Tishah B’Av is one of those rare days in the Jewish calendar that seamlessly interfaces with the ordinary weekday. On Tishah B’Av we are not clothed in our regal Shabbos or Yom Tov clothing nor do we partake in any festive meals and therein lies its power and strength. Indeed, this day is quite unique in that it is dedicated to relinquishing some of our most basic needs: the learning of Torah, eating and drinking and wearing leather shoes. But it is by focusing our attention on the meaning of the day in the manner proscribed by our sages that we can attain extraordinary results.

The intensity of the feelings of the day, superimposed upon our daily lives gives us a humbling view of our actual position in this world. It is by sitting for hours on or near the ground, in serious contemplation while fasting, that we can catch a glimpse of something about ourselves that we rarely have a chance to see.  And this glimpse can be — if we allow ourselves to take advantage of it –the inspiration for a true transformation. Tishah b’Av like teshuva aids us in reaching a profound depth within our yearning souls.  This yearning for the redemption (geula) for the time when we will find security, respect, peace and prosperity and where we will finally see an end to the  periodic eruptions that have punctuated our long exile – eruptions that  have produced  the seismographic pulsations is what we heart fully pray for all day.  

            The bitter roots of our exile were extended deeply into the soil long before the destruction of our holy Temple — their growth  stimulated through the diminution of Torah learning and by the adoption of foreign lifestyles and cultures.  

What can we do on this day to “uproot” these perennial underlying causes that continue to hinder the rebuilding of our holy Bais HaMikdash?

             On the Ninth of Av, as we accept upon ourselves the physical restrictions our Sages have imposed, we sow seeds of renewed dedication in the soil of altruistic humility that will, with the help of Hashem, bear an abundance of fruitful blessings.

               On  this day of mourning, by not wearing leather shoes on our feet, we begin to “step” unassumingly down from our pedestals of overreaching self-confidence.              

            On this day of mourning, by not using our legs to take leisurely strolls we increase our “strides” towards holiness.  

            On this day of mourning, by not washing and anointing our bodies for pleasure, we enhance our spiritual “purification”.

             On this day of mourning, by not eating and drinking, we take the reins of control away from corporal desires of our hearts and hand them over to the soul to be our guide.

             On this day of mourning, through refraining from using the thoughts of our minds for Torah study we clearly recognize the futility and emptiness of life without it. 

            And this day of mourning, the birth date of our long awaited Redeemer (Mashaich), is the very day that is the beginning of the new dawn which will bring everlasting joy and peace to all mankind.  May we merit the final geula soon in our days.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

      Bein Hametzarim – “between the tragedies.” Caught in the vise between – the 17^th of Tamuz and the 9^th of Av – days in which our Temple (Bais Hamigdash) was destroyed as well as many other calamities befell us – it is difficult to perceive any redeeming aspect of this tragic period. However, we have long understood the spiritual value that lies within adversity.  For example our Rabbis (Cazal) inform us of the benefits we derived from our period of bondage in Egypt (Mitzraim), which prepared us for the next level in the service of Hashem. In Mitzrayim we were given the opportunity to extract precious sparks of holiness that only the most challenging of events and epochs could release.  

       Let us try to reveal a redemptive, positive view of this difficult period that we re-visit each year at this time. Perhaps one of the “keys” to releasing ourselves from personal and national bondage lies, ironically, in the name for the period – “Bein Hametzarim”.

               Why is this time called “between the tragedies” and not “the time of tragedies”? The nature of many people, when beset by difficult challenges, is that they tend to become overwhelmed and even imprisoned in their own personal “bars” of anguish and hopelessness. Yet, many of us know those exceptional people who, in seemingly overwhelming circumstances, are able to overcome restrictions focusing not on the bars – of limitation – but on the spaces “between” them – the inner messages that offer new vistas of growth and change which are encoded “within” the challenges.

            Cazal have foretold that one day the inner lights of these days called Bein Hametzarim will be unveiled revealing the crowning gem, our long awaited Moshiach, whose birth  date is the 9^th of Av (Yerushalmi, Brachos).

            Sfas Emes tells us that the ten sayings (maamoros) with which the world was created world were later channeled in Mitzraim through the ten plagues (makot) and finally revealed in the form of the Ten Commandments.[1] These ten sayings were the Divine D.N.A. that G-d used to formulate the world.  Had mankind cooperated and obeyed Hashem’s commandments, the world would have achieved perfection; however because of the various sins throughout the generations, a process of purification was deemed necessary including the ten plagues (macot) for the Mitzriyim (at  the same time that the Jewish people were the recipients of blessings) that led eventually to the exodus.        However, since freedom from physical bondage was not the final goal, the benevolent Creator led us to Har Sinai and gave us the Torah whose essence is coded within the ten commandments.  Perhaps we can draw a parallel from this to draw another connection among numbers: the twenty-two letters (oisios) of the Torah, twenty-two days of Bein Hametzarim and to twenty-two of our holiest days. As is well known the entire creation was and continues to exist through the twenty-two holy osios of the Torah. However, due to the ongoing failings of mankind, specifically the Jewish people have designated to be a holy nation charged with rectifying and elevating the whole Creation. We are assigned at times to descend into the darkest, most dangerous realms of time in the calendar year[2]  in order to reveal the inner radiance their intrinsic holiness. It is specifically during the depths of the frigid winter referred to as SHOVAVIM (TAT), during which the Torah reading retells of the bondage of our forefathers, that we can access the spiritual “genetics” necessary to rectify not only that period but all challenging times. This lofty goal is achievable through the dynamic vibrant power contained within the twenty-two readings (aliyot) of the Torah beginning with the story of Moshe our teacher (Rabbinu) and the burning bush (sneh) (the forth alia in Parshas Shemos), ( then seven alias each in Parshas Va’eira and Parshas Bo) and ending with the splitting of the Yam Suf (forth alia of Pashas Beshalach) for a total of twenty-two aliot.

         It is specifically through the Torah, our spiritual catalyst, that even during the most  twenty-two searing intense summer days of Bein Hametzarim will be transformed in the near future into days of joy. Adhering to the Torah’s prescriptions will enable us to make the transition from the grip of stifling bondage to new heights of freedom in days of Divine radiance. Each and every day of the Bein Hametzarim period contains within it the seeds – the inner essence – of twenty-two of our holiest days.  [3]

            May all of us merit to see, feel and experience the blessings encoded within each and every one of these days, thereby transcending the galus of limitation to arrive at the ultimate redemption (geulah).

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia