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Tisha B'Av 5776

By Rabbi Moshe Meiselman

Posted on 08/12/16

Parshas HaShavua Divrei Torah sponsored by
Dr. Shapsy Tajerstein, DPM - Podiatry Care.
(410) 788-6633

In the aveilus for Yerushalayim, the nine days have the same din as sheloshim, and Tish’ah B’Av has the same din as shiva. It is real aveilus to be misabel on Yerushalayim. There is a famous story of someone who once came to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach asking for a kuloh for the dinei aveilus of the nine days. He responded that no-one ever came to him to ask for a heter to be meikil during his own chiyuv of sheloshim for his parents. The point of the dinei aveilus is to remind us that the Beis Hamikdosh was the mother and father of every Jew.


Why are we mislabel and why are we misaneh over what happened 2,000 and 2,500 and 3,400 years ago? Why should it affect us so deeply.


Now-a-days by chasunos, the trendy thing to make the aveilus for Yerushalim under the cuppoh more meaningful is to have a singer up there singing a song for Im Eshkocheich Yerusholoyim. It is strange that the only way people can connect to ruchniyus today is through a new hit song. The last thing anyone is thinking about is the churbon when a professional singer sings that song.


What does it mean to mourn for Yerusholoyim?


We open the Kinos on Tishah B’Av with the word “shovas”! Everything stopped at that moment. Nothing remained the same as it was when we had Beis Hamikdosh. Life before the churbon and life after the churbon were two different worlds.


There are certain events that irrevocably changed human history. For instance, people focus on the Holocaust for various reasons. But there is no denying that it was a historic trauma to the Jewish community. There was life before the war and life after the war and very little resemblance between the two worlds. The centers of Yiddishkeit were uprooted from Europe and transplanted in the U.S. and Israel. It dominates the context of contemporary Jewish history.


But the churbon Yerusholayim was all of this plus an added dimension.


Why?


Because the Beis Hamikdosh was not just a house of worship. Korbonos were not just a way of avodoh then like our tefillos are a way of avodoh now. After Ma’amad Har Sinai, the next thing they did was to prepare a Mishkon. The Ramban writes that the purpose of the Mishkon was to maintain that unique gilui schechinoh that we experienced at Har Sinai. That experience was artificial at the time—they were raised to a level of nevuoh that was one level lower than Moshe Rabbeinu. The question that confronted them was how to make that experience of connection a permanent part of their everyday experience.


The fact that Hashem is present in our everyday lives demands that we make ourselves worthy of that presence. When we chose not to live on that level, then the experience will not be there. Hashem comes to us only when we respond. At the end of the Megillas Eichoh, the novi says Hashem is always running this world. Whether we feel it or not, does not change this reality. Yet we ask why is Hashem abandoning us, and we plead for Hashem to return to us and renew our days as of yore. We lost the Beis Hamikdosh and the task of doing teshuvoh is that much more difficult. So we ask Hashem to help us do teshuvoh and feel that intimate presence once again. We know we have failed and we are found contemptible. How can we come close again despite the extreme wrath? Your eternal promise that made Klal Yisroel His chosen nation is the guarantee that we will eventually be brought back.


When at the closing of the period of nevuah we receive the last nevuoh of Malachi, we read these final words from Hashem. Until now we had a Beis Hamikdosh and a novi in order to connect with Hashem. Now, all we have left is Torah and teshuvoh. The Beis Hamikdosh was not simply a great national structure which was destroyed. When we talk about being sent into golus, we aren’t talking about loss of sovereignty and political autonomy in Eretz Yisroel. We are talking about a spiritual state of decline and detachment. Hashem’s presence is no longer felt by us. We have “hester ponim.” This means when Klal Yisroel experience open nissim, the presence of Hashem is clear and undeniable. Now it is hidden and we can only have emunoh that it exists.


The first calamity we have from the churbon is the departing of nevuoh and ruach hakodesh. But the novi tells us that growing and building ourselves in Torah will make us worthy of nevuoh again. Hashem will send Eliyahu Hanovi himself.


Why?


