 |
| Rav Yoseph Dov Soloveitchik - The Rav |
It is always a challenge for me to post something on Tisha B’Av
both relevant to what this day is about and relevant to our own time. In the
past I have focused on the Holocaust. More recently I have found Rav
Soloveitchik’s commentary on the Kinos.
In Kina 6, the Rav notes the pain he had when Christian
clergymen during the holocaust argued that this was proof the God abandoned us
(the Jewish people) and allowed for our
complete destruction. Thus claiming fulfilment of words of their bible. He was
confronted by these arguments and cried not only for the destruction of the
Beis HaMikdash but also for the terrible Chilul HaShem that these arguments
represented. But – among other things – the establishment of the State of
Israel put a stop to those arguments.
But I do have a quibble with another commentary the Rav made
on Kina 20. He states the essential Christian dogma that the Jews have lost the
right to the land of Israel is true to this day.
This may have been true prior to and during the Holocaust.
But there are approximately 65 million Evangelical Christians that prove
otherwise. They are often more pro Israel than many Jews are. Unless he made
that statement prior to the mid 60s - I believe that Rav was mistaken.
Another interesting point made by the Rav is his commentary
on Kina 9. Eicha is a lament about How God could do this to us. How could he
destroy our Holy Temple and perpetrateso many other tragedies against us throughout
Jewish history. It s a lament that implies no logical explanation. “How is it
posssible?’ we ask.
That is answered in the first stanza: You have done this to yourselves.
The One speaking - is God. We are responsible for our own catastrophe. And we
must accept the justness of God’s decree.
Looking at what is going on in the world today, one can readily
see that we are indeed doing it to ourselves. Our educational system was once able
to accommodate all manner of students. Today, only the best and the brightest
are accommodated. This has created a catastrophe of epic proportion in our
time. The ‘kids at risk’ phenomenon barely existed back when I was in school. There
was a place for every student. Today, if a child doesn’t measure up, there is
no room in the school for them. All of these children are at risk and many go
OTD. Or worse.
There is sex abuse and spousal abuse. There is the unsolved
Aguna crisis. There is a Shidduch crisis; the OTD crisis; the constant news stories about
religious looking Jews defrauding the government... and baseless hatred galore.
There is more divisiveness than ever in Orthodoxy today. Which results in seriously
condescending attitudes about fellow Jews to the point of embarrassing them in
public. We have learned nothing from that tragedy of the destruction of the
temple brought about because of baseless hatred. It’s still there.
So yes, we have indeed brought these tragedies upon ourselves. And apparently we will continue to do so. Because as a people we can’t seem to do what it takes to live up to the standards
God expects of us. Although there are individuals that do live up to those standards,
as a people, we fail. Which we make note of every year at this time.
When will we ever become worthy of the redemption God has
promised us? Hopefully soon - quickly in our day.
