Page 37 - HaMizrachi # 21 Tisha B'Av 2020 USA

TISHA B’AV READING

Rabbi Ari Posner

What is Tisha B’Av?

av Soloveitchik famously – occurs in order of most to least destruction, the 17th of Tammuz
draws a parallel between the severe, the mourning of the Three the fall of Yerushalayim and Tisha
Rthree periods of mourning for weeks – Aveilut Yeshana (mourn- B’Av the fall of Tziyon (Zion).
close relatives and the three periods ing of the ancient) – is practised
we find within the Three Weeks. from the least to the most restric- What does Rav Hirsch mean by
tive, culminating with the height “the fall of Tziyon” and why does
From the 17 of Tammuz, we refrain of our mourning, Tisha B’Av itself. he use that description for Tisha
from haircuts, music and other By Aveilut Chadasha, grief is most B’Av instead of “the fall of the Beit
joyous and festive activities, as intense with the passing, as the HaMikdash”?
one does during the 12 months of image of who we have lost is still in
mourning for a parent. From Rosh the front of our minds, and some- The Kinot on Tisha B’Av conclude
Chodesh Av, more restrictions what eases over time. with a number of ‘Tziyon Kinot’
apply, relating to laundry, bathing, – kinot that begin with the word
consuming meat and wine and some When it comes to Aveilut Yeshana, Tziyon and, as Rav Soloveitchik
other joyful activities, in line with we need to prepare ourselves and describes, serve to shift our focus
the period of shloshim. gradually work up to the powerful from remembering the destruc-
emotions that accompany a true
Finally, Tisha B’Av itself is like the internalisation of the meaning of tion and ruins of Yerushalayim to
shiva – we sit on the floor, without Tisha B’Av. It is impossible to turn it remembering the glory of Yerusha-
greeting each other, we do not wear on immediately, in one instant. layim before the destruction.
leather shoes and, of course we fast.
That said, what are we working In a very real way, Tziyon is the
However, Rav Soloveitchik points towards during the Three Weeks? beauty of what we once had. The
out the obvious difference between embodiment of Am Yisrael as a
the Three Weeks and the periods of It is curious that when Rav Shim- shining beacon of Torah, justice and
mourning – they are in reverse! shon Refael Hirsch, in Chorev, truth radiating from the centre of
describes the gradual destruc-
Whereas mourning over the pass- tion of Yerushalayim and the Beit our existence, Yerushalayim.
ing of someone close – known as HaMikdash, he writes that the 10th Ultimately, Tisha B’Av must arouse
Aveilut Chadasha (new mourning) of Tevet was the beginning of the in us a desire to do better.

It must motivate us to overcome
and rectify the causes of destruc-
tion. But in addition to stirring in
us the emotions of Zecher LeChur-
ban – remembering the destruc-
tion, we must also achieve a state of
Zecher LeMikdash – remembering
the beauty of the Beit HaMikdash.
Only when we truly appreciate and
internalise the magnificence of
what Tziyon was, can we genuinely
mourn its loss and seek to rebuild.

Rabbi Ari Posner is Rabbi of the Dianella
Mizrachi Shul and Rosh Kollel of Torah
MiTzion Perth

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