there is no one who does not have his hour, and there is nothing that does not have its place." (Avot 4:3)
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Covenant & Conversation
COVENANT & CONVERSATION
THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKLY PARSHA
RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS ZT"L
RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS ZT"L
FORMER CHIEF RABBI OF THE UNITED HEBREW CONGREGATIONS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
FORMER CHIEF RABBI OF THE UNITED HEBREW CONGREGATIONS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
May the learning of these Divrei Torah be תמשנ יוליעל HaRav Ya'akov Zvi ben David Arieh zt"l
The Book of the Covenant
As we begin reading the fifth and final book of the Torah, I would like to discuss three questions. First, why does the book of Devarim have the structure it does: a mix of history and law, recollection and anticipation?
The Sages knew that Devarim had a clear structure. Elsewhere in the Torah some rabbis used the principle ofsemichut hapar shiyot– that we can learn something from the fact that passage Y occurs immediately after passage X. Others however did not, because there is a rulein Mukdam Umu’achar BaToraheaning, the Torah does not always follow a strict chronological sequence. So we cannot always attach significance to the fact that the passages are in the order they are. However, everyone agrees that there is precise order and structure in the book of Devarim.1 But what is the order?
Second: the Sages originally called Devarim“ Mishneh Torah ”, meaning a “second law”. Hence the Latin name 1. This is discussed in the Gemara, see Brachot 21b.
“Deuteronomy”, which means, the second law. But in what sense is Devarim a second law? Some of the laws Moses states in the book have appeared before, others have not. Is it a repetition of the laws Moses received at Sinai and the Tent of Meeting? Is it something new? What exactly is the meaning ofMishneh Torah?
Third: what is the book doing here? It represents the speeches Moses delivered in the last month of his life to the generation who would cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. Why is it included in the Torah at all? If the Torah is a history book, then we should proceed directly from the end of Bamidbar (the arrival of the Israelites at the banks of the river Jordan), to the book of Joshua when they crossed the river and began their conquest of the land. If the Torah is a book of law, then Devarim should just be a collection of laws without all the historical reminiscence and prophecy it contains. What kind of book is Devarim and what is its significance to the Torah as a whole?
A number of relatively recent archaeological discoveries have however thrown new light on all these questions. They are the engraved records of ancient treaties between neighbouring powers. Among them are the
“Stele of the Vultures” commemorating the victory of Eannatum, ruler of Lagash in southern Mesopotamia, over the people of Umma, and that of Naram-Sin, king of Kish and Akkad, with the ruler of Elam. Both date from the third millennium BCE, before the time of Abraham.
The treaties are of two kinds: between parties of roughly equal power (“parity treaties”), and those between a strong one (a precursor of the modern idea of a superpower) and a weak one. These latter are known as “suzerainty treaties”, suzerainmeaning the dominant power in a particular region.
Another name for a treaty is, of courserit, or covenant, and we now see their significance for an understanding of Judaism. Covenant was the basic structure in the ancient Middle East of treaties between neighbouring powers. Abraham, for example, makes a brit with Avimelech, king of Gerar, at Beersheva (Gen. 21:27-32). So does Isaac (Gen. 26:28). Jacob does so with Laban (Gen. 31:44-54).
What the newly discovered treaties show is the precise form of ancient covenants. They had six parts. [1] They began with apreamble, establishing the identity of the person or power initiating the covenant. This was followed by [2] a historical prologue, reviewing the history of the relationship between the two parties to the covenant. Then came [3] the provisions of the covenant itself, thestipulations, which were often stated in two forms, [a]general principles, and [b]detailed provisions.
There then followed [4] a provision for the covenant to bedepositedin a sacred place, and read on a regular basis. Next came [5] thesanctionsassociated with the covenant,
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namely theblessingsthat would follow if it was adhered to, and thecursesthat would occur if it is broken. Lastly there is [6] a statement of thewitnessesto the agreement – usually the gods of the nations involved. The entire book of Devarim is structured as an extended covenant, on precisely these lines. This is how it works:
1. PREAMBLE
Devarim 1:1 - 1:5
2. HISTORICAL PROLOGUE
Devarim 6 - 4:49
3. STIPULATIONS
[a] chs. 5 - 11
[b] chs. 12 - 26
Announces place, time, and person initiating the covenant that follows: Moses, on behalf of God.
Moses recapitulates the history that has brought them to where they are, mostly recalling the events described in the book of Bamidbar
[a] general provisions: Ten Commandments, Shema, etc. Recapitulation of events surrounding the making of the covenant at Sinai. [b] specific provisions: the details of the law, with special reference to how they are to be carried out by the people as a whole in the land of Israel.
In other words, apart from Moses’ song and blessing of the tribes – with which the book and Moses’ life come to an end – the entire book of Devarim is a covenant on a monumental scale. We now see the extraordinary nature of the book. It has taken an ancient political formula and used it for an entirely new purpose.
What is unique about the covenant in Judaism isirst, that one of the parties is God Himself. This would have been unintelligible to Israel’s neighbours, and remainsextraordinary even today. The idea that God might bind Himself to human beings, linking their destiny to His, making them His ambassadors – His “witnesses” – to the world, is still radical and challenging.
Second, the other party to the covenant is not, as it was in the ancient world, the king or ruler of the relevant nation, but the people as a whole. Every Israelite, as we saw in Exodus 19 and 24, and throughout Deuteronomy, is party to the covenant, and co-responsible with the people as a whole for its being kept.
4. DEPOSITION AND REGULAR READING
Devarim 27, 31
5. SANCTIONS: THE BLESSINGS AND THE CURSES
Devarim 28
6. WITNESSES
Devarim
30:19 - 32:1
The law to be inscribed on stone (stele) at Mount Ebal; the Torah written by Moses and placed in the ark; to be read in public at a national assembly by the king every seven years.
Chapter 28 states the blessings and curses; Chapters 29-30 the actual covenant renewal, together with a statement that even if the people break the covenant and the curses come to pass, returneshuvah, is still possible.
From this flows the idea of Kol Yisrael arevin zeh lazeh, “all Jews are responsible for one another”, as well as the much later American idea of “We, the people.”This transformation meant that every Jew had to know the law and teach it to their children. Every Jew had to know the story of their people, reciting it on Pesach and when bringing first-fruits to Jerusalem.
This is covenantal politics, a unique form of political structure based not on a hierarchy of power but on a shared sense of history and destiny. It is a moral politics, dedicated to creating a just and gracious society that honours the dignity of all,
especially the downtrodden, the poor, the powerless and the marginal: the widow, the orphan, and the stranger.
The structure of the book is now clear. It follows precisely the structure of an ancient suzerainty treaty between a strong power, God, and a weak one, the Israelites. Politically, such treaties were well known in the ancient world, but religiously this is unique. For it means that God has taken an entire nation to be His “partners in the work of creation” by showing all humanity what it is to construct a society that honours each individual as the image of God.
We now understand whatMishneh Torahmeans. It means that this book is a “copy” of the covenant between God and the people, made at Sinai, renewed on the bank of the Jordan, and renewed again at significant moments of Jewish history. It is the written record of the agreement, just as a ketubah is a written record of the obligations undertaken by a husband toward his wife.
We now also understand the place of Devarim in Tanach as a whole. It is the axis on which all Jewish history turns. Had the generation who left Egypt the faith and courage to enter the promised land, all Jewish history would turn on the revelation at Sinai. In fact, though, the episode of the spies showed that that generation lacked the spirit to do so. Therefore the critical moment came for the next generation, when Moses at the end of his life renewed the covenant with them as the condition of their inheritance of the land. The four previous books of the Torah lead up to this moment, and all the other books of Tanach are a commentary to it – an account of how it worked out in the course of time.
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Devarim is the book of the covenant, the centre-point of Jewish theology, and the project it defines is unique. For it aims at nothing less than the construction of a society that would moralise its members, inspire others, and serve as a role model of what might be achieved were humanity as a whole to worship the one God who made us all in His image.
These weekly teachings from Rabbi Sacks zt”l are part of his ‘Covenant & Conversation’ series on the weekly Torah teaching. With thanks to the Schimmel Family for their generous sponsorship, dedicated in loving memory of Harry (Chaim) Schimmel. Visit www.RabbiSacks.org for more.
BY RABBI NACHMAN (NEIL) WINKLER FACULTY, OU ISRAEL CENTERL
Better Than We Were?
Over these past two articles in which we discussed the first two of the “ t’lat d’pur’anuta” –three chapters “tragedy”, we focused on the prophetic personalities, comparing Yirmiyahu to Moshe Rabbeinu and contrasting Yirmiyahu to Yishayahu. As we turn to the third selection of these haftarot, the one taken from Sefer Yishayahu, I feel it necessary to clarify what some may have considered my “misrepresentation” of the holy navi, Yishayahu. In developing the personality of Yirmiyanu as a “Ohev Yisra’el”, one whose love for Israel could be found in the very tenor of his words of censure – I compared his opening messages to the rather harsh opening prophecies of Yishayahu – I may have given you the impression that Yishayahu was not such a “Ohev Yisra’el” (chas v’shalom).
Nothing could be further from the truth.
As the next seven haftarot of consolation, the sh’va d’n’chemta (all selections from Sefer Yishayahu) can unquestionably affirm, he was the “Prophet of Comfort”. As such, it would be blasphemous to even suggest that the prophet lacked any love or sensitivity to his people. And, if so, why were his opening condemnations so severe in tone?
I would submit that the dissimilarities
between the messages of the two great seers are based upon the different eras in which they functioned and the clear distinctions between the respective communities they addressed.
Yishayahu began his service during the Assyrian invasion of Israel that soon led to the exile of the northern tribes. The collapse of the ten-tribe monarchy was of no surprise to the navi. Sefer M’lachim records twenty Judean kings who ruled after the division of the kingdom, of which eight were considered righteous (“yashar b’einei Hashem”). It also records twenty Israelite kings in the northern kingdom of which NOT ONE was considered “yashar b’einei Hashem”. Unquestionably, the moral corruption of the leadership in Shomron (northern kingdom) defined the kingdom’s very culture – and made the presaged exile become a reality.
