Words From Rabbi White

First and foremost: Mazal tov to our centenarian, who joined Shevet Achim before I was born, and who was active in the Shevet Achim shul and sisterhood: our Number 1 member, Helen Scharf-Kern. May HaShem bless you with good health, and good memories, ”biz hundert un tvantsig.”

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We are now in the midst of the period known as the “3 weeks,” or, in Hebrew “bein ha-metsarim,” [literally "between the borders," perhaps alluding to the word “tsarah,” meaning, difficulties. And to take it a step further, perhaps the Hebrew is related to the word “tsar,” meaning “narrow,” that is, the time when we feel hemmed in, limited in our enjoyment. In Yiddish called the “drai vokhn.”]

This is the saddest time of the year. Outward expressions of this sadness can be seen in the fact that we don’t get haircuts, don’t listen to happy music, and especially don’t celebrate weddings during this time.

The feeling of sadness and mourning intensifies this coming Wednesday, the 26 July, with Rosh Hodesh Av; intensifies more on Sunday, 23 July beginning “the week when TBAV falls;” intensifying even more Wednesday 26 July, known as “`erev TBAV,” and then reaches its climax Thursday, 27 July, Tisha Ba’av.

What happened?  What caused the Temples to be destroyed and the people to either be killed or go into exile? And to be considered such a great calamity that we still mourn after thousands of years?

One answer, based on what the Talmud says referring to students of R. Akiva during the omer period, could be “she-lo’ nahagu kavod zeh bazah,” that is, the Jews couldn’t get along with one another, leading to a deterioration in security, and thus weakening the resolve of the people, and strengthening the resolve of the enemy.

And so, we can only pray, as we hear the news from Israel today, that a similar situation is not being created. How is it possible for people to create massive traffic jams, knowing that the lives of innocent people are endangered? [I saw on the news today how a family left their little child in the middle of the highway, in order to add to the traffic woes.  What??!!! A Jew would do that??]

I wish the people of Israel could heed the words of the “man of God” Shemaiah, when Rehav`am the King of Judah and Benjamin was about to embark on a war against Yerav`am, the leader of the Northern tribes, “do not fight against your brethren from the north, go back home!!!  ...and they listened to the word of Hashem.”  [See I Kings, chapter 12]

Let us pray for peace, not just with our external enemies, but especially with our brethren.

Shabbat shalom, Shalom `al Yisrael Rabbi Menahem