MOSES PLEADS TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. THE SECOND DISCOURSE, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND SH’MA YISRAEl. TISHA B’AV
This week’s portion is incredibly consequential for Moses, for B’nai Yisrael, and for all of us. We are in the middle of Moses’ First Discourse as he reviews the history and laws that the Jewish people have been taught by G-d on their 40-year journey to the Promised Land. Moses has been told by G-d that he will not be allowed to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River into Israel. He pleads with G-d to lead B’nai Yisrael to the completion of their journey, but he is denied. He speaks to the present generation of Israelites as if they had been the ones who witnessed the Exodus and the Revelation at Sinai forty years earlier. “Take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes…and make them known to your children and to your children’s children.” (4:9-10).
As he continues his review of G-d’s laws, Moses teaches an expanded version of the Ten Commandments, enriched from the original text in the book of Sh’mot/Exodus, reflecting their growth as a nation after the 40-year sojourn in the wilderness.
In his Second Discourse, Moses teaches the words that have become the most basic prayer of the Jewish people to the present day: The Sh’ma Yisrael and V’ahavta (6:4-9). These five verses are recited in the morning and evening services daily, and before going to sleep. In these five lines, we learn the basic theological beliefs of the Jewish people: there is only one unique G-d; the Jewish people have an especially intimate relationship with G-d!
I am writing this EKI on the evening of Tisha B’Av, the Ninth Day of the Hebrew month of Av. Tisha B’Av is the second 25-hour fast day in our calendar after Yom Kippur. Jewish communities all over the world gather together to mourn the destruction of the First Temple by the Assyrians in 586 BCE, and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. Other tragedies in Jewish history that occurred on the ninth day of Av include the expulsion from England in 1290 CE, banishment from Spain in 1492, and the beginning of World War One in 1914.
Until the 20th century, Tisha B’Av was not widely observed by the American Jewish community. With the growth of the American Jewish camping movement, the American Jewish community has become more aware of Tisha B’Av. At summer camps, this day is a major event in the calendar. Everyone gathers together on the floor of the social hall around Yahrzeit candles, recites the Evening Service in a subdued tone, and listens to the reading of the Biblical book of Eicha/Lamentations. Eicha is chanted with a very mournful and unique cantillation system only heard once a year on this sad day. Other traditional songs mourning the loss of Jerusalem and the Temple are sung and our long history of calamities are recalled.
As young people returned home and grew to adulthood, they brought the Tisha B’Av fast day into mainstream Jewish American practice. Today, Tisha B’Av services begin with Maariv/the Evening Prayers. They are followed by reading the book of Eicha, followed by contemporary selections. Many synagogues mount joint Tisha B’Av services together with other congregations. In this post Covid period, we can find Tisha B’Av services streamed throughout North America.
Our small Pocono congregation had a meaningful Tisha B’Av service for 20 participants. I chanted two chapters from Eicha as I learned them many years ago.
In Israel, there have been Tisha B’Av services at the Western Wall for centuries, remembering the destruction of the Temples at that very spot. This year, many Rabbis and Cantors both in Israel and in the USA have supplemented the Tisha B’Av service with readings and special music commemorating the tragic moments of October 7th.
An Israeli poet, Yagel Haroush, wrote a heart wrenching elegy to the murdered Jews of Kibbutz B’eiri. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdZN0NYW0VY
Eikha – Alas my well has turned into my grave
And the day of my light has become my darkness
And all the fruit has been destroyed and my singing overturned
My eyes pour forth water from the depth of my brokenness
Eikhah – Torah so orderly and arranged
So full of splendor did not come to our aid
And on the day of her exalting I have lost my standing
My eyes pour forth water from the depth of my brokenness
Eikhah – Israel on a day of calling to G-d
Life was requested but chaos received
Elder and infant wallow in blood
The festival desecrated by a merciless enemy
My eyes pour forth water from the depth of my brokenness
This tragic elegy for Kibbutz B’eiri has been inserted into the Tisha B’Av services in many congregations in Israel and throughout the world.
Tisha B’Av this year has been made increasingly more complex by the dire political realities of a possible attack from Israel’s northern enemies. The commanders of the IDF told the soldiers not to fast on Tisha B’Av in order to be fully ready in the event of outbreak of hostilities.
The completion of Tisha B’Av means that there are seven weeks to Rosh Hashanah!
We pray for “Shalom al Yisrael,” Peace for Israel and for the Jewish people. Shabbat Shalom U’M’vorach.