Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Devarim / Ninth of Av / Lamentations - What Could Have Been


זַכּוּ נְזִירֶיהָ מִשֶּׁלֶג צַחוּ מֵחָלָב אָדְמוּ עֶצֶם מִפְּנִינִים סַפִּיר גִּזְרָתָם. חָשַׁךְ מִשְּׁחוֹר תָּאֳרָם לֹא נִכְּרוּ בַּחוּצוֹת צָפַד עוֹרָם עַל עַצְמָם יָבֵשׁ הָיָה כָעֵ. (איכה ד ז ח)

Her Nazirites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, their appearance was ruddier than coral, [and] sapphire was their form. [But now] their appearance has become darker than charcoal, they are not recognized in the streets; their skin is shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick. (Lamentations 4:7-8)

The book of Lamentations read on the ninth of Av is a work written by the prophet Jeremiah, which foretells the destruction of the Temples often in lurid detail. It describes the suffering of the nation of Israel and mentions their sins. It includes the verse, “We have rebelled and have been disobedient; you have not forgiven”, (Lamentations 3:42). It concludes with a prayer for restoration of past glory.

A number of verses describe the fall from the zenith of glory to the abyss of disgrace. For example the most refined and beautiful of the people have become vulgar and hideous. Those that ate dainties are starving in the streets. Those that lived in palaces are sleeping in the gutter. Dedicated mothers are cannibalizing their children. The point is the total annulment and distortion of purpose.

The main issue seems to be dignity as opposed to disgrace. When King David is on his death bed, he passes the torch to his son Solomon with a blessing and expresses the beauty and love in his heart. When King Saul’s time to pass in on him, he is defeated in battle, unsuccessfully tries to impale himself, and is finally killed by an Amalekite. Both kings are just as dead, but there is no comparison to the way that they died.

The generation of Rabbi Yochanon ben Zaki and Rabbi Akiva which saw the destruction of the second temple was just as dead as the generation of Ezra that saw its building. The generation of King Solomon which built the temple was a generation of glory and the generation of Zedekiah was a generation of disgrace, but both have passed from this world.

Even if the Temple had never been destroyed, it still would not be composed of its original material. Most likely it would have gone the way of worn out priestly garments that were used as wicks for the torches used on Jewish holidays. To have the wood and stone torched by the Babylonians and Romans and to have the sacred articles become plunder is altogether different. It also seems that the very great physical pain in these tragedies often was an external manifestation of an internal malady.
 
It’s possible to mourn a little bit about the buildings that once housed synagogues in Newark, New Jersey. However there is consolation because of the very large yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey. The reason for the change was that the Jews did not wish to continue living among black folks in an urban environment rather they preferred the seclusion of a suburb. What at one time was pleasing and profitable no long was, and instead something new and different was needed. Jewish resources were not lost they simply moved to a different place, where they continued to grow.

With this we begin to understand the destruction of holocaust, Spanish Inquisition, and many other tragedies that struck the Jewish people. Certainly we should mourn over the great horrors these people experienced, as well as the wise and righteous that perished in these calamities. However the greater loss is the wasted resources devoted to maintaining situations whose time had passed or worse were all together mistakes.

To what can this be compared? There is to feel a little bad about rejecting an unqualified applicant. There is to feel very bad about dismissing a failed student or worker after money, time, and effort has been expended on their behalf. Disgust is added if the person really did have talent but refused to use it, or squandered it, or used it for bad.

On Tisha b'Av we mourn for the destruction of the both temples as well as all of the horrors experienced by the nation of Israel through the ages. We also mourn for the lives that were cut short and the very real suffering that was part of the tragedies. Above all we mourn for the wasted lives and for what could have been had we used our talents wisely.




לע"נ הדוד לייב הערש בן אהרן ז"ל נלב"ע יז תמוז תשמ"ב
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