The Tragedy of Tisha B’av and the Redemption of Pesach

ewish tradition recognizes that God makes His voice heard in many different ways. One of Benjamin Blech themJ is by way of the connection Faculty, IBC Jewish Studies Program, between events and the calendar, the link between a particular date and a divine message associated with it on a to befall the Jewish people. On the consternation that the Hebrew date recurring basis. ninth of Av, the First Temple was was the ninth of Av. 10,000 were The calendar makes clear that destroyed by the Babylonians. That brutally slain in its first and history isn’t haphazard. It expresses alone would have been enough for it Jewish communities in France and the divine order. It indicates God’s to become marked as a day of national Rhineland were decimated; a grand involvement in the affairs of mankind. fasting and mourning. But history total of 1.2 million Jews were killed by It demonstrates the seder of heavenly reconfirmed Tisha B’Av’s tragic reality this crusade that started on the ninth curse or blessing. Two vivid examples five centuries later. When the Romans of Av. stand out as prime illustrations: One approached the Second Temple and The Jews were expelled from England speaks in the language of punishment put it to the torch, the Jews were on July 25, 1290 — the ninth day of and retribution, the other via the shocked to realize that their Second Av. Similarly, the Jews were expelled loving tone of reward and redemption. Temple was destroyed on exactly the from France on July 21, 1306 — the same day as the first. The first is the tragic day of the ninth ninth day of Av. In 1492, the Golden of Av, the fast of Tisha B’Av. The A short time later, the Jews rebelled Age of Spain came to a close when second is the 15th of Nissan, the day against Roman rule. They believed Queen Isabella and her husband commemorating our liberation from that their leader, Simon bar Kochba, Ferdinand ordered that the Jews the slavery of Egypt, celebrated ever would fulfill their messianic longings. be banished from the land “for the since as the festival of . But their hopes were cruelly dashed greater glory of the church and the in 135 CE as the Jewish rebels were Christian religion.” The edict of The ninth day of the month of Av has, brutally butchered in the final battle expulsion was signed on March 31, for millennia, been identified with at . The date of the massacre? Of 1492, and the Jews were given exactly the most terrible tragedies of Jewish course — the ninth of Av! four to put their affairs in history. It is almost beyond belief — order and leave the country. The and certainly far beyond statistical The First Crusade was declared by Urban II on July 20, 1095 Hebrew date on which no Jews were probability — that one and the same allowed any longer to remain in the day could have served as the identical — and when Jews looked at their calendars they realized to their great land where they had enjoyed welcome date for the greatest catastrophes and prosperity for centuries? Of

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8 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Tisha B’av 5777 course you know it had to be — the 300 others, on Monday July 18, 1994. the pessimistic words, they wept. And ninth of Av. On the Jewish calendar, the ninth of God was profoundly angered by their More recently: Historians agree that Av, 5754. lack of trust and faith. It was then that World War II and the Holocaust These cannot all be meaningless He decreed that this generation was were actually the long drawn out coincidences. Indeed, Jewish scholars unworthy of seeing the fulfillment of conclusion of World War I, which long ago linked them to a biblical the promise that they doubted. They began in 1914. Barbara Tuchman incident. Tisha B’Av has a Torah would need to spend forty more years wrote a book about that first great source. The tragedies of the ninth day in the desert until the last remnant of these people with insufficient faith World War, which she called The Guns of Av are all rooted in the same story passed away. The day of that sin, when of August. Had a Jewish scholar written responsible for the Jews being denied the book, perhaps it would have been entering the promised land of Canaan the Jews wept for no reason, was the titled with a more specific date than on their journey from Egypt. The trip ninth day of Av. “You wept today for just a month. Yes, amazingly enough, from Mount Sinai could have been no reason,” God declared. “Whenever the First World War also began, on the a very short one. The wandering in there will be occasion in the future , on the ninth day of the wilderness might have taken just to weep, it will continue to be on this Av, on Tisha B’Av. weeks instead of forty years were it very day.” (Ta’anit 29a) And still more: On August 2nd, not for the sin of the spies — a sin That edict was a powerful statement 1941, on the ninth day of the Hebrew which so greatly angered God that He about the concept of calendric linkage. month of Av, SS commander Heinrich decreed that entire generation needed God is not only the creator of the Himmler received approval from the to die out before the Jews could enter universe. He continues to be involved Nazi party for “The Final Solution.” the holy land. with it. History is not a series of One year later, to the day, the plan The Torah tells us the story. God had coincidences or inexplicable fate. And was formally implemented, the plan assured the people of the blessings that truth is repeatedly demonstrated for the genocidal elimination of the of the Land and of their ability, with by the remarkable correspondence entire Jewish people. On the ninth divine assistance, to readily conquer between specific dates and their of Av 5702 (July 23, 1942), the mass it. But the people doubted God’s significance for the Jewish people. deportation of all the Jews from the word. They insisted on sending out Tisha B’Av is rooted in tragedy. Its Warsaw Ghetto began, en route to the spies to verify for themselves the truth recurring message is the threat to death camp of Treblinka. of God’s promise. Twelve spies, one Jewish survival. And yet remarkably And yet still more: The Jewish for each tribe, scoured the land; ten enough there is within it a message of community center in Buenos Aires returned with a fearful and negative consolation and comfort. What is the was bombed, killing 86 and wounding report. When the Jewish people heard name of the month whose ninth day