Although Yishayahu prophesied to both populations, he witnessed, in his early years, the downfall of the ten tribes and saw their exile as a clear warning to Judea of what could befall them. In reviewing the first half of our haftarah, I sense that many of the navi’s words of censure focus upon the immorality of the northern Kingdom of Shomron. The depiction of Israel as being rebellious, sinful and corrupt describes well the behavior of the north who had been worshipping false deities since their first King, Yerov’am, set up two golden calves in Dan and Bet El. In contrast, the kingdom of Yehuda at that time, had been ruled by
a series of four righteous kings, Yeho’ash, Amatz’ya, Uziyahu and Yotam, a period of over one-hundred years! It is difficult to imagine that Yishayahu would have described that community as being “weighed down by iniquity”, “an evil offspring” or a nation that had “forsaken G-d”.
In the second part of the haftarah, however, Yishayahu directs his harsh warnings to the southern kingdom, calling out against “Bat Tziyon”, “Zion”. It is here that the prophet decries their sacrifices as meaningless, their Temple services as abominations and that their prayers were fruitless for their hands were “covered with blood”. Clearly, these horrors reflect events that centered around Yerushalaim and the Beit HaMikdash, and the navi’s cry: “Eicha hay’ta l’zona – kirya ne’emanah” – “How has the [once] faithful city become adulterous?” is an obvious reference to Jerusalem.
This non-dated, book-opening prophecy, one that is widely accepted as actually being a later nevu’ah, might be seen as a combination of two different visions given at different times, thereby explaining the dual-focused messages. However, I believe that it was one directed specifically at the Judean nation of the latter years. Yishayahu introduces his condemnation by depicting the fate of their corrupt, exiled brethren, in the hope of awakening the people to understand how Hashem’s sees them, to have them step back and realize that, though they may regard themselves as the chosen nation for worshipping in His House…G-d considers them no better than exiled brothers not!
It is for this reason that the ancient scholars chose this perek to be a “wake-up” call on this Shabbat before Tish’a B’Av. And when we
look back upon the sins of past generations, perhaps we should contemplate: “Are we any better?”
Or, even, are WE really any better than WE once were?
Rabbi Winkler’s popular Jewish History lectures can be viewed by visiting the OU Israel Video archive: https://www.ouisrael.org/video-library
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RAV KEHILLA, NOFEI HASHEMESH
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Taking the First Step
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The penultimate pasuk of Eicha (that is also repeated as the final verse) is:
and the young birds are open to potential arrows and dangers from below, the eagle carries its offspring on its wings. How do they get there? It is virtually impossible for the eagle to place its offspring on its wings. Rather, the young birds must climb on – they have to take the first step! God will carry us on his wings – but we must take the first step forward. םכְּילא
Take us back, Hashem , to Yourself, And let us come back! Renew our days as of old. (Eicha 5:22).
In Eicha Raba (Midrash on Eicha), Bnei Yisrael ask Hashem to return to them. God’s response is: םכְּילא
– You first must return to Me and then I will accept your teshuva and return to you. Who is to take the first step forward? Although the nation asks Hashem to do so, God seems adamant that we must make the first move forward.
Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsh has an insightful explanation on the pasuk:
Rav Chaim Kanievsky explains what Yirmiyahu is referring to at the end of Eicha when he asks God to return first to the people. Hashem wants us to make the first move. Since there is free will, man has to make the determination to do teshuva. It cannot be forced upon him from Above. However, by crying out and asking Hashem ונבישה – return us to you, is essentially taking the first step. We express our dependency on Hakadosh Baruch Hu and ask him to help us return to Him.
As an eagle awakens its nest, hovering over its fledglings, it spreads its wings, tak‑ ing them and carrying them on its pinions. (Devarim 32:11).
The relationship the Jewish people have with God is compared in parshat Haazinu –to that of an eagle and its offspring. Whereas other birds carry their young in their legs
Tisha B’av is a few days away, and Elul is around the corner. We should begin to consider ways in which we can get closer to Hashem. To enhance our Torah learning, tefilla and acts of chesed, so that it is clear that we are taking steps in the right direction and we will merit
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Moed Momentum
“Kara alai moed – He summoned an assembly against me,” the prophet Yirmiyahu laments how Hashem brought our enemies against us to destroy the Temple and Yerushalayim. Yet his choice of words is curious; moed usually refers to a specially appointed day such a holiday, leading the Rabbis to interpret this verse as, “He proclaimed a set time against me,” and ruling that tachanun is not said during the Mincha service on erev Tish’a B’Av as on a festival. One would think that of all days, the Ninth of Av embodies the antithesis of joy and celebration. How are we to understand this aspect of moed?
The midrash teaches that there was never a moed in Israel like the day of the Churban Beit Hamikdash. The Ohev Yisrael explains this to mean that on the day that marks the destruction, lay the foundation for its rebuilding; it is through the mourning, through recognizing our loss, that the rebuilding emerges. The Sefat Emet teaches that we fulfill the verse, “le’shichno tidrishu u’vata shama – you shall inquire after his dwelling and come there,” when we yearn for the return of the Shechinah and thus are involved in the process of rebuilding the Temple. This is our focus during the Three Weeks, and
particularly on Tish’a B’Av, to truly long for the restoration of the Beis Hamikdash, this itself hastens the redemption.
In his sichot on the Three Weeks, Rav Pincus zt”l clarifies the general concept of a Yom Tov. On the first day of creation, when Hashem created the original light, it was so powerful that Adam could see from one end of the world to the other. Metaphorically, it was the light of clarity to profoundly feel the Presence of Hashem. Because it was so potent, Hashem ultimately hid this light for the righteous ones in the future, and we refer to this light as the Ohr Haganuz. The Torah tells us, “Vayar Elokim et ha’ohr ki tov – and Hashem saw that this light was good.” (Bereisheet 1:4) On each Yom Tov, an aspect of this Hidden Light is revealed, allowing us to have a more intense connection with Hashem. Hence, we refer to holidays as “Yom Tov,” a day of good, when we perceive the original light of clarity. On Tish’a B’Av as well we experience this lucidity. Rav Pincus continues, Tish’a B’Av is a time of introspection, honestly examining our lives and realizing that the only constant is Hashem and His Torah and this should be our priority. As Yirmiyahu Hanavi told the exiled Jews, had they but cried once in Eretz Yisrael, they would not need to be crying on the banks of Bavel. Crying on Tish’a B’Av, recognizing the source of our calamity and pain, raises our awareness and need to connect to Hashem and preclude further devastation.
We are living in such uncertain times. We
been memorialized in a popular song, "An eternal people does not fear the long and arduous path."
Doris Weinberger a"h
Max Weinberger z”l
Greatly missed by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren
Rav Aryeh and Dvora Weinberger
Bernie and Leah Weinberger
Menachem and Hannah Katten
must take the “light” of Tish’a B’Av and use it to guide us, developing and strengthening our complete dependence on Hashem. We can contemplate our national and personal experiences and increase our efforts toward our spiritual battles and creating cohesiveness among all Jews. May we merit to witness complete clarity throughout the world, “Bayom hahu yihiyeh Hashem echad u’shemo echad.”
Patience is necessary for those who follow Isaac's way. But a wise woman taught us that patience is but another name for hope. That woman was Jane Austen, who put these words into the mouth of one of the characters in her great novel, Sense and
Sensibility: "Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience—or give it a more fascinating name: call it hope."
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RABBI JUDAH MISCHEL
RABBI JUDAH
Executive Director, Camp HASC Author of Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva (Mosaica 2021)
Mischel EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CAMP HASC AUTHOR OF BADERECH: ALONG THE PATH OF TESHUVA (MOSAICA 2021)
Baderech, to Geulah
Rebbe Yisachar Dov Ber of Radoshitz was once baderech, on the road, and spent the night at an inn. In the morning, he rushed to find the innkeeper. “That clock, that clock!” he said excitedly, “the one hanging in my room — where did you get it?”
Puzzled, the innkeeper replied: “Rebbe, it’s a regular clock, there’s nothing special about it, you find them everywhere….”
“This is no ordinary clock,” said Rabbi Yisachar Dov. “Please find out where it came from, I must know!” The innkeeper asked around and found that the clock had belonged to the Chozeh, the great Seer of Lublin, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz. A son of the Chozeh had fallen into poverty and sold his possessions to the dealer who resold such items to the innkeeper.
“Baruch Hashem, now it makes sense!” said Rebbe Yisachar Dov with a big smile. “Only the Seer’s clock could mark time that way!” The innkeeper was even more baffled, “What do you mean?”
“A regular clock,” he explained, “when it strikes the hour, it sounds sad. It seems to say, ‘Yet another hour is gone. You are now that much closer to the grave…’ But this clock is different. It sings! ‘Yet another hour of galus has gone by! You are now that much closer
to the Coming of Mashiach! You are on the way to Geulah.’
“All night, when this clock sounded, I jumped up from my bed and danced for joy! And yet, this was the most restful night of sleep I’ve ever had….”
םירבדה הלא, “These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan in the Desert, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel and Lavan and Hazeroth and Di Zahav.” (Devarim, 1:1)
Sefer Devarim begins with Moshe Rabbeinu’s ‘closing remarks’ at the end of his life, a lengthy sichas mussar of sorts. םירבדה הלא, “These are the words…” — Rashi explains these to be words of rebuke, in which Moshe enumerates all the places where Am Yisrael angered Hashem. לארשי לש
, “out of respect for the Jewish Nation”, the Torah makes no explicit mention of the incidents in which we sinned, but instead it lists them b’derech remez, alluding to them in the names of their respective ‘cities’. The exhortation and mussar inherent in the mention of these places is enough for us to get the point, to remember our past indiscretions and to take heed for the future.
At a memorable farbrengen marking Yud Beis Tammuz in 1984 (celebrating the liberation from Soviet imprisonment of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak, the Sixth Rebbe of ChabadLubavitch), the Lubavitcher Rebbe delivered an impassioned plea, sometimes shouting with urgency:
“The destruction of the Beis haMikdash was not a one-time event. The churban is ongoing as the exile unfolds, and it continues to happen every day: שדקמה
וליאכְּ וימיב ‘Every generation in whose days the Temple was not rebuilt, it is considered as if that generation destroyed it (Yerushalmi, Yoma, 1:1).’
“Although more than 100 years have passed since the Temple’s destruction, still, since today the Beis haMikdash is not built, it is considered as if it were destroyed today. Day after day, through it all, the Jews have cried out יתמ דע, ‘Until when?! How long will this exile last?’ Yesterday, and the day before that, for generations, we have been screaming דע יתמ, and yet our Sages tell us that today the Temple was destroyed once again!”
