Page 37 - HaMizrachi Tisha B'Av AUS 2021
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TISHA B’AV READING



                                                                                               Matt Marks


                                        The Danger of



                                        Independence





                 asechet Taanit 29a teaches                                     They feared becoming them – transform-
                 that the various calamities                                    ing into magnificent sabras and forget-
                 of Tisha B’Av can be traced to                                 ting about their relationship with a G-d
       Mthe report given by the spies                                           they no longer needed. Like industrious
        sent to scout Eretz Yisrael. The causative   The spies were not going to   children that find work, an apartment of
        link between the sin of the spies and the   embarrass the Land. They    their own, and in becoming embroiled in
        tragedies of Tisha B’Av should compel us   were looking to embarrass    their own lives, forget to call home – the
        to investigate this sin to better understand   the worshippers of the   Jewish people were about to discover the
        what lies at the root of this tragic day.  Land – the desert Zionists,   glory of independence. They would no

        The spies reported that the Land contained   those individuals committed   longer need the manna or the clouds of
                                                                                glory – instead, their sustained and exalted
        giants, but why were the spies so afraid   to entering Eretz Yisrael.   existence would be the work of their own
        of them? While it is true that the Jewish                               hand, nothing more: Complete indepen-
        people had undergone generations of slav-                               dence – from G-d.
        ery and were, perhaps, psychologically
        unready to seize their spiritual inheri-                                On Chanukah, I started to sense that their
        tance, their complete despair is surprising.                            fears were not entirely misplaced when
                                                                                my daughter marched home from kin-
        These were the people that had witnessed                                dergarten, chanting a popular folksong.
        supernatural plagues systematically dis-                                Composed by Menashe Ravin, it celebrates
        mantle Egypt’s deities; watched the sea                                 the victory of the Maccabees: Mi Yimallel
        split; heard the ‘Voice of G-d’ at Har Sinai;                           Gevurot Yisrael… – “Who will tell of Israel‘s
        journeyed through the desert, enveloped                                 strength?” The words sounded familiar,
        by clouds of glory and guided by a pillar                               hauntingly  so. They  are from  Tehillim
        of fire; witnessed food rain down from the                              106: “Who will tell of G-d‘s strength?” A
        sky. They had seen countless miracles – but   Through this, Levinas completely trans-  subtle shift from praising G-d to the ego-
        feared these giants because… they were   forms the narrative of the spies and their   istic rejoicing in our own might – the fears
        bigger than them?                   concerns. The spies were not going to   of the spies, manifest in our local Israeli
                                            embarrass the Land. They were looking   kindergarten.
        In light of this question, I want to explore   to embarrass  the worshippers of the
        a ‘Talmudic reading’ from Emmanuel Levi-  Land – the desert Zionists, those individ-  While the conclusion of the story of the
        nas.  Levinas refers to Masechet Sotah 34b,   uals committed to entering Eretz Yisrael.   spies, in which the entire generation of
           1
        in which the Sages explore the verse from   But why? Levinas goes on to describe what   men is sentenced to die in the wilderness,
        Devarim (1:22) that records the Jewish peo-  it was about the giant inhabitants of the   makes it clear that we must reject any
        ple’s determination to send spies “that they   Land that sparked a desire to shame its   attempt to undermine the imperative of
        may search [veyachperu] the land for us.”   worshippers:                our existence in the Land of Israel, the
        The Sages evaluate the verb ‘search’ in light                           concern remains genuine. The obligation
        of Yeshayahu 24:23 – “Then the moon will   “They were magnificent beings… that is   to recognize G-d’s role and presence in
        be embarrassed [vechafera], and the sun   what the indigenous inhabitant of the coun-  our lives was not a mere neurosis of the
        will be ashamed” and using this connec-  try was to become… We can now understand   spies but a fundamental Jewish value.
        tion, expand the meaning in Devarim to   the anxiety of our men better.  While the spiritual risk associated with
        imply that the people actively sought to   Perhaps the explorers caught a glimpse   independence does not permit us to ignore
        embarrass or ‘shame’ the Land. Levinas   of sabras. Fear seized them; they said to   our obligation, we are also not allowed to
        builds on this connection through the   themselves: this is what awaits us there;   ignore the risk.
        commentary of the Radak. Relating to the   these are the future children of Israel, those
        verse in question, the Radak responds to   people who make holes wherever they set   1
                                                                                  Levinas, E., & Aronowicz, A. (2019):  Nine Talmudic
        an obvious problem – how can the moon,   foot, who dig furrows, build cities... But that   Readings.
        an inanimate object, be embarrassed? He
        explains that it is not the moon but rather   is the end of the Jewish people!”
        the worshippers of the moon that will be   According to Levinas, the spies were not   Matt Marks  is  a  participant  on  the
        embarrassed.                        afraid of being defeated by the giants.   Mizrachi Semicha program in Jerusalem.

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