Words From Rabbi White

Dear Chevra Shaas/Spanish

Mazal tov to Simcha Foxman as he celebrates his 70^th birthday. We wish him and his family good health and success. Toay's kiddush is being co-sponsored by Shulamit in his honour.  (See, I haven't forgotten Canadian spelling.)

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I suppose the city of Westmount is excited that a graduate of Westmount High has been picked to run for President of the USA; the JGH is pleased that she is the daughter of a former medical researcher; and rabbis are pleased that the replacement of Biden by Harris happened in the week we read in the Torah of the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua.  At this point, all we can say is that we hope and pray for the best.

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We are now in the period of, as we say in Yiddish, the “dray vochn,” the three weeks from 17 Tammuz to Tisha be’av. We are familiar with the idea that the second Temple was destroyed by “sin’at hinnam,” baseless hatred, and we probably remember the example of this hatred, as mentioned in Talmud tractate Gittin: the story of Kamtsa and Bar Kamtsa.

The Talmud relates that a certain man had prepared a lavish feast, and sent a messenger to invite his good friend Mr. Kamtsa. Somehow, the messenger invited by mistake Mr. Bar Kamtsa, who happened to have been the enemy of the host. [Messengers make mistakes. Reminds me of when I lived at 6720 Westbury, le facteur (mailman) often would bring my mail to 6270!] When the host saw Bar Kamtsa at the feast, he told him to get out. Bar Kamtsa begged the host to let him stay, to avoid the embarrassment of being expelled in public, and even promised to pay for the cost of the banquet. The host refused and physically threw him out. Bar Kamtsa was particularly upset because some rabbis were present at that banquet and no one said anything. So, he went to the emperor to complain about the Jews of Jerusalem, leading eventually to the destruction of the city and Temple. 

That story is well known. But I would like to suggest the following. What kind of a name is Kamtsa? The word “kamtsa’” appears several times in rabbinic Aramaic meaning “locust.” It also happens to be the Aramaic translation of “nemalim” [usually understood as “ants”] in the story of the “meraglim.” Remember: when the meraglim came back from scouting the land, one of the reasons they told the people not to enter the Promised Land was that they considered themselves like “nemalim” compared to the Canaanites.  So, the people cried, and wanted to appoint a new leader to replace Moses, and to return to Egypt. So, God said, according to a famous midrash, “you are crying for nothing, I’ll give you something to cry about when the Temple will be destroyed.” [The midrash calls this “bekhiyya le-dorot.”]

So… by calling the man "son of locust," the Talmud is saying: the actions of Mr. Bar Locust, and the inaction of the rabbis who were present at the banquet, is what caused the curse caused by the meraglim to be realized. Small minded people caused the 40-year wandering in the desert; and a small-minded host and a small-minded guest and small-minded scholars caused the destruction of the Temple. Mutual respect is what will get the people of Israel through their difficult times: that was true 2000 years ago, and is true now. 

Shabbat shalom, Shalom `al Yisrael,

Rabbi Menahem White