The Rebbe painted a searing image. Imagine: the Beis haMikdash is burning before our eyes and standing nearby is a Yid. Even the most stone-hearted Jew would not stand idly by. They would cry out with all their strength and טלעוו א רעק, “overturn worlds”, and do anything within their power to prevent the destruction. Who wouldn’t do all they possibly could to stop the burning?
The Churban Beis haMikdash represents our world in a state of disrepair and desperate need of healing and rectification. Beginning with Moshe Rabbeinu’s mussar in Sefer Devarim, all the prophets and tzadikim of all generations have warned us regarding the causes of our exiles and tragedies, described the potential tribulations and horrors, and also urged us and strengthened our hearts with the bright promises of repair and redemption.
Rebbe Eliezer HaGadol says, “From the day the Beis haMikdash was destroyed, there was a spiritual descent from one generation to the next.” (Sotah, 49a)
The Ponovezher Rav urges us not to see the תורודה תדירי, ‘descent of generations’, as negative, but ultimately as a movement toward positive refinement. The Ribbono shel Olam is constantly improving His world, reaching deeper down into the world to rectify the flaws which were intentionally built into the maaseh v’reishis, the acts of Creation. Every descent is truly for the sake of an ascent. Indeed, despite the fact that every generation is further from the glory of the Beis haMikdash, every generation is also spiritually enriched in some new way, and progress is made toward the ultimate goal. We may not be as ‘high’ as previous generations, but we are much ‘closer’. The clock is ticking toward Geulah.
“Every day is like a new generation” (Kohelet Rabbah, 1:4), every day is like a new era with a light that has never been and will never again shine forth from the darkness. Today is a unique opportunity to find the Divine light within, to refine ourselves and return to God. Tomorrow there will be an entirely different opportunity. Let us see the opportunities that today presents, and walk the path of refining and elevating the world.
On this Shabbos, Shabbos Chazon, the Rebbe’s message is more urgent and relevant than ever: טנייה טלעוו א רעק, Ker a velt heint, “Overturn the world…today! Now!”
Let us not delay in doing anything and everything we can to awaken the love and honor of the Jewish People and bring redemption-consciousness into every facet of Jewish life. Ker a Velt, heint, now!
carmay-hanadiv
Living In The New Heart of Israel
Carmay-HaNadiv – An exciting New Anglo Community
Over 140 Anglo families have already purchased apartments in Carmay Hanadiv.
Carmay-Hanadiv is fulfilling the vision of the “Nadiv”, Baron Rothschild who purchased the land in 1887, serving for many years as vineyards for the nearby settlements.
Nestled in between Yerushalayim, Tel-Aviv and Beer Sheva – CarmayHaNadiv, a new neighborhood in Kiriat-Malachi, is developing an exciting new Anglo community.
In Carmay-HaNadiv, we don’t have only high-quality buildings, but offer a full package of a rich communal life, with many excellent educational institutions nearby and close links to job opportunities. Apart from building apartments, we are in charge of all the communal aspects of the neighborhood.
CEO Shalom Wasserteil
CEO Shalom Wasserteil shares the story of this new opportunity
In the next two months, we are due to complete and hand over four buildings, with over 200 apartments, including to many Americans and olim in Israel – who will join over 800 families already established in Carmay-Hanadiv. Beautiful four-room apartments and penthouses are still available.
We will soon open the first part of the central Rothschild Boulevard, that will be the central shopping of the neighborhood. 1,700 SqM of commercial space will be inaugurated. Building for four more buildings, with hundreds of apartments all at high standards will soon be on the market.
A supermarket, HaNadiv bakery, Maccabi and Clalit medical centers, a soccer field and the local elementary school Talmud Torah Etzion are already open for the benefit of the residents.
There is also a fantastic new country Club a few minutes walk from the neighborhood with an indoor and outdoor pool and gym (with separate hours for men and women).
We are actively involved in creating the feeling of a warm community, We set up a dedicated organization called ‘Madregot’ which has a budget to run communal activities, from shiurim to social events and ensuring that the community is tight-knit and dynamic.
Building a very special, affordable and unique community in the heart of Israel, with new development every month, we believe that this is an exciting time to purchase an apartment in Carmay-HaNadiv.
SIMCHAT SHMUEL
BY RABBI SAM SHOR
is reluctant to send Yishmael away and Yitzchak seeks reconciliation with Yishmael and seeks to bless Esav.
Program Director, OU Israel Center
BY RABBI SAM SHOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR, OU ISRAEL CENTER
This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Chazon –the Shabbat of Vision. Most associate that this Shabbat is called Shabbat Chazon because of the Haftarah we recite from the first chapter of Sefer Yeshayahu, of Yeshayahu's vision of the Churban of Yerushalayim. However, these days leading up to Tisha B'Av are not simply a time for us to reflect on the past, and the pain and loss of the Batei HaMikdashnd the subsequent lengthy exile of the Jewish People, but also an opportunity for us to begin to perceive and envision a better tomorrow.
The Aish Kodesh, the Rebbe Piaseczna zy'a, suggests that though we associate the message of this Haftarah to be Yeshayahu's vision of the churban, giving us perspective and context to enable us to reflect on the tragic events that led to our exile, the Haftarah concludes with the verse: Tzion B'Mishpat Tipadeh, V'Shaveha BiTzdaka – Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and those that return to her with righteousness.. he Rebbe, as he does in so many of his powerful teachings, is reminding us that even when the Jewish people are besieged with pain and suffering, we must hold steadfast to the belief that Yishuat Hashem K'Heref Ayin – that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, can bring salvation with the blink of an eye! Even when our circumstances seem bleak, and it is beyond our capability to perceive from our limited human perspective how it might be possible, a Jew must always believe that indeed Yishuat Hashem K'Heref Ayin.
The Kedushat Levi, Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev zy'a, suggested another slightly
different interpretation of the significance of this Shabbat Chazon, this Shabbat of vision. On this Shabbat, explained Reb Levi Yitzchak, each and every one of us is shown a vision of the third Beit HaMikdash.
6th Aliya (25:1-11) Avraham marries Keturah; they have 6 sons. All that Avraham has goes to Yitzchak; these are sent eastward with gifts. Avraham dies at age 175; he is buried by Yitzchak and Yishmael in Ma’arat Hamachpelah. Yitzchak is blessed by G-d: he lives in Beer L’chai Roi. The transition from Avraham to Yitzchak is complete. While G-d has been a silent partner in this parsha, here He completes the generational transfer – He blesses Yitzchak. The Jewish people will be Yitzchak and not Yishmael.
7th Aliya (25:12-18) The generations of Yishmael are enumerated. Yishmael dies. His descendants dwell from Egypt to Assyria. Yishmael’s story is brief. He has numerous and powerful offspring. The brevity is interested the Jewish length. echoes tions woman and began father’s that his icant the
The Lubavitcher Rebbe zy'a, further explains that the revelation of Shabbat Cha zon is of such intensity that although the Beit HaMikdash is shown “from a distance,” to the extent that there are some who do not see it at all, nevertheless, this revelation is so powerful, that it becomes internalized within every single Jew. Hashem allows our souls a glimpse of a world of complete peace, a world which is empowered through the knowledge and awareness of the Divine presence, a world that has begun to see and actualize our innate potential for greatness and kedusha.
A SHORT VORT
Yehi Ratzon, as we read the prophetic words of Yeshayahu on this Shabbat Chazon, may we indeed be moved to recall all the tragic events that led to our exile, and as we also reflect upon the many painful experiences of these past many months, may we simultaneously be inspired to envision the Beit HaMikdash, and everything it represents, that is within our reach, and may we merit to do everything in our capability to move the world closer to that brighter tomorrow that we continue to long for.
BY RABBI
R av, Beit Knesset
When Avraham addresses the people of Cheit, trying to “Ger V’Toshav Anochi Eimachem” (23:4) “A Stranger and This seems to be a contradiction. If one is a stranger than is no longer a stranger. What did Avraham mean?
The Magid of Dubno (Jacob ben Wolf Kranz 1741-1804) this tense situation in order to, both, state his truth and be said, on the one hand, “I am a Resident’ due to G-d’s promise need your agreement to purchase a plot. In other words, Avraham “strangers”, while they understood him as saying that “they” The peace was kept, and Avraham remained true to his Shabbat Shalom
Be’er Tziporah a"h - Bottled Water Gemach
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In loving memory of Yoni’s wife Tziporah a"h, a true Eishes Chayil, always full of chessed, kindness and laughter, and brought life and strength to so many people, that she touched! She was like Aron, who loved peace and pursued peace.
Yoni thanks Hashem for having the opportunity of having Tziporah in his life, to learn of her caring, patience and happiness, to overcome her challenges. May Tziporah's Neshama be a light onto the world, in a time of darkness, and may her Neshama shine to Gan Eden. Yoni misses Tziporah with tears in his eyes, as Hashem gave him a gift, a crown jewel, now he returns her to Hashem. With thanks and Toda. Love, Yoni
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MONDAY, AUGUST 5TH - RABBI MANNING’S SHIUR was sponsored by Miriam Marcus in memory of her beloved mother, Liba Pesha bat Nachum a”h, who was niftar on 7 Av, 7 years ago and her grandfather, Nachum ben Moshe z”l, whose yahrzeit is on 9 Av, 69 years ago
RABBI SNOW’S SHIUR is generously sponsored for this academic year by Scott & Linda Haniford.
RABBI SHAI FINKELSTEIN'S SHIUR
Sponsored for this academic year by the Sondhelm and Wertenteil families in memory of Mel David z"l
RABBI ADLER’S SHIUR
Sponsored for this academic year by the Frist family in memory of their beloved daughter and sister
SHABBAT CHAZON & TISHA B'AV REVIEW Laws & Customs
SHABBAT CHAZON
The Shabbat before Tisha b'Av is known as Shabbat Chazon. The name derives from the Haftara which is read for Parshat Devarim, the first chapter of Yeshayahu.
Cleaning the house and other preparations for Shabbat are as usual.
Although we do not eat meat during the Nine Days (except for Shabbat), one may taste (without swallowing) food being cooked for Shabbat to determine its flavor-needs.
Many authorities permit bathing and dressing for Shabbat as one would usually do for any other Shabbat. (This is common practice in Israel.) Others impose some restrictions of the Nine Days, such as washing only with less pleasant water (temperature-wise), and not bathing the entire body at one time.