Once we build ourselves up through Torah, then Hashem can reciprocate with an inspiration to do teshuvoh. But without the background and rootedness in Torah, the inspiration can come and the inspiration can go. This is the story of the Six Day War which sparked an inspiration among the most secular highest military ranks in the IDF and started a teshuvoh movement. But the inspiration for the average secular Israeli was a fleeting encounter soon forgotten. If there would be an open miracle happening today broadcasting for all to hear that Hashem is the only power in this world, I am convinced that 80% of Orthodox Jews of the world would be looking for a scientific explanation for the phenomenon and not be moved one iota to do teshuvoh. They have become a part of the modern world.


In order for Eliyahu Hanovi to bring Klal Yisroel back to their former glory, there has to be a heaviy investment in the advancing of limmud haTorah.


The Midrash describes the four exiles of the Jewish People and says that at the end of time when the the historical forces that guide the history of the Jewish people spirals to a conclusion then at the end of the process, the ruach of moshiach will only blow to herald the end of history when there is a deep and vast investment in limud haTorah. Without it, all the inspiration of Eliyahu Hanovi will not do the job on its own. It needs people grounded in Torah to make the inspiration into a reality.


There are different ways one can bring Hashem into our daily lives. Some of these ways change from era to era. But one constant is limud haTorah.


There is a very important midrash which describes the hesitancy by the Anshei Knaesses Hagedoloh in building the second Beis Hamikdosh. They feared, the old idolatry which brought about the first churbon can bring about the second one. They davened and the yetzer horo for idolatry was removed. We don’t relate do this yetzer horo today because of their success.


But the success was a double-edged sword. The lure and the attraction of avodo zoro was the ability to tap into a power spiritual force that was palpable. People in the ancient world had a sense of the immanence of the spiritual reality which manifested itself in the physical objects of their everyday lives. They worshipped these spiritual essences. But with the rebuilding of the second Beis Hamikdosh, this palpable sense of spirituality was pulled back generally—it affected nevuoh and the presence of the Schechinoh. To compensate for this enormous loss, the Anshei Knesses Hagedoloh davened that Hashem reveal to them all the secrets of Torah Sheba’al Peh. The midrash tells us that this was a precondition they made, and Hashem fulfilled their request. There was an explosion of the knowledge of Torah Sheba’al peh at the onset of the period of Bayis Sheni.


The lesson here is clear. Throughout the generations, despite all the losses and all the setbacks we’ve experienced in our ability to connect to Hashem on a daily basis, the one tool we still have to make that deep connection is limud haTorah. We have it in the middle of golus, hester ponim, and everything. Klal Yisroel have been able to hold on through all the dark times through limud haTorah and this is why limud haTorah will be necessary to bring the final geuloh.


Tish’ah B’Av is a time to mourn the loss of the intimate presence of the Schechinoh in our midst. There were ten nissim that occurred daily in the Beis Hamikdosh. But we didn’t respond accordingly and Hashem took those experiences away. We lived our lives on the wrong level and we no longer feel that presence. We mourn that loss, but we need to take steps to rectify it as well. And the novi tells us explicitly that the way to rectify it is through limud haTorah.


We have to build ourselves up spiritually to the point where Eliyahu Hanovi could relate to us and we would be able to respond to his demands for elevation before Moshiach can arrive. We can only do this through limud haTorah. Tish’ah B’Av is a day of avodoh and we need to be prepared to do the avodoh of Tish’ah B’Av in the proper way. We read and appreciate the depths of what we lost, and we need to realize that the path to correct our mistakes has to be started.


Boruch Hashem we have a proliferation of limud HaTorah that is unprecedented in modern times. But learning alone will not do the job. Torah is not just an intellectual exercise and a Yeshivah is not summer camp. A Beis Midrash is a mokom kodosh. Idle talk in the bais medrash, wearing casual clothing and footwear is not appropriate just as it is not appropriate when meeting a human dignitary.


The Torah itself is devar Hashem. If we treat it as dvar Hashem, Hashem will respond and make it more accessible to us. But we need to treat it as such.


We need to prepare for Tishah B’Av by learning the Megillas Eichoh and Kinos with classic meforshim. See how they looked at and understood churbon. Without serious introspection, the nine days become an obstacle course. We put on five changes of clothing before Rosh Chodesh and we make a siyum every day in order to have meat. We find all the tricks and shortcuts to avoid feeling the depth of the loss of Schechinoh. We mourn the fact that we have lost touch with the ability to mourn. “Mi yiten roshi mayim.”