Devarim; Shabbat Chazon 5781; Tisha B’Av 9 Av
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BS”D July 16, 2021 7 Av 5781 Potomac Torah Study Center Vol. 8 #39, July 16, 2021; 7 Av 5781; Devarim; Shabbat Chazon 5781; Tisha B’Av 9 Av NOTE: Devrei Torah presented weekly in Loving Memory of Rabbi Leonard S. Cahan z”l, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Har Shalom, who started me on my road to learning 50 years ago and was our family Rebbe and close friend until his untimely death. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Devrei Torah are now Available for Download (normally by noon on Fridays) from www.PotomacTorah.org. Thanks to Bill Landau for hosting the Devrei Torah. New: a limited number of copies of the first attachment will now be available at Beth Sholom on the Shabbas table! ______________________________________________________________________________ Am HaTorah Congregation in Bethesda, MD invites the public to join a special SEED program, two weeks of classes, lectures, and panel discussions appropriate to the season (no charge). Schedule: https://www.amhatorah.org/docs/AmHaTorah-SEED%20Schedule-5781-2021.pdf All programs except over Shabbat are available over Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/9446820075. To join by phone,call 301-715-8592 and enter meeting ID 944 682 0075#. Meeting password is 009445#. __________________________________________________________________________________ We always read Parashat Devarim the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av. Moshe laments “Eicha,” wondering how he could cope with the laments and complaints of B’Nai Yisrael (1:12). Jeremiah repeats this moan in Megillat Eicha, which we read on Tisha B’Av, as we moan the destruction of the Holy Temple and exile of survivors to Babylon. Rabbi David Fohrman astutely observes that Megillat Eicha has a chiastic structure. For example, in chapter 1, the first half (through the first half of verse 11) has Jeremiah moaning about the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. From the middle of verse 11, however, the rest of chapter 1 has Jerusalem moaning about the its pain in losing the Temple and Jews. The pain in Eicha, and the pain of Tisha B’Av, go two ways. We mourn our losses, and God moans about His loss of His special nation and His special place to dwell among His people. To understand Tisha B’Av, we must understand that God also mourns on this day. Rabbi Fohrman brings the parallel of Eicha back to Gan Eden. After Chava and Adam sin by eating the fruit from Hashem’s tree, they realize that they are naked and hide. God calls ”Ayyekah,” His moan of pain when Adam hides from Him. God knows that Adam and Chava have disobeyed Him and that He must banish them from His special garden. Many years later, God returns His voice, this time to the Jews at Har Sinai. To replace God’s special tree in Gan Eden, God gives B’Nai Yisrael His Etz Chaim, the Torah. By following His mitzvot and studying the Torah, we can bring God into our lives and come as close to God’s presence as a human may and survive. The Haftorah this Shabbat, Isaiah 1:1-27, expresses God’s disgust with the Jews, who observe the rituals of their religion while ignoring behavior that reflect’s God’s attribute of Divine Mercy (Hashem). Isaiah had a vision of the destruction of Israel and exile of the Jews, with God refusing to listen to our prayers. Isaiah warns that the people would need to wash, purify themselves, and re-direct their society to do good, seek justice, and care for victims, orphans, and widows. Only once Jews reformed their society on the basis of caring for the weak and unfortunate would God forgive our sins and listen to our prayers. At that point, God would return our judges and restore Jerusalem. Rabbi Fohrman observes that much of the weekday Shmoneh Esrei comes from this chapter, both in sentiment and in direct quotes. (For example, bracha 11, calling for God to restore our judges, essentially quotes from 1:26). 1 The Jews during the times of Isaiah and Jeremiah should have known that God would reject a society that ignored the most disadvantaged citizens. Immediately after the Revelation (Yitro), the next parsha (Mishpatim) translates Aseret Dibrot into specific mitzvot – virtually all based on protecting the members of society most at risk of falling behind. These themes return numerous times, so we can understand the disgust of God and the prophets when they see Jews failing to care for unfortunate fellow Jews. We must understand compassion for the unfortunate in a proper light. Too many radicals (let alone non-Jews throughout the world) blame Israel and those who love our country for defending ourselves from attacks of anti-Semites who wish to murder us. Unfortunately, too many schools, including some that take money from the Jewish Federation, teach our young people that Israel is evil because