When we speak of Tisha B’Av, we commonly speak of the three weeks, the 9 days, and, of course, the day itself. But the day that leads into Tisha B’Av has special rules that, when you think about it, are very meaningful.
The day of Tisha B’Av is one of untold disasters for the Jewish People. The Talmud (Taanit 29a) tells us that the tragedy where the people believed the libelous report of the spies and “the people wept that night.” “That night” was Tisha B’Av. Says the Talmud:
וּכְתִיב: ״וַתִּשָּׂא כׇּל הָעֵדָה וַיִּתְּנוּ אֶת קוֹלָם וַיִּבְכּוּ הָעָם בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא״, אָמַר רַבָּה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: אוֹתוֹ לַיְלָה לֵיל תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב הָיָה. אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: אַתֶּם בְּכִיתֶם בְּכִיָּה שֶׁל חִנָּם — וַאֲנִי קוֹבֵעַ לָכֶם בְּכִיָּה לְדוֹרוֹת.
And it is further written: “And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept that night” (Numbers 14:1). Rabba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: That night was the night of the Ninth of Av. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: You wept needlessly that night, and I will therefore establish for you a true tragedy over which there will be weeping in future generations.
And so it has been over the years. The list of catastrophes that have fallen our nation over the last 2,500 years has been unceasing. Here’s just a sampling:
- The Spies Returned With a Bad Report (1313 BCE)
- The Destruction of the First and Second Temples (423 BCE and 70 CE)
- The Battle at Betar (133 CE)
- The Romans Plowed the Beit Hamikdash (70 CE)
- The Jews Were Expelled From England (1290)
- The Jews Were Banished From Spain (1492)
- Deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto (1942)
- Deadly Bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2001)
One of the less commonly appreciated dates is August 1, 1914. I personally mark this date as the beginning of the Holocaust for it was on this date that Germany declared war on Russia thus exploding the war into World War I. August 1, 1914 was Tisha B’Av.
How easy it would be to look at the unending tragedies, exiles, deportations, blood libels, pogroms, and more, and become despondent. How can we know that Hashem loves us when we have had so much misfortune in our history. Nor is this merely a historical question. We live in an age where hatred of Jews is once again fashionable and where the libelous PR of the Hamas terrorist organization is accepted as fact not only by the nations of the world but by many well meant people within our own communities and families. How will this end? Where is G-d’s merciful love for his people?
George De Santayana famously said that those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. A close look at history gives us a clear answer to our dilemma.
The Talmud (Megillah 13b) makes the following statement:
דְּאָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: אֵין הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַכֶּה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן בּוֹרֵא לָהֶם רְפוּאָה תְּחִילָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כְּרׇפְאִי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וְנִגְלָה עֲוֹן אֶפְרַיִם״.
Rava explains: As Reish Lakish said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, does not strike at the Jewish people unless He has already created a remedy for them beforehand, as it is stated: “When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered” (Hosea 7:1).
Let’s look at Jewish history over the last 150 years. In the early 1880s there were waves of pogroms (anti-Jewish riots) in the Russian Empire which caused approximately 250,000 Jews to emigrate to the United States and approximately 25,000 Jews to emigrate to Palestine. Between 1903 and 1906 there was another wave of pogroms which brought about 1.5 million Jews to the United States and 25,000 to Palestine.
In 1897, a Jewish reporter by the name of Theodore Herzl stated that “within 5 years, certainly within 50, there will be a Jewish State in Palestine.”
It was only after these momentous events, which established both the United States and then Palestine as new havens for Jews that the horrific events of 1914 could be begin the worst period in human history which left about 110-125 million dead over the two wars and 6 million dead in the worst genocide the world has ever known. As I see it, G-d first prepared a haven for the remnant to go to before he unleashed the horrors of the world.
Mark Twain wrote:
He has made a marvellous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?
To me, it seems clear that the secret of our immortality is simply Hashem’s love for his people. Although he deems it necessary to do things that we find repugnant and difficult, in the end we see his love because, in the final analysis, we are still here. No people has experienced what we have and survived to tell the tale.
The rules about Erev Tisha B’Av are critical because they are not based on the concept of self punishment. The basis for these rules is an acknowledgement that we and our brethren have survived more trials and hatred than any other people on earth. We may be comfortable here in the United States, but our brethren in Israel are under fire not only physically but politically as well throughout the world. The world has gone insane and insists on rewarding the murderers of babies and accusing the victims of the crimes they suffered. It would be no different if the world were to accuse us of wearing the SS uniforms and running the gas chambers in Auschwitz with the Nazis cast as the victims. It is grotesque in the extreme.
Shabbat is our sanctuary. We cannot mourn on Shabbat. But, even when we are safe in that sanctuary, do we not have a duty to feel with our brothers and sisters in danger? Do we not have a duty to feel the pain of families who still await the return of their kidnapped family members? Do we not, to the best of our ability, have an obligation to declare our solidarity with the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sons, and daughters, who mourn those who fell in battle or during the uncountable number of terrorist incidents in Israel and around the world?
No, we do not mourn on Shabbat. Nor should we conduct the final meal on Shabbat as we would during the week. Shabbat is key to our covenant, our contract, with G-d. But, we should be mindful that the day we are entering is one which we must stop and feel the pain of our people. When a Jew is murdered 6,000 miles away, it must feel like a member of our family was taken from us for that is exactly what it means.
The Talmud (Berachot 31a) relates the following story:
רַב אָשֵׁי עֲבַד הִילּוּלָא לִבְרֵיהּ, חֲזַנְהוּ לְרַבָּנַן דַּהֲווֹ קָא בָדְחִי טוּבָא. אַיְּיתִי כָּסָא דְּזוּגִּיתָא חִיוָּרְתָּא, וְתַבַּר קַמַּיְהוּ, וְאִעֲצִיבוּ.
The Gemara also relates: Rav Ashi made a wedding feast for his son and he saw the Sages, who were excessively joyous. He brought a cup of extremely valuable white glass and broke it before them, and they became sad.
This is the basis for smashing a glass under the Chuppa… It is inappropriate to be excessively joyful when we live in a world where we are in the Diaspora and our people are under constant threat.
Our Sages of blessed memory teach us:
כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה
All of Israel is responsible for each other.
We are all part of a greater whole. Take one away and the whole is lessened. Or, as the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:9) puts it: “Whoever destroys a single life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world, and whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.”
May the Messiah come swiftly, may our hostages be returned safely, may the war end soon, and may Israel dwell securely and in peace.