Three weeks

This shiur is for a refuah shleima of Ayala Pamela bat Leah. May she get well very soon!

This is basically a repeat of a shiur I gave a few years ago (on a Shabbat, so it wasnt't recorded) so you can read more about it here.

I claim that one of the important (often overlooked) causes of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash was the lack of rebuke. The righteous people let the wicked people do their own thing and never protested. Rabbis sat idly by while Bar Kamtza was thrown out of the feast - that was the harshest blow and the ultimate reason that Bar Kamtza went to the Romans.

When we see someone behaving in a way that is unacceptable (whether religiously, or even in general human descency - like in the case of Bar Kamtza) we have a duty to stand up and say something. Obviously it must be said in a way which will be heard, and in a way that will distance the person (not like Yehoshua ben Perachiya who pushed away Jesus with two hands).

Rebuke - tochecha - is one of the most difficult mitzvot to do, but perhaps one of the most important mitzvot in the Torah. When people stand by and allow terrible things to happen they become as guilty as the perpetrators.

Here is the audio:
Rebuke - Three Weeks
(Right click and then 'download as')


And here are the pdf source sheets for download:
Rebuke Source Sheets

Tisha B'Av Quotes

These two quotes speak for themselves. They were written many decades ago, but apparently we have not learnt from them.

The Netziv writes in Ha'amek Davar in the introduction to Bereishis:

The praise ‘straight’ (yashar) is said about the justice of G-d’s judgment in the destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdosh because the generation were perverse and twisted. We have explained that even though they were tzadikim and chasidim and toiled in Torah, nevertheless they were not straight in their dealings with the world. Because of their hatred for each other, anyone who didn’t serve G-d according to their opinion was suspected of being a Saducee or an apikoros. Through this they came to murder through their arguments, which led to all the bad things in the world, until the Beis Hamikdosh was destroyed.

In other words, baseless hatred means invalidating someone else's worldview or hashkafa! Let's both be right, and agree that there is more than one correct Jewish path to serving G-d!

This is what the Chofetz Chaim writes about posting flyers and letters against others with whom we disagree (it is letter number 31 in his 'Letters' in the complete works of the Chofetz Chaim)

I must speak out my heart about the manner of conflict taking place among the Jewish people. One camp publicizes its view in the newspapers with the signatures of all of its backers. The other side does the same. One of them wrote 'the one with the most signatures wins', and I say the one with the most signatures is creating unnecessary conflict in Israel. All of Israel is burning like a fire as each side places more and more ads condemning their opposition. Even the holy land of Israel is becoming a subject of controversy. I don't know who permitted all of these terrible sins. Everyone is sure that he is saying the truth and it is the other opinion that is creating the argument. This is a grave error, because even if both are right, they have no right to violate the Torah. So many mitzvos are being violated. No good can possibly come out of this. Right or wrong, they are creating a chilul Hashem desecration of G-d's Name. Twenty-four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva died in one month, not because they argued, but because they argued improperly and caused a chilul Hashem. Certainly each one of these giants felt that he was right.

Everyone is going to hear divrei Torah about the evils of lashon hara at this time. The Chofetz Chaim is being quoted by everyone - but I don't remember ever hearing this letter quoted. (If you look at the original you will see he is even harsher than the extract translated here!)

For more sources on Tisha B'Av you can go to www.torahlab.org and download a free source sheet and teachers' guide.

May we merit to greet Mashiach very soon, and let us learn from the gedolim of the past generations.

9 Av Message from R' Yaakov Kaminetsky

This extract is from Emes L'Yaakov (R' Yaakov Kaminetsky) on Shulchan Aruch in the section of the Three Weeks and Tisha B'Av. It seems to me to be a very important and relevant message for today.

Emet L’Ya’akov on Shulchan Aruch OC 551 s.v. Sham

This is what the Torah means when it says “You shall teach them, and guard them to keep them”. In other words a person is obligated to learn the Mitzvot and to know well which are Torah prohibitions, which are Rabbinic, which are fences and which are customs. In other words the ‘guarding to keep’ is only possible through ‘teaching them’. It is not sufficient for a person to watch and copy every action and movement that his father does, even if his father is completely righteous. In such a case a person will not know whether his father is doing the action because it is a Halacha, or just a custom. Through this he will then come to transgress Torah prohibitions, such as causeless hatred and machloket. For this person sees others who are not doing exactly the same things as his father did, he will consider that they are transgressing the Halacha, even though they are also following the minhagim of their fathers. Through this a person will come to transgress ‘You shall love your fellow as yourself’ and ‘Do not hate your brother in your heart’ and ‘Do not make different groups’ which is the prohibition of making machloket according to the Rambam.