Tisha B'Av thoughts -- 5774 (into 5775)
I have said some of this before. It's hard for me to be extra gloomy on Tisha B'Av because I dwell on these matters all year round. In fact, this year I found something somewhat refreshing in the words of Yirmayahu and the paytanim. They don't blame anyone but ourselves!
The biggest problem we have today in our attempts L'taken Olam b'Malchut Shakai is that it's far easier to blame everyone else for our problems. "It's Bush/Obama/the EU/the UN's fault...they're all anti-Semites who hate us." "It's the Arabs...kill them all and we'll be fine." "It's the chilonim trying to destroy Torah." "It's the government bowing to foreign pressures." And on, and on, and on. If we do whisper that there are problems with Sinat Chinam or anything like that, it's always "that other group." As Tom Lehrer might say, "The Chareidi hate the Dati Leumi, and the Dati Leumi hate the Chareidi, and the Belzers hate Chabadniks, and everybody hates the Jews."
Not so Yirmayahu, and not so many of the piyutim. They admit that the punishments come because WE sinned. This year I especially noticed this year the evening piyut "Z'chor Hashem Meh Haya Lanu." Beginning with the forth verse, it lists point by point the various bad things that happened during the churban, and mida k'neged mida explains what sins they were punishment for. That kind of cheshbon is exactly what we need before we can even begin to work on our problems.
Think for a minute. Do you really think that God is stupid? If He sent the Arabs/foreign governments/chilonim to punish us for our sins, and we go and wipe out those groups, do you really think He will say, "All right then, I'll let you off the hook this time?"
I don't think so...and I think that if we accomplish that destruction in anti-Torah ways, the next wave of punishment will be far worse.
I wrote this a year ago and was too tired from fasting to finish. I don't remember exactly what else I wanted to say specifically, but you know what my inclination is. Suffice it to say...we can't fool Hashem...if we somehow weasel out of one of His punishments without actually fixing our evil behavior, He will send something else. So let's listen to the N'vi'im and the paytanim and start correcting our own mistakes; then this can be the last Tisha B'Av.
The biggest problem we have today in our attempts L'taken Olam b'Malchut Shakai is that it's far easier to blame everyone else for our problems. "It's Bush/Obama/the EU/the UN's fault...they're all anti-Semites who hate us." "It's the Arabs...kill them all and we'll be fine." "It's the chilonim trying to destroy Torah." "It's the government bowing to foreign pressures." And on, and on, and on. If we do whisper that there are problems with Sinat Chinam or anything like that, it's always "that other group." As Tom Lehrer might say, "The Chareidi hate the Dati Leumi, and the Dati Leumi hate the Chareidi, and the Belzers hate Chabadniks, and everybody hates the Jews."
Not so Yirmayahu, and not so many of the piyutim. They admit that the punishments come because WE sinned. This year I especially noticed this year the evening piyut "Z'chor Hashem Meh Haya Lanu." Beginning with the forth verse, it lists point by point the various bad things that happened during the churban, and mida k'neged mida explains what sins they were punishment for. That kind of cheshbon is exactly what we need before we can even begin to work on our problems.
Think for a minute. Do you really think that God is stupid? If He sent the Arabs/foreign governments/chilonim to punish us for our sins, and we go and wipe out those groups, do you really think He will say, "All right then, I'll let you off the hook this time?"
I don't think so...and I think that if we accomplish that destruction in anti-Torah ways, the next wave of punishment will be far worse.
I wrote this a year ago and was too tired from fasting to finish. I don't remember exactly what else I wanted to say specifically, but you know what my inclination is. Suffice it to say...we can't fool Hashem...if we somehow weasel out of one of His punishments without actually fixing our evil behavior, He will send something else. So let's listen to the N'vi'im and the paytanim and start correcting our own mistakes; then this can be the last Tisha B'Av.
posted by meturgeman | 5:03 PM
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