we defend ourselves from those who attack us. One result is an atmosphere where college students who go to Hillel for Kosher food service are afraid to identify themselves on campus as Jews, and high school students, even at some Jewish day schools, are afraid to let others know that they support Israel. Those who condemn Israel encourage the gangs who attack Jews in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and other communities. If we want God to listen to and answer our prayers, then we must do our part as well. Encouraging enemies to attack Jews, and blaming Israel for protecting our people from those trying to murder us, are not what God wants, absolutely not the reason why Tisha B’Av is still a fast day. We must continue to oppose anti-Semites wherever threaten us – while we also show compassion for friendly but unfortunate members of society. Too many anti-Semitic teachers confuse our young people by calling Israel a nation of vicious thugs. They then label those who send thousands of rockets a week into Israel as freedom fighters. We have a sacred duty to stop this dangerous misinformation. My beloved Rebbe, Rabbi Leonard Cahan, z”l, devoted his adult life to teaching Jews to follow the teachings of the Torah and our prophets. He understood the difference between compassion for worthy unfortunate members of society and whitewash for anti-Semites. His diligence in opposing those who deny God by opposing His people was as vigorous as his compassion for those who truly deserved our help. Unfortunately, anti-Semites, including Jews whose views are essentially anti-Semitic, are making the world increasingly dangerous for Jews – in our country as well as everywhere else in the world. May our readings and reflections over Tisha B’Av help us understand the difference – and may we do our part to correct this dangerous misinformation campaign. Shabbat Shalom, Hannah & Alan ________________________________________________________________________________ Much of the inspiration for my weekly Dvar Torah message comes from the insights of Rabbi David Fohrman and his team of scholars at www.alephbeta.org. Please join me in supporting this wonderful organization, which has increased its scholarly work during the pandemic, despite many of its supporters having to cut back on their donations. ________________________________________________________________________________ Please daven for a Refuah Shlemah for Mordechai ben Chaya, Hershel Tzvi ben Chana, David Leib ben Sheina Reizel, Uzi Yehuda ben Mirda Behla, Dovid Meir ben Chaya Tzippa; Zvi ben Sara Chaya, Eliav Yerachmiel ben Sara Dina, Reuven ben Masha, Meir ben Sara, Ramesh bat Heshmat, and Regina bat Allegra, who need our prayers. I have removed a number of names that have been on the list for a long time. Please contact me for any additions or subtractions. Thank you. _____________________________________________________________________________ Hannah & Alan 2 Drasha: Devarim: Speaking Louder By Rabbi Mordechai Kemenetzky © 1997 [Please remember Mordechai ben Chaya ( Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky) for a Mishebarach!] Moshe is saying his last good-byes to his beloved nation. He stands at Israel’s border and reviews forty years of trials and tribulations, the good times and the bad, and how his nation Israel matured to become the inheritor of the Promised Land. The first verse in this week’s portion alludes to the ensuing topics of discussion. The Golden Calf, the incident with the spies, and the time when Israel faltered at the idol Ba’al Pe’or are amongst the many issues that are re-examined. But the Torah defines Moshe’s rebuke by confining it to a specific time frame. The Torah tells us that only “after smiting Sichon, king of the Amorites, and (the giant) Og, king of Bashan, did Moshe begin explaining this Torah (rebuke) to them.” (Deuteronomy 1:4) The fact that the Torah makes a point of stating that the reproofs occurred only after Moshe smote two powerful enemies has obvious connotations. Rashi explains: “if the Jews were to say, ‘what has Moshe done for us? Has he brought us into the Land? How does he have the right to rebuke us?’ Moshe thus waited until the defeat of the last two major enemies before rebuking the nation.” Perhaps Moshe wanted to tell us a bit more. Reb Mendel Kaplan (1913-1985) was a Rebbe at the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia from 1965 until he passed away. In the later years, he would conduct an early morning class with a select group of students. He would study with them Daas Chachma U’Mussar, the magnum opus of his Rebbe, Rabbi Yeruchum Levovitz, the Mashgiach of the Mirrer Yeshiva of Europe and later Shanghai. Each day the group would meet before Shacharis (morning prayers) and listen to their elderly Rebbe discuss deep philosophical issues concerning the nature of man and the profound eternal struggle he faces.