The Nine Days

Dear friends,

The nine days are coming to a close. We are so hardened and so amnesiac that the mourning can become empty. It is a great blessing that there are so many possibilities online and in most religious areas that enable us to look at the day of Tisha b’Av with a far more intense and committed perspective than used to be possible.

When I was a child and went to Camp Emunah, following hearing Eichah, the campers would sit in a circle outside on the grass for the Kinos, read in turn by each of us. We had absolutely no idea of what we were saying, but the vast difference between this and an ordinary camp day was enough to get us at least wondering.

Nowadays, the focus isn’t so much on recalling the Temple as it is on recalling the destruction. One of the most convincing proofs of the uniqueness of the Jewish People is that we still exist. There is no universal language or culture holding us together, and even the partial return to Eretz Yisrael is not the glue that creates a unified identity. If any of you are aware of the current political divide here, you will also realize that it isn’t the kind of divide that really is just political. It is a battle for national identity between those who think Tel Aviv when they say Israel, and those who think Yerushalayim when they say Eretz Yisrael.

Maharal tells us that when Hashem decided to create Adam, He made the first human using three components: that which is completely spiritual, that which is part of the cosmos, and finally that which is physical. Each of us is a mini-universe, so all three are what make us human. At the time His decision was made, He convened His attributes and consulted them about making a human being. Chesed (which stems from the highest plane) said that we love doing chesed. By definition, chesed means giving freely. Your sense of self is a free gift, the aspect of Hashem that makes you human. It is the part of you that you use to engage with others and with the world. Peace pointed out that humans fight with each other constantly, and truth said we lie continually. What Hashem decided to do (obviously to create us anyway) is to give us a bit of truth, the Torah, which determines what you do with your stay here on earth, and can give you the rules of the game that give your life direction.

Galus has done a job on us. Most of us are so ignorant of Torah that the only thing that still holds us together is the Jewish soul, a gift from the highest sphere. We all have this in common and rediscovering this commonality may be the key to finally getting out of Galus.

When we left Egypt we had three leaders. Aharon made peace by showing each person their capacity to move beyond hatred and envy, so that even two people who were enemies could find common ground. Moshe was the soul of Israel, and gave us the truth of Torah. Miriam was the deep well from which our need to quench our thirst with closeness to Hashem comes.

You need to be an Aharon, and surround the people you encounter with the cloud of inner G‑dliness that they have under their skins. You need to be a Moshe who lives Torah and touches the part of the rest of us that knows truth when we see it. Most of all, you need to be Miriam and really want more than you already have.

On to what that has to do with your life.

At least let yourself feel vulnerable – fast, realize that something is different, and that the word “normal” doesn’t work just yet.

Love,
Tziporah