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9 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Tisha B’av 5777 has been so filled with misfortune? the Lord, to take them out of the a remarkable custom that seems very It is Av — the Hebrew word for land of Egypt; this night is the strange — a custom that links the two father. No matter what happens, our Lord’s, guarding all the children of days we have seen were decreed to Father is still in heaven and we are throughout their generations.” two such dissimilar and contrasting still His children. God knows what is [Exodus 12:42] Because of the Jewish verdicts. On the very night we look happening. God cares. He will never commitment to God on this night forward to redemption, we have a forsake us. It is the message of the of the 15th of Nissan, this very day tradition of eating a hard-boiled egg, calendar and its seemingly impossible will be blessed with similar moments which many commentators explain coincidences that at the same time of joy and divine recompense in the is meant to commemorate the meal reassures us of God’s presence in spite future, culminating with messianic of mourning immediately prior to of all the calamities that befall us. redemption. It is the concept of beginning the fast of Tisha B’Av. And that is how the tragedy of Tisha calendric linkage — but this time for What is the meaning of this seemingly B’Av remarkably enough became positive purpose. bizarre connection? linked with the joyous festival of The lack of faith of the Jews in the It is the same truth that is expressed Passover. desert on the ninth day of Av a long in yet another amazing way. Tradition time ago doomed it to perpetual Just as the ninth of Av was destined teaches us that Messiah will be born on mourning. The demonstration of faith for sorrow, Passover was set aside for Tisha B’Av. What can the two possibly salvation. And just as Tisha B’Av has by the Jews who observed the first have in common? The answer is its list of horrible events throughout Passover on the 15th of Nissan imbued profound: From the tragedy of the one history, the 15th of Nissan has its that day with everlasting blessing. comes the redemption of the other. moments of divine intervention for It is at the Seder that we open the By rectifying the sin of the lack of faith blessing. The sorrows as well as the door for Elijah, the prophet appointed responsible for the divine decree of joys of the Jewish people share divine to announce the Messiah’s imminent Tisha B’Av, we will be worthy of the scrutiny and direction. arrival. It is at the Seder that we pour a blessing of redemption. It was on the 15th of Nissan that our cup of wine for Elijah to demonstrate What both of them, the 15th of ancestors in Egypt had the courage how confident we are we will surely Nissan and the ninth of Av, share is to take the blood of the lamb, the be privileged to greet him. It is at recognition of the Seder of history. national god of Egypt, and smear it the Seder, on the very same night To grasp the recurring message of on their door posts, the most public of the 15th of Nissan when our the calendar is to confirm God as demonstration of their rejection of ancestors were first redeemed, that the ultimate power behind human Egyptian idolatry and their faith in we demonstrate our faith in a historic events — and to believe with certainty God. As reward, God proclaimed, repetition of that moment. the fulfillment of our prophetically “This is a night of anticipation for It is at the Seder as well that we have promised destiny.

No matter what happens, our Father is still in heaven and we are still His children. He will never forsake us. It is the message of the calendar and its seemingly impossible coincidences that at the same time reassures us of God’s presence in spite of all the calamities that befall us.

10 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Tisha B’av 5777