Suggestion: Those who usually take baths should opt for a shower on Erev Shabbat Chazon.
One may cut his/her fingernails on Erev Shabbat Chazon - only during the week in which 9Av falls, is it forbidden.
One may wear fresh garments for Shabbat, but not new ones. Some say that they should be put on only right before Shabbat.
Many shuls sing L'cha Dodi to the tune of "Eli Tzion" from Tisha b'Av morning kinot. Some frown upon this custom as a public display of mourning on Shabbat. Nonetheless, it is a common custom.
It is permissible to drink wine and eat
meat once a person has taken in Shabbat, even if it is before sunset.
Many shuls read the pasuk beginningwith the word "Eicha" (D'varim 1:12) to the tune of Eicha.
The Haftara for Shabbat Chazon is mostly read with the Eicha melody. The rabbi of the shul or a prominent member of the congregation is usually honored with Maftir.
Shabbat meals are as usual, including meat and wine. The custom of not eating meat or drinking wine during the Nine Days does not apply to Shabbat - part of "no public display of mourning on Shabbat". One may have meat and wine at all meals on Shabbat, even if this is more than he would usually do. If one is eating meat at the Third Meal, and the meal extends into the night, he still may continue to eat meat. Some disagree and hold that one should stop eating meat at nightfall, even if one hasn't ended his Shabbat.
It will serve us well to think of meat & wine on Shabbat Chazon, not only in the negative (no public display of mourning, therefore...), but also in a positive way. Shabbat is called "a foretaste of the World to Come". Shabbat Chazon allows us a glimpse into the (hopefully near) future when the prophecy of Zacharia will come to be and Tisha b'Av and its three satellite fasts will become joyous days. We might look at Shabbat as a down payment from G-d, so to speak, on His promise for the future.
This is an educational tool; actual halachic questions should be put to a Rav. This is especially true of circumstances that are out of the ordinary.
HAVDALA: Some say that since Havdala of Shabbat Chazon is said after Shabbat is over, then one should not drink wine, since wine is forbidden during the Nine Days (except for Shabbat). One would then choose a beverage for Havdala that is known as CHAMAR MEDINA, a drink of some importance in our society. Check with your local Orthodox Rabbi for the approved drinks list.
The other opinion holds that THE proper beverage for Havdala is WINE (except in cases of "great need", such as, there is no wine or you are allergic to it). If you use wine and there is a child present at Havdala who is old enough to understand the concept of Brachot but too young to understand mourning the CHURBAN, then he/she should drink the wine of Havdala. (Too young and no real understanding of brachot does not absolve the Havdala maker from drinking. Old enough to mourn the loss of the Mikdash, then he/she also shouldn't be drinking wine during the Nine Days.) If not, the one saying Havdala should drink the wine. Some say that he should not finish the whole cup, but suffice with a ROV R'VI'IT. Others say the whole cup so that the after-bracha can be said.
SHAVUA SHECHAL BO
The week in which Tisha b'Av falls has stricter rules than the first part of the Nine Days - e.g. those who shave during the Three Weeks and even after Rosh Chodesh Av, should at least not shave during SHAVU'A
SHECHAL BO. As mentioned earlier, cutting one's nails is not permitted. Psychologically, one should be "aware" of the increase in mournful practice and feelings (even if it does not show in practice as different).
EREV TISHA B'AV
Some authorities forbid regular Torah learning in the afternoon of Erev 9Av, permitting only those topics which are permitted on Tisha b'Av itself. There is a strict opinion that one should not eat regular meals in the afternoon - only SEUDA HAMAFSEKET. Realistically, this opinion is too difficult for most people to follow, and, in fact, it is not followed. The usual practice is to eat a regular meal in the late afternoon, followed by Mincha (if that works out), and then to have the special pre-fast "meal", shortly before the onset of the fast.
Seuda HaMafseket traditionally consists of bread (or pita) and a hard boiled egg, and water. Some dip the egg and/or bread in ash.
Officially, there are many rules concerning what may and may not be eaten at this pre-fast meal. Since most people will have recently eaten a "regular" supper, it is most common to have SEUDA HAMAFSEKET with just bread, egg, and water.
This is a mourner's meal, appropriate for pre-9Av. It should be eaten alone, to avoid benching mezuman. Some sit on the floor or low seat for this meal. The meal is eaten and the Birkat HaMazon is said with a heavy heart, realizing the enormity of the
Churban. Many have the custom to recite AL NAHAROT BAVEL for this meal, even if they don't say it on a regular basis as the alternative to SHIR HAMAALOT. As is true throughout 9Av, it is very important that one's thoughts be on the mournful and serious nature of the day, while one is eating this meager pre-fast meal.
LEIL TISHA B’AV
The prohibitions of Tisha b'Av should begin a few minutes before sunset. For Jerusalem this year, we should stop eating, drinking, etc. a few minutes before 7:29pm.
Maariv is recited in a low, mournful tone. Then Megilat Eicha is read while people sit on the ground or on low stools. It is customary to reduce the lighting in shul and remove the curtain of the Ark and the covers of the Amud and Shulchan.
When Eicha is read from parchment, as it is in some shuls in Jerusalem, the bracha AL MIKRA MEGILA is recited (but not Shehecheyanu).
Following Eicha some kinot (poems of lament) are chanted.
3 ASPECTS OF 9AV LAWS...
[1] The prohibitions of Yom Kippur-like fasts: (a) no eating or drinking, (b) no washing except for finger tips for ritual washing and the washing of actual dirtied areas of the body, (c) no cosmetics or lotions (medications and unscented deodorant are permitted), (d) no wearing of leather shoes, including shoes or sneakers with tops or soles of leather, (e) no marital relations;
[2] Practices related to mourning, such as no Torah-learning (except for sad themes such as the books of Eicha and Iyov, certain parts of other books of Tanach, the laws of Tisha b'Av, the laws of mourning, etc.);
no exchange of social greetings (mazaltov is permitted, however), sitting on the ground; and
[3] A reduction of luxuries and comfort, such as making sleeping conditions less comfortable.
TISHA B’AV DAY
In the morning, one should wash only the fingers (and eyes, with one's wet fingertips).
Shacharit: Talit & T'filin are not worn. No Birkat Kohanim. Davening is regular but subdued. We omit the bracha OTER YISRAEL B’TIF’ARA, as this is considered a reference to T’filin, the crown of glory of the Jew. The bracha will be said at Mincha when one does put on T’filin. [GR”A’s minhag is also to skip SHE’ASA LIKOL TZORKI in the morning brachot, which alludes to having good shoes. This bracha is said after the fast, when one puts on leather shoes.]
On the other hand, we don't say Avinu Malkeinu, Tachanun, Lamnatzei'ach, or Slichot, any and all of which we might expect on a fast day. Tisha b'Av is referred to as a MO’ED and will IY"H be a festival when the Beit HaMikdash is rebuilt. As a sign of our confidence in this promise of the Geula, we treat Tisha b'Av now as a festival in these token ways. Rav Soloveitchik has a very different explanation based on SATAM T'FILATI (Eicha 3:8) so we reduce, not increase our prayer.
Special 9Av Torah reading (fromVa'etchanan) and Haftara (from Yirmiyahu, read mostly with the Eicha tune) are followed by Kinot which should ideally continue until halachic noon (approx. 12:45pm). Some read Eicha in the morning. Thinking about Churban Beit HaMikdash - and other tragedies associated with 9Av
- is essential, whether one is fasting or not. Therefore, one should refrain from that which would cause the mind to wander from the day's thoughts.
AFTERNOON: Although most restrictions continue throughout the day, a few are relaxed at mincha-time. The Parochet is returned to the Ark, lighting in shul is restored, talit and t'filin are worn, Kohanim bless the People, and sitting on regular chairs is permitted. This, in essence, almost transforms Tisha b'Av into a "regular" fast day and allows us to reflect on the consolation of the prophecies of the Geula and the Building of the 3rd Beit HaMikdash.
Torah and Haftara readings for Mincha are like other fast-days. The passages of NACHEIM and ANEINU are inserted into the Jerusalem bracha and Sh’ma Koleinu respectively. Omitting either, one does not go back. However, Nacheim can be said within R'TZEI (without the closing bracha of V'liyerushalayim) and either/both can be said before YIHYU L'RATZON at the end of the Amida.
MOTZA’EI TISHA B’AV
The fast ends approx. 7:53pm (some say 8:03pm). Maariv is regular. One should try to wash his whole hands ritually (if possible) for Maariv, since it had not been "properly" done in the morning.
Some say Kiddush L'vana right afterTisha b'Av (preferably after breaking the fast - bring a light snack with you to Maariv). Others will have said KL during the previous week (based on Minhag Yerushalayim). Others will wait for Motza'ei Shabbat Nachamu.
The 10th of Av is the day that most of the Beit HaMikdash burned. Because it started burning on the 9th, and because
of other events associated with the 9th, Chazal fixed the fast day on the 9th. But the restrictions of the 9 Days continue beyond the fast. Restrictions apply until halachic noon of the 10th of Av, 12:43pm this year. This applies to not eating meat and drinking wine, listening to joyous music, bathing, laundry, etc. Marital relations are forbidden on the eve of the 10th of Av, unless it is the“mikve” night. There are other special circumstances - ask a Rav.
PONDER THIS... Several events in Jewish history are associated with 9Av. Major expulsions of Jews from different countries began on 9Av, or were decreed on 9Av, or are in some way linked to 9Av. Some massacres are associated with 9Av. We must view them in an appropriate perspective. Simply put, the troubles we have suffered throughout the many centuries of exile are directly related to the exile itself and the causes of it. Pogroms, Crusades, the Holocaust, all spanned the entire calendar. Yet these events still have a 9Av context. It is therefore appropriate to include in one's thoughts of the day - and activities, such as reading, videos, etc. Holocaust material, and the like.
