Shortly after the
holidays of Pesach and Succos the Jewish calendar shows three days of penitence
which taking place consecutively on Monday, Thursday, and Monday. They are
referred collectively by an abbreviation for their day of the week, Bahav בה"ב. In synagogue a blessing is given for
people who fast on them. Very few people today actually fast on them, however
many congregations will say Slichos, penitential prayers, as part of the
morning service.
The reason given for
this custom is to atone for inadvertent sins and levity during the preceding
holiday. Tosfos on Gemara Kidushin 81a explains that the festivals are the most
hazardous days of the year when it comes to being alone with the opposite sex
or actual transgression because this is the time men and woman gather together
to hear religious sermons and will be given to looking at each other. The
comment concludes by bringing an opinion that this is the reason for the fasts
after Passover and Shavuos.
This Tosfos is a
commentary on a Talmudic story whose theme is that the sorest spot, meaning the
most hazardous time, of the year are the festivals. It then recounts how
redeemed captive women, meaning they would be receptive to an advance, were
being sheltered in the attic of Rabbi Amram, a pious sage. To deter any
misbehavior the staircase to the upstairs was removed. That night a light
shined on one of the woman. The rabbi than grabbed the staircase that ten men
could not lift, set it up, and proceeded to ascend. When he was half way up, he
shouted there’s a fire in Amram’s house. The rabbis quickly came and rebuked
him. Rabbi Amram then exorcised the temptation to outside his body and it
emerged column of fire. The rabbi then exclaimed you are fire and I am flesh but
never the less I’m stronger than you.
The idea is that the
things that are the most sacred are also the things most prone to be profaned.
Nachmanides notes this in his letter to his son in 1267. “I’m writing
you this letter from the Holy city of Jerusalem. . . What can I tell you about
the Land? Many are its forsaken places, and great is the desecration. The rule
seems to be that the more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has
suffered. Jerusalem is the most desolate place of all, and the land of Yehuda
is even more desolate than the Galil. Even in its destruction, it is an
exceedingly good land. . . There are more than two thousand citizens . . . and
no Jews amongst them. . . There are ten men who meet on every Shabbat and they
hold services at [one of the] home[s]”.
Similarly, it is
stated in the prophet Malachi (1:7) that you bring on My altar disgusting food,
yet you say, "How have we defiled You?" By your saying, "God's
table is contemptible." Generally people do not actually say that the
table of Hashem is loathsome. Usually people are trying to be comfortable or
accommodating so they misread the halacha in such a way that they make a
mitzvah ugly when they should be making it beautiful. Other times they grasp
the surface meaning but miss the essence. The lesson of Bahav today is not so
much that we must be greatly concerned about immodesty. Religious Jews have
greatly distanced themselves from this in many ways. The real message is that
we should develop a sense of beauty and this should be applied to our holidays,
synagogues, celebrations, and communities.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
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