Aliyos Yerushalayim

Torah InSite: Spiritual Environmental Awareness

By R’ Yitzchak Snyder

     A Message about T’sha B’av

     Sefer Devarim, the fifth and final book of the Pentateuch begins with Moshe skillfully delivering a powerful rebuke to the Jewish people. I say it was powerful because he did not hesitate to point out where they had gone wrong, and I say skilled because it did not come at the cost of the honor and respect of those who received his rebuke.

     Moshe did not say “Hey, remember how you messed up and worshiped the golden calf!” That would have been tactless. Instead he recalled their journeys through the desert to places that never existed. You may be asking yourself, “Now, how was that a rebuke?” Fair question. Moshe used his creative talents to engineer names of places that would surely remind them of what they did wrong along their forty-year wondering in the desert. For example: Moshe said “And Di-zahav” which translates literally to “and [the place] Di-zahav.” However, with a minor adjustment of the vowels the words take on a whole new meaning and transform “and [the place] Di-zahav” into “an abundance of gold” skillfully hinting to what they used to make the idol of the golden calf. All this in order not to detract from the honor of the Jewish people (Devarim 1:1, Rashi).

     Another idea can be mentioned here, one that I heard from my Rosh Yeshiva. Moshe wasn’t simply making up names of places in order to imply what they did wrong, but he did this through names of places specifically to teach them that not only did they sin, but their sins polluted that place that hosted them for that moment. Our negative actions actually pollute the spiritual atmosphere which surrounds us.

     This leads us to an amazing midrash about the Beis Hamikdash (the Holy Temple of Jerusalem). The midrash relates the story about Yoseph ben Meshisa, a Jew who rebelled against his people and assisted the Romans in their mission to destroy the Beis Hamikdash. He offered his services to the Romans as a scout who led them through the Land of Israel to where the Beis Hamikdash stood. As payment for his loyalty the Roman general offered him the opportunity to take whatever “treasures” he wanted from the Beis Hamikdash. Yoseph entered and took the golden menorah, but when he returned to the Roman camp the general denied him of his treasure, being that it was so valuable and he was just a commoner.

     The Roman general then ordered him to go and take another prize for himself. This time, however, Yoseph refused to go saying: “I’ve defiled the Lord’s Temple once, must I do it again!” Seeing that Yoseph had seemingly changed his ways, the Roman’s began insisting that he go, torturing him for his refusal until he finally died.

     The Ponevezher Rav asks a simple question about this midrash: what was it that changed Yoseph ben Meshisa? One minute he’s a evildoer, the next a righteous Jew! The answer he says is simple: entering the kedusha (sanctity) of the Beis Hamikdash changed him

     We learn from this a powerful message: just as out actions can impact our spiritual environs, so too our spiritual environs can impact us.

     Many of the discussions revolving around T’sha B’av focus on what the Jews living at that time did, and how their sins of loshon hara (gossip) and baseless hatred towards each other brought about the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. These ideas are very important indeed and we won’t see the Beis Hamikdash rebuilt until we ourselves correct this behavior. But can we really make such a change? Do we really care? I think if we really appreciate what we are missing, what a place a sanctity can do to a person, that will be the catalyst for us to improve our ways and merit to see the third Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days.