Devarim/Tisha B'Av

1. Tisha B’Av has a Partner!

Tisha B’Av has a partner holiday.

....Pesach.

Chazal teach us that whatever day of the week the first day of Pesach falls on, that is the day that Tisha B’Av will fall on in the same year.  They are linked by the calendar.

And they are linked by theme as well.  Pesach is redemption, Tisha B’Av is exile. 

Yet on Pesach, under all the joy, there is an undercurrent of mourning—the egg, the missing korban Pesach, the absence of which hangs like a cloud.  Pesach Seder in the Galut is like celebrating the birthday party of a dear loved one—who is not with us.

And yet, too, on Tisha B’Av, buried deep within its sadness, is the reason for the holiday: כל המתאבל על ירושלים רואה וזוכה בבנינה.  There is a tradition that Mashiach will be born on Tisha B'Av.  One who mourns for Jerusalem merits to see it rebuilt.  We mourn in order to sharpen our sense of loss, and loss is born of caring, which bears the seeds of hope.   Our very mourning is girded with hope. 

2. Polite hints and verbal cues?

We’ve all been in situations where we are too polite to directly tell someone that they are intruding on our personal space, or on our time, so we try all sorts of gentle verbal hints and body-language cues, but usually-- these subtle hints do not work.

It is surprising, therefore, to see how in Parashat Devarim, which we read the week before Tisha B’Av, our Rabbis explain Moshe’s description of the travels of the Jewish people as a type of subtle hint of rebuke.  Look, for example, at how Rashi explains that each of the places Moshe mentions is a hint to a sin that the Jewish people committed in the desert, and therefore a chastisement.

In light of how ineffective subtle hints are, it is surprising that Moshe chastises the people so indirectly, through hints and innuendo.   It is so ineffective!  Why would he do such a thing?

3. The Parallel in the Partners

Maybe another similarity to Pesach reveals that Moshe was not dropping hints at all, but painting his telling with layers of meaning in order to make the experience real for the new generation about to enter Israel. 

On Pesach, we have an obligation to see ourselves as if we personally left Egypt.  חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים.  When we go beyond intellectual understanding and bring ourselves to re-experience redemption, then when we say thank you, we really mean it.  We feel happy naturally.

Perhaps on Tisha B’Av, we also have an obligation, parallel to Pesach, to see ourselves as if we personally were present at the Churban Beit Hamikdash and the litany of tragedies that followed.

When we go beyond intellectual understanding and bring ourselves to re-experience calamity, we bring ourselves from outward mourning to a sense of loss, and from a sense of loss to caring for our people and for others.  Caring is the exact opposite of שנאת חינם; it fosters unity, and bears the seeds of redemption.  כל המתאבל על ירושלים רואה וזוכה בבנינה