BREAKING BARRIERS: THE THREE WEEKS
Shira Smiles Shiur – 2015/5775
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
The Shulchan Aruch states that anyone who is yirei shomayim, truly God
fearing, should mourn the churban, the destruction of the Holy Temple.
If mourning the destruction of the Temple is the province of this elite group,
how are we who are not on such a high spiritual level to relate to this tragic
event? The deeper question the Paamei Moed points out is why are we not
pained? What is wrong with us that we do not mourn? If we realize that the Beit
Hamikdosh was the medium of our connection to God through the korbanot
(whose root means “close”), we will indeed mourn its destruction and be pained
by not sensing Hashem’s presence close to us. As Rabbi Chaim Friedlander, the Sifsei
Chaim, writes, a person who understands that his focus in life should be to
bring glory to God’s name feels the pain of not having Hakodosh Boruch Hu
nearby.
Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin explains in Nefesh Hachaim that it was not the
enemy that destroyed our Temples, but our own actions. But a parallel Temple
still exists in heaven, and even more so within our hearts, and our deeds on
earth have the power to add bricks or remove bricks that will either help
rebuild or continue to destroy the physical structure of the Beit Hamikdosh on
earth. The power of the three weeks helps us access our inner Beit Hamikdosh.
By strengthening that connection, we are adding to the not yet built Third Beit
Hamikdosh. (I am reminded of the fund raising strategy of selling bricks prior
to building an institution so that construction can actually begin.) Citing
Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, Rabbi Chaim notes that during the three weeks a person
can achieve the same level of forgiveness as on Yom Kippur by working on his
inner life. First, he must recognize and feel that something is missing from
his life. Only then will he try to improve.
God was not always so distant, continues the Nefesh Hachaim. When Hashem
first created the world, His presence was imminent and palpable. However, when
Adam sinned, He removed Himself to the first heaven. After Cain’s sin, He
removed Himself to the second heaven, and so on with each succeeding human
failing, from Enosh who first began idol worship to Egypt where all was
depravity, Hashem kept removing Himself degree by degree until He was so far
removed from earth that mankind no longer recognized His presence and
attributed everything to nature.
By contrast, there were righteous men who broke through the barriers and
brought God’s presence back to earth in similar stages. Avraham, Yitzchak,
Yaakov, Levi, Kehas, Amram and finally Moshe who, when he brought the Luchot
down from the mountain, Hashem Himself came down in a cloud with him and stood
beside him. The sin of the golden calf again removed God’s presence, but Hashem
gave us the Mishkan in the desert and later the Beit Hamikdosh as a
means of again bringing Him back within our midst and feeling His presence.
Now, even when we perform mitzvoth and chessed, it’s still hard to feel God’s
presence.
But God’s presence did not leave the Sanctuary suddenly, allowing the enemy to
destroy in one fell swoop. Our Sages tell us that the Shechinah departed
in ten stages, as Hashem hoped the nation would notice and would return to Him.
It departed first from the curtain over the Ark to the Cherub, then to the
threshold of the Inner Sanctum, and so on until it departed completely. The
enemies destroyed the shell, for the “soul”, God’s presence had left the
building. The whole purpose of the Beit Hamikdosh, and indeed of the entire
world, was to have a place where God’s presence could reside, and we have lost
it.
When will He return? Only when we return to Him. The first step in the process
is articulated in the first word of Viduy, the confessional prayer – Ashamnu
- We are guilty. We must take personal responsibility, not blame society or
circumstances.
Megillat Eicha refers to the day the Temple was destroyed as being like
a Moed, a festival. For this reason, we don’t recite tachanun on
this day. Rabbi Wolbe in Aleh Shor gives us an interesting
interpretation that fits in well with our discussion. Some festivals are
festivals of closeness and some are festivals of distance. But there is yet a
third category, as Rabbi Yonah notes, that of being in limbo, of not
recognizing or admitting your true level. For example, do you consider yourself
a good Jew because you celebrate Shabbat? However, is Shabbat merely a day of
physical “rest” and eating, or is it a day when you are enhancing your
relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. When Tisha b’Av is called a
festival, it is a festival of distance, for on this day we admit our guilt and
take responsibility for the distance we have created between Hashem and
ourselves. Taking responsibility is the first step in repairing the
relationship, and that step is cause for celebration.
The very first word of the Megillah alludes to this idea. As Rabbi Spero points
out in Touched by Our Tears, Eicha with different vowels can be
read Ayekah – Where are you? This was the question Hashem asked Adam
after he ate of the forbidden fruit. And Adam, like so many of us, was hiding,
afraid to admit his guilt. Hashem continues to ask us that question of us.
Where are we? What has become of us?