May our T'shuva, fasting, and prayers - and our love of Torah, Am Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael, combine with our pro-active, positive steps towards spreading that love and Torah observance to our fellow Jews... all combine to hasten the Geula Sh'leima. May we merit the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash,
A small Sefer Torah with its own Aron Kodesh is available to shiva houses or for any other necessary occasion on a temporary free-loan basis. If needed call Uri Hirsch 0545513173
GEULAS YISRAEL
BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN YISRAEL
BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN RAM, YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
It Could Have Been Different
Yirmiyahu begins his dirge about the fall of Yerushalayim with an iconic word. The term “Eichah” had already been employed by both Moshe Rabeinu and Yeshayahu HaNavi. As the Midrash comments, Moshe witnessed the rapid growth of a nation of former slaves and expressed his wonder with the term “Eichah”:
Similarly, Yeshayahu observed our moral freefall during the era of the First Mikdash and also wondered “Eichah”:
How could a nation chosen by Hashem, awarded His land, and living near His Mikdash, so blatantly betray His will? Against this backdrop Yirmiyahu also begins his sefer with the symbolic word of “Eichah” conveying his own disbelief:
How was it possible that the ominous prophecies had now arrived? The word “Eichah” symbolizes the enigma of Jewish history. As Hashem’s people, our national trajectory isn’t normal or proportionate to other nations. When we succeed, we rise meteorically and when we fail, we fall precipitously. Three prophets, at three different stages of history
all acknowledged that Jewish history can’t be neatly graphed. It is jagged and asymmetrical and can best be described as “Eichah”.
AYEKA – WHERE ARE YOU
However, the term “Eichah” doesn’t only recall Moshe and Yeshayahu but also evokes Hashem’s message to Adam and Chava in Gan Eden. Hashem calls out to Adam and Chava, who had quickly gone into hiding after committing their grievous sin.
Of course, the question of “Ayeka” isn’t interrogative, as Hashem clearly knows their whereabouts. The term “Ayeka” poses an existential question: Where are you and who are you after violating your only divine command? What type of life can you possibly envision without Hashem living outside Gan Eden?
By launching his own sefer with the term “Eichah”- which contains the identical letters to “Ayeka- Yirmiyahu poses the same existential question to us: How can we possibly live without a Mikdash, expelled from Yerushalayim and distant from Hashem? Yirmiyahu’s “Eichah” echoes with Hashem’s “Ayeka”.
THE DAY THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
Yirmiyahu inserts his version of “Ayeka” or “Eichah” for an additional reason. The impact of our eviction from Yerushalayim was similar to the fallout of Adam’s expulsion from Gan Eden. Adam’s sentence was announced with the term Ayeka, and, likewise, our own exile was introduced with the term “Eichah”. The destruction of the Mikdash and the
ransacking of Yerushalayim were national calamities. After centuries of religious malfunction Hashem no longer tolerated us in His Land. We have spent two millennia recovering from the great fall of Jewish history and it has taken us thousands of years to repair the rupture in our relationship with Hashem. However, the destruction of the Mikdash was also an international tragedy. When Jews inhabit Yerushalayim the world below is properly aligned with the world above. Under these ideal conditions the entire world is in a better state, enjoying heightened spiritual consciousness and broad material prosperity. When we left Yerushalayim the world was thrown into chaos. We were selected to study Hashem’s Torah, fulfill His mitzvot and educate an entire planet about Him. When we compromised that mission, the world lost its interface with Hashem and His will. To capture the international scope of the Tisha b’av tragedy Yirmiyahu conjures the expulsion of Adam from Gan Eden. The first fall of Man occurred when Adam and Chava were banished from Gan Eden. The second fall of Man occurred when the chosen people were dispossessed of the Land of G-d.
THE GARDEN
Likewise, to highlight the universal scope of the tragedy, Yirmiyahu directly depicts Yerushalayim as a garden:
just a national tragedy.
Yirmiyahu wasn’t the only prophet to comprehend the broader impact of the destruction of the Mikdash. Hoshea’s comments on our moral hypocrisy:
which literally means that Hashem stripped His shelter like a garden. When we left Yerushalayim we didn’t just leave our city. We forfeited our opportunity to regain a perfect, Gan Eden-like state and to spread this condition to Mankind. The destruction of Yerushalayim was a universal disaster, not
By masking our moral failures through empty sacrifices, we violated our covenant with Hashem just like “Adam”. Just as the first man, who was named “Adam” betrayed His covenant with Hashem, we betrayed ours. Our betrayal damaged the world’s fortunes in the same manner that Adam’s failure did.
Yirmiyahu’s usage of the term “ Eichah”, his comparison of Yerushalayim to a garden, and Hosei’a’s referring to us as “Adam, all emphasize the universal scope of the Tisha b’av tragedy. The day we left Yerushalayim the lights went out on humanity.
THE FALL OF ROME
Humanity paid a steep price for its crime of destroying Yerushalayim. In the short-term aftermath of the churban, the superpower responsible for this crime, itself collapsed. A Roman empire, which was built to last a thousand years, crumbled soon after its attack on Yerushalayim. The decline of the Roman empire began in the 3rd century, about a hundred years after its brutal suppression of the Bar Kochba rebellion and, by the year 476, Rome had been conquered by a German barbarian. Throughout history the city of Rome was sacked seven times, a small punishment for assaulting the city of G-d and for wrecking the fortunes of an entire planet.
THE DARK AGES
In a broader sense, when Yerushalayim was destroyed, humanity sank into a period of close to 1000 years of darkness. During the Dark Ages (which many view as lasting until the 14th century) the world stagnated culturally, scientifically and politically. Suffering the aftershocks of the fall of Yerushalayim, humanity was marred by frequent invasions, political fragmentation, and social upheaval. Humanity only began to recover in the 14th century, experiencing a “Renaissance” of spirit which stimulated close to 600 years of scientific progress, human freedom and economic improvement. Just when history began veering toward Jewish redemption the curse of Tisha B’av slowly lifted.
PLAN “B”
Though galus compromised our historical mission it didn’t entirely cancel it. On the day we left Yerushalayim our national mission became transformed. Jewish history shifted into “Plan B”.
Originally, we were meant to enter Israel,
empty it of pagan culture, and establish a kingdom of Hashem. As a sovereign nation living in our homeland, we would educate and inspire the world by modeling a life of commitment and covenant. Having failed at this model, we entered a different stage of history and were now assigned a very different version of Jewish mission. This new version would exact a heavy price from our people.
Under the terms of “Plan B” we would now wander through this planet, hosted by a collection of host countries. Our people, however, would never be typical guests. As a people of the book, we would always be far more literate than our surrounding culture. This literacy gap was especially conspicuous in periods when literacy rates barely exceeded 20 % of the population.
Additionally, we lived temperate and financially responsible lifestyles, avoiding overindulgence while investing in family, community, and social welfare. This contributed to our financial stability, even under trying conditions.
Jewish loyalty to one another assured a tight-knit web of Jews around the world. Networks are crucial for business and commercial success.
Unlike other non-indigenous people, we never fully blended in with our host culture. We maintained our own customs, religious ceremonies, dietary laws, and social interactions, all the while marrying within our own people.
To our hosts, we always felt very different. We were an intelligent, literate people, living economically sound and prosperous lives, preserving our own identity through cultural insularity.
And, on top of everything else, we also
claimed to have a message for humanity. Even in exile we viewed ourselves as a nation sent to inspire the world to moral monotheism.
This new “arrangement” of Jewish history or Plan B was combustible. A guest is not expected to succeed more than his host. A guest is expected to blend in with the host. A guest is not expected to provide moral challenges for a host. We were never typical guests.
These elements of Plan B of Jewish history sparked vicious and violent antisemitism. It is morally corrupt to blame a victim for violence. Over the past 10 months our people have suffered this hypocritical moral algebra, being blamed for the horrific pogrom of October 7th. We certainly don’t blame ourselves for antisemitism. Every individual has full freedom to decide whether to resort to violence. However, Plan B of history certainly inflamed hatred which, in turn, incited antisemitism. In a broad sense, and without exempting antisemites of their hateful crimes, we are responsible for Plan B which incited tensions and hatred. Had Plan A remained intact we would have inspired the world from our own sovereign Land of Israel.
We are slowly crawling our way back to Plan A. It is a long and difficult journey. On Tisha b’av we mourn the shift to Plan B. We also mourn the world which shattered on that day and is still so terribly broken.
OU Press is honored to partner with Rabbi Moshe Taragin on his new volume in Hebrew regarding the recent war (‘Emunah B’toch Hahastara). This remarkable book is also available in English, “Dark Clouds Above, Faith Below”
HAFTORAH
BY REBBETZIN DR. ADINA SHMIDMAN INSIGHTS
Finding Refuge
SHABBOS CHAZON - PARSHAT DEVARIM
Yeshayahu uses three metaphors in our Haftorah in ׳ח קוספ ,׳א קרפ to describe the destruction of Yerushalayim, ןֹויצ־תב הרתונו
, and the daughter of Tzion was left as a hut in the vineyard, as a night lodge in a cucumber field, as a besieged city. These metaphors vividly illustrate the desolation of Tzion, highlighting how Yerushalayim has fallen from glory to a degraded state.
A hut in a vineyard is a temporary shelter that is used during the harvest and abandoned once the work is done. The night lodge in the cucumber field is only used at night during the harvest and stands empty each day and once the cucumbers are collected. Finally, a besieged city has temporary huts used by the opposing army which are abandoned once the city falls. Each of these structures is temporary and ultimately deserted, symbolizing the tragic fate of both Yerushalayim and the Beit HaMikdash.
Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch, as cited by Rav Shimon Schwab, offers a different interpretation, providing a poignant and relevant insight. He suggests that Yeshayahu laments that in the midst of horrific
destruction and devastation, there was only one place of refuge and safety that the Jewish people should have sought.
, all that was left was the Bat Tzion, the Succah in the vineyard. Here, “Bat Tzion” alludes to the Beit Hamikdash and “vineyard” to the Land of Israel. Yeshayahu describes the sanctuary, the Beit Hamikdash, as a night lodge in the field,
a place of rest and strength The Beit Hamikdash should have been seen as a place of refuge and restoration, a space to regain spiritual connection.
Tragically, instead of recognizing the Beit HaMikdash’s potential to restore their glory and spiritual losses, the people saw it as a besieged city, inaccessible and walled off from themselves. According to Rav Hirsch, it was the people who laid siege to the Torah, trapping spirituality inside and preventing it from spreading.
In our lives today, we have many spiritual opportunities, whether through Torah learning, davening, or building connections with our families and communities. Yeshayahu’s message is as relevant now as ever. By allowing ourselves to be impacted by the holiness of our Torah teachings, we will find refuge in the rebuilt Beit HaMikdash, may it be speedily in our day.
Beth Juliana
SIGNS OF DEHYDRATION INCLUDE: Dry mouth, headache, muscle cramps and fatigue
DON’T LET IT SNEAK UP ON YOU.
