A Day of Introspection – Tisha B’Av 5769
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Loading ...There is a fascinating historical observation to be made. I believe that this point brings out one of the most powerful themes of the day. Let us examine it and see what we can learn as we struggle to find hope and inspiration on this nationally sad day.
We fast for the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash on Tisha B’Av, the 9th of Av. However, this is difficult to understand. The Gemara in Taanis (29a) states that the enemy only began the fire upon the Mikdash at late evening of the 9th of Av. The fire caught on and burned down the holy site throughout the entire 10th of Av, night and day. In fact, Rebbe Yochanan says that had the decision been his, he would have made the 10th of Av the day of mourning and not the 9th! Why was this not followed? The Rabbis answered him, that although the majority of the destruction took place on the 10th, we must note the beginning of the trouble and mourn starting from then. This explanation is very significant.
The Gemara (Sukka 52a) tells us that when Moshiach will come, Hashem will slaughter the Yetzer Hara, Evil Inclination. The Tzaddikim and Risha’im will watch and each will cry. The righteous people will perceive the Yetzer Hara as a mountain. They will cry in disbelief that they were able to overcome such a great challenge. The evil people will perceive him as a small hair. They will weep in retrospect that such a small thing distracted them from living their lives productively.
The question is, whose perspective is correct? Is the Yetzer Hara a mountain or is he a hair? The answer is that the sinners are correct. In truth, he really is a small and worthless creature. So what is the mountain? The answer is that it refers to foresight. The Yetzer Hara tries to get us by means of a gradual buildup. He doesn’t come to tempt us with the greatest sins first. We would never listen. Rather, he begins his lure with small things, gradually expanding the victim’s horizon. Slowly but surely he gets one to sin until one day he is able to escalate the gravity of the sins and persuade one to indulge in something that in the past he would have never dared to commit (based on Nidda 13b).
A fool does not think ahead. He justifies his actions by stating that, “it’s not a big deal”. Slowly and daily he gets more deeply sucked into the clutches of failure. The wise man understands the ramifications of his actions and knows that if he gives in to one temptation, the next time it will only be harder. The Yetzer Hara will keep building from today’s small hair, to his ultimate large mountain!
Hence, the Risha’im are correct in seeing him only as a small hair. Sins are worthless and begin small. However, the Tzaddikim have the wisdom and foresight to realize that small sins only lead to a large mountain of destruction.
This is the foresight of life. In order to succeed we must train ourselves to think ahead. We should not make light of our choices before us. We must see that the actions we take have significant ramifications.
Before Hashem sent us into exile, he sent prophet after prophet to warn us to mend our ways. The Jews were too stubborn to listen; they hid behind the fact that that their actions were only insignificant “hairs”, small sins. However, their permissiveness build up to the point that they began committing “mountainous” sins of murder, adultery, Avoda Zara and destructive speech. They were out of control. Hashem now had to put them in their place and stir them from their illusion.
If we go back to the original sin that happened on the first Tisha B’Av ever, we will find the same concept. Hashem told the Jews that He would bring them into Eretz Yisrael and take care of them. They however, did not trust Him and insisted on sending spies to check out the land. The spies came back with their slanderous report and the Jews spent the night crying. Hashem was enraged and decreed that because of their distrust He would now give them something to cry for. A “small” act that had terrible ramifications.
The Rabbis specifically instruct us to fast on the 9th of Av. This is to show us the significance of foresight. They are training us to see a small fire and the end result of destruction that it could bring. The entire day begs us to accept the message of effective thought. We are taught to see the ramifications of our actions. May we all use the day to its fullest.
Categories: Tisha B'Av