Before our birth, writes Rabbi Pincus in Exile and Consolation, each of
us took an oath to live as tzadikim and study Torah. Indeed, what has
become of us. Tisha b’Av reminds us of how broken we are, how we have not been
living up to our potential, and Hashem mourns over the destruction of the
temple within each of us and the distance between us that that destruction has
created. Thus the three weeks constitute a preparation for the teshuvah of the
month of Elul and of Rosh Hashanah.
When we had the Beit Hamikdosh, our offerings on the altar brought us closer to
Hashem and enabled us to start fresh. Now, without the Beit Hamikdosh, we are
not set adrift. We still have prayer which is meant to serve the same purpose,
to make us aware of God and reinforce our connection to Him. Rabbi Weissblum
notes in Heorat Derech that no other generation has been as challenged
as we are, with so many unholy pleasures beckoning us on all sides. Our youth,
hungry and empty of spiritual content, search to fill themselves with these
physical, fleeting pleasures. With true prayer, attention to the words, a
desire for connection through the prayer, that emptiness can begin to be filled
spiritually and can last forever.
The Rosh Chodesh insertion of the Yaaleh Veyovo prayer contains
eight terms to help us break through the seven heavenly barriers between
ourselves and Hakodosh Boruch Hu, barriers that were erected when the Beit
Hamikdosh was destroyed, continues Rabbi Weissblum. First comes yaaleh,
lifting ourselves out of our apathy and desiring change. Then comes veyovo,
putting greater emphasis on the spiritual aspects of life, connecting to
Hashem through Torah learning and zemirot on Shabbos, and
elevating the meals and rest to a spiritual purpose, for example. So one rises
from level to level until he achieves wholeness and perfection. Thus one breaks
through the iron curtains that separate us from Hakodosh Boruch Hu. This inner
work is the work of the three weeks, to rebuild the sacred temple within
oneself.
Just as each of us has our own mission, so does every creature, plant and
inanimate object that Hashem created have a purpose, writes Rabbi Reiss in Paamei
Moed. When they are able to fulfill their purpose, they are filled with joy
and sing praises to Hashem. When they cannot fulfill their purpose, they mourn
and cannot sing. When Bnei Yisroel was exiled, the paths upon which they traveled
for the three Foot Festivals mourned, for they could not fulfill their purpose.
And we mourned, for we could not fulfill our service to Hakodosh Boruch Hu as
we had done in the Beit Hamikdosh. We could not bring God’s presence down into
the world as we had done while the Beit Hamikdosh stood. We could no longer
feel whole and complete. Is it any wonder that when our captors demanded that
we sing by the waters of Babylon, we hung our harps upon the reeds and could
not sing? We pray for Moshiach and the rebuilt Beit Hamikdosh, according to the
Mesilas Yeshorim, because we want to be able to perfect ourselves
through our service to God, not to solve personal problems. That lack should
keep us in a constant state of mourning.
According to Rav Brazil, the destruction came as a result of our not fulfilling
our particular missions. We are not clones of each other, but each of us has a
unique mission that only we can fulfill. If I try to copy someone else’s
service, or by rote, I am not serving Hashem in my role. I will be unhappy and
unable to sing.
The Slonimer Rebbe the Netivot Shalom, goes so far as to say that if I
try to copy someone else’s service and mission, I am guilty of serving Hashem
through strange and improper ways. He then continues by explaining the well
known story of the potential convert who approached Shammai and asked to be
taught the Torah on one foot. According to the Slonimer Rebbe, Shammai did not
push him away, but told him there was no shortcut or cookie cutter way to serve
Hashem. The convert would have to find his own way, and that search is not
necessary simple and easy.
When the convert then approached Hillel with the same request, Hillel’s
response was, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your friend.” In
essence, writes the Slonimer Rebbe, Hillel’s response was similar to that of
Shammai. You are obligated to do what Hashem presents to you, not to someone
else. How do you know what you need to work on, besides that which presents
itself to you? That work on character which you find hateful and difficult,
that is the precise area you must seek to improve. Copy from your friend only
that which can help you in your quest for perfection.
We can now return to Adam and see how the Netivot Shalom interprets
Hashem’s question of Ayekah. Hashem is not only asking Adam, “Where are
you,” but is also asking him, “Ayeh ka – ayeh kaf shelcha – where is
your hand.” Your hand is unique, as you are. Yet you decided to take on a
different service that what Hashem gave you, and so you erred and fell.
We must recognize our uniqueness, take responsibility for our shortcomings and
work on improvement so that stage by stage, level by level, we will rise up
toward personal spiritual perfection and help bring God’s presence back to
earth. Then our songs will burst forth together with the songs of all of God’s
creation as His presence is again immanent on earth.