Make sure to drink 2.7 liters of water (11.5 cups) a day to stay hydrated in the hot Israeli summer.
ETOWARDS MEANINGFUL
TOWARDS MEANINGFUL
TEFILLA
BY REBBETZIN ZEMIRA OZAROWSKI Director of OU Israel L’Ayla Women’s Initiative
SHABBOS
Melaveh Malka
BY REBBETZIN ZEMIRA OZAROWSKI DIRECTOR OF OU ISRAEL L'AYLA WOMEN'S INITIATIVE
ven though we already concluded our study of Birchat HaMazon in the last article, I recently came across a remarkable story about bentching that I thought would be important to share with you. The story illustrates a beautiful point brought down by the Sefer HaChinuch. The Sefer HaChinuch writes –
This past Motzei Shabbat, my kids were in for a treat…all thanks to this Torah Tidbits column! For over a week, I had been wrestling with how to write about Melaveh Malka. The issue was that I had become somewhat lax in observing this tradition. Though not an absolute obligation, it seemed inconsistent to write about the beauty and significance of Melaveh Malka if I wasn’t practicing it myself.
Anyone who is careful with their Bentching, his livelihood will be provide for him with respect all of his days
We spent a lot of time in our Birchat Hamazon series discussing the meaning and significance of all of the Brachot of the Bentching. But beyond understanding the deeper meanings, we also need to make sure to be ריהז with our bentching, to be careful how we recite the Bentching, the respect we give to it, and the way we concentrate and focus. If we do our bentching right, we are told that Hashem will reward us with a good livelihood.
So I decided to make a change. At Seuda Slishit, I made an announcement - we would be having a special treat for Melaveh Malka. I explained that if we truly cherish Shabbat, we should bid it farewell properly, not rushing to our cellphones and computers, but instead gathering around the table after Havdala to say goodbye in a meaningful way. And so, we did just that. With cups of French Vanilla ice cream in hand, we gathered around the table and each shared what we had enjoyed most about Shabbat. My younger son proudly spoke of attending Mincha for the first time, my teens sheepishly shared that they were happy to have made it to Shul on time in the morning, my sevenyear-old interjected that Shul was always her favorite part of Shabbat, others talked about the delicious cholent my son had made, and
the fun they had with friends. We sang a few songs and then went our separate ways. It took only ten minutes, but what a difference it made on our connection with Shabbat!
I can’t promise that we will be consistent every week or that it will always go as well, but we will certainly make the effort.
Let’s take a step back and look at some of the sources regarding Melaveh Malka.
request (האווצ) of Menachem Asher is to bentch out of a bentcher”. The family explained that at the age of 16, Menachem Asher had taken on the practice of always bentching from a bentcher and never reciting the bentching by heart. He took this commitment very seriously and would never wash and eat bread unless he was absolutely sure there was a bentcher available in the vicinity. Chaim Ginz heard this and decided to take on this practice as well, l’iluy nishmat this young man.
This story is told by Rabbi Yoel Gold and has a profound message for us in our own bentching.
Two years ago, after the tragedy in Meron, a man named Chaim Ginz decided to try and be menachem avel as many of the victims’ families as possible. The first family he visited was the Zacbach family in Bnei Brak, who were mourning their 24 year old son, Menachem Asher. At the shiva house, the family gave out bentchers with the inscription – “The last will/
According to the Shulchan Aruch (OC 300:1), based on Gemara Shabbat 119b, one should put out a tablecloth and set the table properly for Melaveh Malka after Shabbat, even if he only plans to eat a small piece of meat the size of a kezayit. The Mishna Berura elaborates that ideally, this meal should include bread and cooked dishes like meat, but if that’s not possible or if one is too full, even grain products or fruit will suffice. He explains that the purpose of Melaveh Malka is to honor Shabbat as it departs, much like we honor it upon its arrival. Since the essence of Melaveh Malka is to escort Shabbat out with honor—much like accompanying a king as he departs a city—it is ideal to have this meal shortly after Shabbat ends. However, if one is still full, he may wait but should eat before Chatzot. The Mishna Berura notes that Melaveh Malka is not a bona fide obligation, so if one cannot participate in all Shabbat meals as well as Melaveh Malka, the Shabbat meals take precedence.
Finally, let us conclude with the inspiring words of Rav Chaim Palaggi in his Kaf HaChaim -
About a month later, Chaim was feeling pretty stuck. He was having trouble making a living. He was a Sofer and he had just completed a project and was unable to find any more work. Day after day, he would show prospective clients samples of his work but they just kept turning him away. He was feeling very rejected and depressed. One day, he was in a special apartment in Bnei Brak which sofrim use as a place to do their work. He had something to eat and was ready to bentch. He didn’t have a bentcher on him so he was about to bentch by heart. But he remembered his commitment and began to search the apartment from top to bottom. Finally, after many minutes, he located a bentcher hidden under a stack of papers on the top of a bookshelf. He noticed that the bentcher was written in תירושא בתכ, the font used by sofrim. He admired the beauty of the writing and after bentching, he decided to use the bentcher to help him with his own writing. For three hours, he
The fourth meal [eaten] after havdala is hidden and exalted….and one should have in mind that [through this meal,] some of the blessing from the holiness of Shabbat should remain for the meals during the week.
Rav Palaggi’s teaching suggests that Melaveh Malka serves as a bridge between the Shabbat meals and those of the week, extending Shabbat’s special blessing into our daily lives. May we all merit to fulfill the mitzvah of Melaveh Malka properly, ensuring that the sanctity of Shabbat continues to enrich the rest of our week.
We have now concluded our series on Towards Meaningful Shabbat. I hope this series has enriched your Shabbat observance as much as it has enriched mine. I will be taking a break for the rest of the summer and begin a new topic in the fall. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
The Book of Deuteronomy records the final exhortations and orations of Moshe, which were addressed to the generation about to cross the Jordan and finally enter the promised land. The first such discourse is a retrospective survey of Israelite history, beginning with the episode of the spies. On account of their negative report, the people were only amassing at the border now, thirty-eight years late.
The story told by Moshe raises a major question about the Book of Deuteronomy as a whole, because his account does not match what we find in the Book of Numbers. In Parashat Shelach (Numbers 13), God commands that spies be sent; here, the people demand them. In Shelach, the spies deliver a damning report that crushes the people’s morale; here, Moshe blames the entire people. In Shelach, the spies say the Land is good but immediately qualify that taking it would be a fool’s errand; here, the spies only speak to the Land’s goodness. What are we to make of these significant discrepancies?
The Ramban squared the above accounts by saying the people had wanted to send scouts and Moshe was then given God’s approval. Nechama Leibowitz, the legendary Bible teacher of Yerushalayim, clarified that
Moshe chose to accentuate the people’s initiative because he was not merely rehashing the facts for the younger generation. His talk was more moral edification than historical education. Therefore, he was imparting that the people must take responsibility for the disaster set in motion by the sending of the spies. They should have ignored the negative report, especially because it was preceded by positive highlights. Ultimately, Moshe was offering the following message:
[E]very individual is responsible for the misdeeds of the group. Each one is obliged to resist evil and do good, and not excuse himself on the ground that he was influenced by his colleague or superior or even leader. Each individual has ultimately to be his own leader, responsible for his every action and not just a cog in the vast machine called society.1
To put it sharply, Moshe was recasting the chet ha meragelim, the sin of the spies, as the chet ha‑am, the sin of the people.
Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook taught that we have been experiencing the repercussions of the spies’ sin for millennia:
The basis for exile and the persistently degraded state of the world is solely on account of our failing to give due recognition to the Land of Israel—its stature and wisdom—and to rectify the sin of the spies, who spoke disparagingly about the land, through teshuvat ha mishkal. 2
1. Leibowitz, Studies in Devarim, 24.
2. Igerot ha Re’iyah, 1:112.
Very often, a sin can be atoned for by ticking off the standard boxes of teshuvah (repentance): confession, regret, and a resolution not to repeat the sin. But some transgressions are so terrible that generic teshuvah is not enough; the sin itself must be, in a sense, undone by a counterbalancing act. This is known as teshuvat ha mishkal. To rectify the defamation of the land, we must do the opposite and show our unwavering love for it:
“[We must] declare to the entire world [the Land’s] magnificence and beauty, its holiness and grandeur. If only we could express… even a smidgen of the beloved Land’s desirability, the splendorous light of its Torah, and the superior light of its wisdom and prophecy! […] The kind of light and sublimity of holiness accessible in the Land of Israel to Torah scholars who seek God does not exist outside the Land. I myself can personally attest to this, however meagerly.” 3
Rav Kook put this into action. During a 1924 fundraising mission to America, he tried convincing a wealthy Jew to move to the Land of Israel. Over the course of their
3. Ibid., 1:112–113.
Sunblocker
conversation, the man enumerated a slew of impediments that would make the move too difficult. He concluded his meeting with Rav Kook saying, “God willing, I too will soon make aliyah to Israel.” Rav Kook responded, “God is certainly willing... but you must also be willing.”4
Crucial to this teshuvat ha mishkal, in Rav Kook’s understanding, is humility. When the twelve tribal leaders returned from their mission in Canaan, only Yehoshua and Calev defended the Land, crying out, “the Land is very, very good!” (Numbers 14:7). This repetition is highly unusual in the Torah, and Rav Kook suggested connecting it to a similar rabbinic phraseology in a seemingly unrelated context: “Be very, very humble in spirit.”5 To see the goodness of the Land, one 4. http://ravkooktorahrg/SHLACH_65tm. 5. Pirkei Avot, 4:4.
must filter out the overweening ego.
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, a Talmudic colossus and outstanding Modern Orthodox leader, showed us that this is achievable. He would often travel to the United States in his capacity as rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion. On his return flight to Israel, as the plane was approximately fifteen minutes away from Israeli airspace, he would begin reciting chapters from the Book of Psalms to prepare himself for entering the sacred atmosphere of the Holy Land.6
Rav Kook, an eternal optimist, believed that teshuvah for the tragic sin in the wilderness began materializing in his own time. The spirited return of the Jews to the Land, even among those who considered themselves secular, was in fact a longing to heal the maladies of an exiled nation and an endeavor to permanently be reunited with the promised Land. Rav Kook commented on this wonderful reawakening:
There is an illumination of teshuvah among the Jewish people. The reawakening of the nation’s desire to return to its Land, to its essence, its spirit, and its constitution, truly contains within itself the light of teshuvah. 7
Every year we read Parashat Devarim just prior to Tisha be-Av. When the reader chants the verse which begins with the word eichah (Deuteronomy 1:12), he does so with the doleful melody reserved for Megillat Eichah (Lamentations). Perhaps the sorrowful tune is meant to direct our attention to the pain of a missed opportunity, one which every one of us can and must correct.
6. Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon in the name of Rabbi Meir Lichtenstein.
7. Orot ha Teshuvah, 17:2.
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RAV DANIEL MANN
The Sick Fasting on Tisha B’av
Question: How sick does one need to be to be exempt from fasting on Tisha B’av? What food limitations, if any, does he have?
Answer: The closest gemara on the subject says that pregnant and nursing women are required to fast on Tisha B’av (Pesachim 54b). Rishonim posit that this is because they are considered healthy, but that a woman within thirty days after childbirth and a person who is sick with a not-expected-to-be dangerous illness need not fast (see Ran, Ta’anit 10a of Rif’s pages; Beit Yosef, Orach Chayim 554).
Although such people must fast on Yom Kippur (see details in Shulchan Aruch, OC 617:4), Tisha B’av is different because it is not a Torah-level prohibition. Even though the non-dangerously sick may not eat a Rabbinically forbidden food (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 123:2), the Rabbis built into the institution of the fast of Tisha B’av that it does not apply to clearly sick/weak people (Ran, ibid.; Shulchan Aruch, OC 554:6).
How do we define sick in this regard? The leading definition regarding Shabbat
Rav Daniel Mann
leniencies is nafal l’mishkav – needing to spend serious time in bed (Shulchan Aruch, OC 328:17). That phrase is not found in the poskim here (see Aruch Hashulchan, OC 554:7). Significant fever certainly qualifies, as well as conditions that fasting complicates (see Ohr L’tzion III, 29:(5)). Generally, a situation that prevents the average person from going to work is included. Remember, our sick person is equivalent to a woman in the first month after birth (the differences are that she can feel perfectly wonderful, but her body is known to have gone through a major trauma). Rav M. Feinstein (Igrot Moshe, OC IV:114) says that one who is fasting particularly poorly counts as sick. It is very difficult to know where to draw the line on that (consider that fasting is usually difficult for pregnant and nursing mothers).
Regarding a woman after childbirth, the Rama (OC 554:6) says that despite the halachic exemption, the minhag is to fast (see Chayei Adam II, 135:2; Mishna Berura 554:13). Regarding a sick person, stringency is less encouraged (ibid. and ibid:16).
To what extent do we say the fast does not exist, as opposed to the situation of a dangerously sick person on Yom Kippur, to whom the fast exists but is compromised as needed (Shulchan Aruch, OC 618:7)? The Shulchan Aruch (OC 554:6) says it was not instituted for them – apparently, at all. Therefore, several poskim said that there is no need to limit eating (Kaf Hachayim, OC 554:31; Avnei Nezer, OC 540; Shevet Halevi IV:56).
Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, is headed by Rav Yosef Carmel and Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, founded by Rav Shaul Yisraeli, zt”l, to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious community in the Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Eretz Hemdah, and OU Israel’s Torah Tidbits.
It is also possible to say that a sick person should try to limit the amount of eating on Tisha B’av, but the specific size/time formula (shiurim) we find regarding Yom Kippur (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 618:8) is irrelevant. The Aruch Hashulchan (OC 554:7) implies that shi urim are significant only concerning Torah-law prohibitions. There, they are important for the Torah punishment, which does not apply to Rabbinic prohibitions like eating on Tisha B’av. This is not obvious because the gemara (Yoma 79a) bases the amounts for Yom Kippur on their effect on the experience of fasting, which can apply to Tisha B’av as well.
The difference between the approaches to why not to require shiurim is regarding other means of limiting the eating. The Chayei Adam (ibid.) says that one should try to fast part of the day (see Yoma 82a in regard to the partial fasting of children under bar/bat mitzvah). Some explain that the delaying or minimizing of the eating does not indicate a partial existence of the fast per se, but is based on the idea of wanting to share with the general pain that everyone is experiencing
(see Chut Shani III:93). There may be a distinction between someone who starts the day fully sick and someone who we do not want to fast because it likely will make him sick, in which case he should wait until it is necessary (see Dirshu 554:26).
[Most people reading this are more likely to be more stringent on this matter than required, or even more than preferable, than to be too lenient; it is hard to blame them.]
For a Din Torah in English or Hebrew contact: Eretz Hemdah–Gazit Rabbinical Court 077-215-8-215 • Fax: (02) 537-9626 beitdin@eretzhemdah.org
ur mo
Life of the Embryo
Last time we discussed when life begins according to the halacha. This question impacts the issue as to whether we can destroy embryos, as we reported in the recent court case in Alabama, in which embryologists were accused of murder after destroying embryos.
The Talmud (Yevamot 69a) states that until forty days the fertilized egg is considered just fluid and not life. But in another Gemara (Sanhedrin 57b) Rabbi Yishmael was of the opinion that a non-Jew is liable to capital punishment if he kills an unborn fetus. This is not limited to only a fetus after 40 days of development, and, so, this appears to contradict the previous source.
One possible answer is that the prohibition applies only to non-Jews. The rationale for the distinction between Jews and nonJews is that non-Jews have to observe only seven Noachide laws. While these are similar to Torah laws binding Jews, since they are only seven, each of them is stricter for non-Jews, than the equivalent prohibitions for Jews who have 613 commandments to observe.
Therefore, the Talmud in Sanhedrin is the law for non-Jews, that life begins at conception, whereas the Talmud in Yevamot is
the law for Jews and life begins at 40 days after conception, or fertilization.
According to this explanation, it is forbidden for a non-Jew to destroy embryos but a Jew would be permitted to do so.
But this is not a clear discrepancy, since, as we saw last time, the non-Jew is liable for destroying a fertilized egg even before 40 days have passed since fertilization. If so, the fertilized egg cannot be considered an inanimate object. It must have some definition of life, otherwise no one would be charged with destroying it. The Tosafot claim that the non-Jew is liable to capital punishment and the Jew is prohibited from terminating a pregnancy at any stage, but is not liable to the death penalty.
If so, then both the Jew and the non-Jew would be prohibited from destroying an embryo or a fertilized egg even at the earliest stage of embryonic development. This approach is compatible with the Alabama ruling, that destroying an embryo is equivalent to murder.
But there is another way to explain the difference between the two Talmudic sources that presents another way of looking at the status of the embryo.
More on this next time.
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HOLY SITES IN ISRAEL
SHOSHANA JUDELMAN
Thinking About Tisha B’Av
The hardest part for me on any journey in Poland is the space of time before I am able to cry and the fear that I will not be able to.
I believe that the isolation and darkness of not being able to feel is a form of Tisha B’Av.
On one particular journey, I was having a hard time connecting to the group – which is an essential element to being able to open up and feel.
As we walked from one place of destruction to the next, I found myself unable to cry, my deepest fears realized as I robotically recited facts of atrocities without my heart breaking open.
How could I stand in these places and not feel it? How could I tell their story and not cry with them?
A sense of disconnect hardened my heart and pushed me towards despair.
Another kind of Tisha B’Av.
There is a former barracks building in Auschwitz that Yad Vashem has turned into a magnificent space of commemoration. In a darkened room, films from before the war are projected on all four walls in an ongoing loop. In that place you are surrounded by the reality and vibrancy of Jewish life
before the war – families, communities, and individuals – ice skating, picking fruit, celebrating simchas, riding bicycles, davening. Building, doing, being alive.
It can be a visceral experience.
On this journey, we went at the end of the day. As I entered that room, the poignancy of the scenes hit me so hard that my barriers completely fell away, and I began bawling.
One of my students came over, put her arms around me and allowed me to open more fully to my own tears.
And opened the door to the truest form of Tisha B’Av.
Megillat Eicha states:
He has proclaimed a set time against me to crush my young men.
Chazal teach that this is a reference to Tisha B’Av, when Bnei Yisrael were indeed “crushed.” And yet, the term “Moed” is generally used to refer to chagim and other happy days. Rav Hirsch, in his commentary on Shemos, explains that a “Moed” is a meeting time. A time when Bnei Yisrael reunite, as it were, with Hashem.
People often ask me why we go to Poland. The answer is multi-faceted, of course.
We go to honor, to remember, to comfort, and to be inspired.
But we also go to connect to ourselves and to our Creator.
Being in places of glorious Jewish life and
excruciating Jewish loss ignites the fire of Jewish identity and creates a space of shared loss and shared pain. The relief in releasing those emotions and the resultant connection that follows feeds and grows the soul. That is the light that comes from darkness.
That is truly what Tisha B’Av can be – a place where we allow ourselves to feel the loss of closeness and awareness of Hashem in our daily lives; the total lack of clarity we experience in this world; the confusion, pain and heartache of Golus; and the cleansing tears of our yearning to return.
Shoshana teaches Chassidus for the Shirat David Community in Efrat as well as in Jerusalem for Midreshet Rachel v’Chaya and Shiviti Women’s Institute. She is a guide in Poland with JRoots and co-leads inspirational trips to Ukraine and around Eretz Yisroel. Shoshana has also been a guide at Yad Vashem since 2014.
OLIM THINKING ALOUD
REBBETZIN ROOKIE AND RABBI HESHIE BILLET
Marking Day 300 of the War and the Hostages’ Captivity During the Three Weeks
Heshie: The Rov (Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, taught that there was emotional logic in the laws of mourning. When a person suffers a close personal loss, the initial emotional reaction is of intense grief. Gradually, as time passes, we learn to cope with the loss.
Hence, the first stage of mourning is ‘aninut’ which is defined in Halacha as having the deceased “in front of us”. Our sole preoccupation is to provide the appropriate dignity of burial. At this point we are exempt, and according to some, not allowed to perform mitzvot. We do not eat meat or drink wine.
After the burial we move to the next stage of mourning, the shiva, whose duration is one week. During shiva, we sit at home and deny ourselves some of the daily comforts that we
generally enjoy. One example, like a full body bath or shower engaging in marital intimacy.
We next proceed to the remainder of a thirty day period, ‘shloshim’, during which we leave our homes and relax the shiva restrictions, but continue to deny ourselves some comforts like cutting our hair or shaving. At the end of that time, our mourning ends, with the exception of the loss of a parent for whom we observe a full year.
