Page 30 - HaMizrachi Tisha B'Av AUS 2021

TISHA B’AV READING

Rabbi Judah Mischel

We are All from

Yerushalayim

hen beloved Israeli author, In the Torah’s account of Ya’akov Avinu Israel” (Eicha 2:1). Reb Shlomo Halberstam,
Shmuel Yosef “Shai” Agnon fleeing his brother Eisav’s wrath, Ya’akov The Bobover Rebbe, explains this pasuk in
was awarded the Nobel is alone, surrounded by darkness, and connection to Ya’akov Avinu. The glory
WPrize for Literature in 1966, sleeping on the cold ground. Suddenly, he (tiferet) of Israel (Ya’akov) is our achdut, our
his famous acceptance speech revolved experiences a “vision of the night”: he sees togetherness, the oneness of our greater
around his Jewish identity, his relation- a ladder to Heaven with angels “ascending family. This is what was cast to the ground.
ship to Torah, his love for Yiddishkeit and and descending,” and realizes he is in the Indeed, as is well known and oft-quoted
his kesher to Yerushalayim. future Makom haMikdash, the place of the but tragically not yet internalized, the
Holy Temple. Temple was destroyed due to sinat chinam,
When asked by Gustav VI, the King of baseless hatred (Yoma 9b). The Bobover
Sweden, where he had been born, Agnon Ya’akov Avinu represents and expresses Rebbe concludes that the rebuilding of
replied, “Your Majesty, like all Jews, I come the midda of tiferet, ‘splendor,’ which is the the Temple will come through reclaiming
from Jerusalem.” quality of the harmonious uniting of oppo- our people’s tiferet, our achdut – our efforts
sites. In his night vision, he sees a place
In his speech, Agnon addressed the hon- and a time in which he and his brother toward shalom.
ored assembly and again spoke of his con- The halachot of Tisha B’Av restrict us from
nection to our eternal capital: “As a result will be in harmony and peace, in which she’eilat shalom, greeting one another. In
of the great catastrophe in which Titus of the Jewish family will be reunited. When any case, how can we wish each other
ִ
he awakens, he is inspired to pray, י ּ ת ְב ַׁש ְו
Rome destroyed the Holy City and Israel shalom aleichem on a day when we deeply
ָ
was exiled from its Land, I was born in י ִב ָא תי ֵּב ל ֶא םֹול ׁש ְב – “and I shall return to my feel the lack of shalom and shleimut in the
father’s house in peace...” (Bereishit 28:21).
one of the cities of the Exile, Buczacz. But world?
I always regarded myself as one who was We too, through shalom and brotherhood,
born in Jerusalem. In a dream, in a vision are charged to restore the splendor and Consider: is there someone we are
of the night, I saw myself standing with my beauty of Am Yisrael. ‘Ya’akov’ will then rise estranged from, a former business asso-
brother Levites in the Holy Temple, sing- up from the ground, the dawn will break, ciate, an old classmate, friend or family
ing with them the songs of David, King of and we will return to י ִב ָא תי ֵּב. member from whom we have grown dis-
Israel…” ְ tant? Perhaps now is the right time, the
ָ
ְ
ִ
ל ֵא ָר ְשִי ת ֶר ֶא ְפ ּ ת ץ ֶר ֶא םִי ַמ ּׁ ש ִמ ךי ִל ׁש ִה – “He has cast opportune time, to extend a she’eilat shalom.
ׂ
◆◆◆ down from heaven to earth the glory of
It has been 2,000 years since our “brother
Photo: Sharon Gabay and achdut to our neighbors, sisters and
Levites” have sung those songs in the
Beit HaMikdash. May we extend shalom
brothers, and make efforts toward repair-
ing relationships, and may this bring us
closer to our birthplace, our י ִב ָא תי ֵּב, our
Father’s home.

Rabbi Judah Mischel is Executive Direc-
tor of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Acad-
emy for Special Children, Mashpiah of
OU-NCSY and founder of Tzama Nafshi.

A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
mizrachi.org/speakers

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