Hence, the mourning laws and their emotional progression begin with the most intense grief and then allow us to emerge gradually until we are able to return to our regular routines.
The period of the three weeks from 17 Tammuz to midday 10 Av is similar, but in reverse. 17 Tammuz marks the breach of the walls of Jerusalem during the Roman siege. Bad, but still reversible. On Rosh Chodesh Av, Aharon HaKohen died and both the Babylonians in 586 BCE and the Romans in 70 ACE got closer to the Beit HaMikdash (the holy temple) on the Temple Mount. And on Tisha B’Av (9 Av) both temples were destroyed.
During this period the logical emotional progression moves from sad to terrible until
we reach the nadir of grief on the 9th of Av. when our deceased (destroyed temples) are before our very eyes. The halachot reverse themselves: we fast on 17 Tammuz, the equivalent of the year of mourning. Ashkenazi Jews forbid weddings during the entire three weeks, but they are still allowed by Sephardic Jews (Shulchan Aruch OH 551:2 ; Yabia Omer OH) until the 9 Days begin
With the arrival Rosh Chodesh Av and the week of 9 Av, we refrain from laundry or eating meat. On Tisha B’Av, we sit low to the ground and do not put on Tefillin until after midday. These are a merging of Onen and Shiva rules. Finally, after midday on 10 Av, we resume our normal lives.
In this manner, the Halacha eases us emotionally into the grief we should feel as we mourn the destruction of two temples. As The Rov also noted, on ( Av we mourn all Jewish tragedies throughout our history as described in Kinot (mournful laments) which we say. For example, we include the Crusader massacres of Jewish communities in the Rhine Valley(1096), the burning of the Talmud in Paris (1242), and the recent Holocaust (1939-45).
The events of October 7, 2023, are also worthy of grieving and mention for our entire nation on the 9th of Av
Rookie: This year, the 300th day of the war and the hostages’ captivity fell during the Three Weeks. Always looking for something meaningful to do, we attended the rally to mark Day 300th of captivity and to demonstrate for the return of the hostages. We have seen it written that the slogan should not be “Bring Them Home”, as though it is the task only of the State of Israel to free the hostages from their underground prisons and their
cruel captors (which it has been trying to do both militarily and diplomatically since the beginning). Rather it should be “Send them Home,” or “Let My People Go”, to emphasize that it is indeed the job of Hamas to free the captives they so unjustly tore from their homes and families on that sunny holiday morning in October.
We joined the Goldberg-Polin family (calling for Hersh’s homecoming) and so many caring people to remember both the plight of the hostages as well as the beloved fallen heroes from both the hostages and the IDF who will not come home again…
The event was superbly meaningful, deeply religious and most heartfelt. A very nice crowd met at the first Station, where yellow ribbons and flags were distributed, and anyone who didn’t come with their own label with the number 300 on it got one. It was beautiful to see white-shirted young and old, even a few wheelchairs, in the crowd. The group marched to the Great Synagogue plaza where the ceremony was held. It began with the words said by Joseph in the Torah when his father sent him to seek out his brothers who were shepherding near Shchem, “Et Achai Anochi Mevakesh”, I Seek My Brothers! The well-spoken, erudite father of fallen soldier Ben Zusman HYD, Tzvi, was the host, and he lent dignity, content and a deep sense of purpose and identification to the program. Highlights included the recitation by random members of the audience of all the verses of Psalm119 (8 verses per letter) that represented names of the hostages. For us, as Olim, it was noteworthy that so many of the alphabetical sections were read with American accents, indicating the large presence of Anglo Olim who chose to come to identify.
that bringing home a Report Card with all “A’s” on academic subjects will bring them a reward but getting all “A’s” on the Midot side will bring even a greater reward.
This Dvar Torah is dedicated in loving memory of Yita bat Shlomo, Rav Aharon Ziegler’s mother whose yahrzeit is on Shavuot.
Torah Tidbits extends a mazal tov to Rav Ziegler on his upcoming book of Torah Derashot, “The Sapphire Bricks of Torah”
A dvar Torah by Tzvi Zusman urging unity and abandoning Machloket (internal arguments), musical renditions of “Tefila le’Ani Ki Ya’atof “(reminiscent of the uprooting of Gush Katif), “Acheinu Kol Beit Yisrael,” “Return Again to the Land of Your Soul,” and a new original composition called “Under Your Vine and Your Fig Tree” were led by a talented guitarist and singer with communal participation. Hebrew Selections also included ייודפו
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The full participation in communal prayers of Mincha and Arvit as the sun faded and night fell were just right. Our overall feelings which were echoed by so many were that the evening was a true example of “Mi K’Amcha Yisrael” (Who is like your people Israel) in its decorum. solidarity, faith, spirituality, historical commemoration, remembrance of the fallen, hope for the future and heartfelt prayers in so many forms for the safe return of ALL the hostages who have been held (and too often also murdered by their barbaric captors). The dignity of Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin and Sarit and Tzvi Zusman and so many others like them, whose quiet but powerful campaigns shatter the heavens, speak volumes about our people and our nation.
A recent oleh, Heshie Billet is Rabbi emeritus of the Young Israel of Woodmere and a past President of the Rabbinical Council of America. A recent olah, Rookie Billet retired from a long career as a Jewish educator, principal, synagogue rebbetzin, and yo’etzet halacha in the US.
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ASSISTING THE NEEDY WHEREVER THEY ARE “Great is Tzedakah, for it brings the Redemption near” Sukkot 49b
THIS WEEK: Raising funds for extensive dental treatment for an elderly, unwell man subsisting
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This week we open up a new book, Sefer Devarim. A book which more than others is Moshe’s leadership put into real and practical advice. The Sefer tells of the constructive criticism of Moshe Rabbeinu for the Jewish people, leaving us his last messages of hope and will. In Perek 1 Pasuk 8 Moshe invites us to see how we will inherit the Land of Israel. Rashi adds that we would have physically seen this come true had we not sinned by listening to the spies. Trusting in our eyes, not our ears. Moshe continues in the Pesukim that follow and tells us how he can’t do it for us and can’t do it alone. Rather, it must be us, through faith in Hashem.
While these are beautiful and empowering statements, what kind of advice is this? To trust in Hashem to do miracles is not something we rely in Judasim, rather something we praise when it occurs. What is Moshe Rabbeinu trying to teach us?
An idea which changed my perspective on how to view our hopes and dreams was once portrayed to me by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, a longtime leader and master teacher of Chabad outreach in Buffallo, NY who made a strong impact in the Jewish life of my wife’s incredible parents. He talked about how so many of us have a strong belief
in our hopes and dreams but are waiting for them to occur to make the changes in our lives to do so. He explained in the name of the great Lubavitcher Rebbe that we don’t have to wait for a redemption or a Moshiach in order to change the way we think and see things. Rather there are so many opportunities for us to already begin living in the times of Moshiach. There is a famous quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi to "be the change you wish to see in the world". To BE the change, not just hope for it.
This Shabbat is Shabbat Chazon which translates to the Shabbat of Vision. This is the challenge and advice that Moshe sets before us. Not to just envision greatness and hopes and dreams, but to ‘Re’eh’, to physically see them and to BE them. Something no one can do for you as a person and us as a people. It’s in our power already. Let’s be done waiting and let’s start living in redemption. Let us be the change we wish to see.
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CHAI GIRLS
11TH GRADE, JERUSALEM
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Sefer Devarim is the concluding book of the Torah where Moshe gives his long speech to Am Yisrael before he leaves them, and they enter Israel.
When ׳ה turns to Moshe at the הנס, and
tells him he will be the leader of Am Yisrael, he refuses and says “דבכְּו הפ
ןושל”.
How can it be that we now see Moshe giving a long speech, using his mouth with no problem?
First, we need to understand Moshe’s claim at the הנס. Rashi says that Moshe wanted Aharon to get the תוחילש .
סולוקנוא translates as follows:
קימע:ןושל
Which means every word of his is valuable and deep.
From this we see that Moshe wasn't rejecting his תוחילש because he couldn't speak. Rather, he rejected it because he was on a very high level and every word of his is very deep. That’s why he said he is “הפ דבכְּ ןושלו”. He was worried Am Yisrael would not be able to relate and connect to him on the same level they would with Aharon. Aharon did not speak to ׳ה face to face like Moshe did. Therefore, Moshe wanted to give Aharon that תוחילש, since the connection he would have with Am Israel would be more relatable.
Chazal say that Moshe was able to give his big speech because at יניס רה all the sick people and people with deformities healed. Therefore, Moshe also healed from his דבכְּ ןושלו הפ, and Am Israel went up to a higher level. Moshe actually went up on a higher level, but so did Am Yisrael, so he was able to communicate with, and relate to them. Sometimes, a teacher, mechanech, Madrich, etc. might say “Who am I to teach or educate? There are others who are on a much higher level than me”! As we learn from Moshe, to be able to educate and speak to the nation, you need to be able to relate to them.
Mizrachi and Yeshiva University
Present
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter in Raanana for a full Tisha B’Av Program
Monday Evening, August 12 / באב
Tisha B’Av in the Aftermath of October 7th
7:45 PM at Shivtei Yisrael (Har Sinai 17) Maariv
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter: Intro to Eicha Shiur: On the Commemoration of Jewish Tragedy
7:50 PM at KLR (Ahuza 198) Maariv
Rabbi Doron Perez: Intro to Eicha Shiur: Eicha – How could this happen?
Tuesday, August 13 / באב
8:00 8:45 10:45 11:00 13:30 14:15 17:00
Full Day Kinot and Commentary Program with Rabbi Schacter at Ohel Ari (Ravutsky 98)
Shacharit
Introduction to Kinot – The Impact of October 7: Present and Future
Break
Kinot and Commentary
Mizrachi Tisha B’Av videos featuring Rabbi Doron Perez, Jen Airley and Michal Santhouse
Kinot and Commentary
Mincha
The program this year is dedicated in honor of the bravery of all our soldiers, in memory of all the fallen soldiers and civilians since Simchat Torah/October 7th and to the comfort of all their families, for the speedy return of all our hostages and for the full and speedy recovery of all our soldiers. The program will also be broadcast live at mizrachi.org/kinotlive
Sponsored by Martin and Irene Kofman, Shuli and Avi Rockoff, The Barth, Fiedler and Ratzersdorfer families, and two anonymous donors.
