Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – ASHAR
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
DEVORIM 5775
TISHA
B’AV
“AN
OUTSTRETCHED ARM”
Fall 1944.
It was already apparent that the German
army would be vanquished imminently. The Allied forces were rapidly closing in
on the Nazi War Machine from all sides, and it was clear that it was only a
matter of time before ‘the Reich that would stand for a thousand years’ would
collapse. Nevertheless, the Nazis were determined to promote their nefarious
objective of making Europe Judenrein until
their final moments. Such was the tragic fate of Hungarian Jewry which was
shipped into the crematoriums en masse during the waning months of the war.
One day fifty young yeshiva boys were herded
into a ‘bathhouse’ in Auschwitz . It was late
enough in the war that the boys were familiar with the Nazi’s ruse. They knew
that at any moment the showers would be turned on, but instead of water,
noxious Zyklon-B gas would come out, causing them all to die of asphyxiation
within minutes.
As they waited for the inevitable, one of
the boys called out to his peers, “My brothers; today is Simchas Torah, the day
we celebrate the conclusion of one cycle of Torah study and the commencement of
a new cycle. Throughout our lives we have tried our best to adhere to the Torah
and uphold its every commandment. Now we have one final opportunity to give
honor and to glorify the Torah. We have no Torah scroll and we have no books.
But they can never take away our pride and our feeling of connection with G-d.
So now in our final moments, let us celebrate with G-d Himself, before we
return our souls to Him.”
The Nazi guards were used to hearing all
sorts of noises emanating from within the death chamber. Screams, prayers, pleading,
and banging were all par for the course. But they had never heard the sounds of
harmonious singing. The boys had joined hands and were singing “Ashreinu mah
tov chelkaynu – Praiseworthy are we! How goodly is our portion!”, inside
their sealed tomb.
One of the guards asked his comrade the
reason for the delay and demanded that the commandant be summoned to witness
the peculiar events. When the commandant hastily approached and heard the
singing he was filled with rage. He slammed open the door of the Gas Chamber and
burst inside like a madman. He grabbed one boy and viciously pulled him up,
“You filthy swine! Explain to me why you are singing!”
The boy looked at the Nazi unabashedly and
retorted, “We are celebrating the fact that we are leaving a world where Nazi
beasts such as yourself reign. And we are celebrating the fact that in moments
we will be reunited with our parents whom you have murdered.”
The Commander was beside himself. “You
think the Gas Chamber will be your last stop? I will torture each of you
individually and slice your flesh until you die in the vilest manner possible.
You will wish you had died the relatively benign death in the Gas Chamber!” He had
all the boys removed and placed in a holding block overnight. He planned to
begin his torture campaign the next morning.
The next morning, a superior officer drove
into the camp. He needed a group of young able-bodied men to perform grueling
work. As he walked through the camp he noticed the group of yeshiva men locked
up in the holding block. They were exactly what he needed.
The Nazi officer pulled rank on the camp
commandant who stood by and watched silently as the young boys were marched
onto trucks and driven out of Auschwitz .
Survivors report that all fifty boys
survived the war.[1]
The holy books
of the Prophets are filled with many beautiful uplifting prophecies which
detail the greatness and loftiness of Klal Yisroel. Conversely, they are also
replete with foreboding warnings of the impending doom that would befall the
nation if they did not repent and heed the prophet’s words.
As a rule, even
the most ominous and portentous prophecies conclude with words of encouragement
and consolation. Despite the fact that the road is often replete with pain and
suffering, ultimately, the Jewish People prevail and transcend all the travails
that befall them.
It is enigmatic therefore, that Megillas Eichah
(“The scroll of Alas”) read on Tisha B’Av eve concludes with words of
punishment. The final verse reads, “For even if you have utterly rejected us,
You have already raged sufficiently against us.” In fact, it is customary to
repeat the second-to-last verse, “Bring us back to You, G-d, and we will
return; renew our days as of old,” so that we do not conclude our reading of
the Megillah on a morbid note. Still, it begs explanation: Why does Megillas
Eichah conclude with such harsh and painful words?
Unlike the
normal mourning process for a deceased relative where the mourning begins at
the time of the tragedy, in regard to Tisha B’av the mourning begins three
weeks prior and intensifies as the day approaches. Then on Tisha B’av itself we
begin to accept consolation. At midday
of Tisha B’av, we don our talis and tefillin and begin to sit on regular
chairs. By midday of the
day after Tisha B’av all of the laws of mourning abruptly cease. We immediately
resume listening to music, shaving, taking haircuts, and doing laundry.[2]
How can we understand the rapid, seemingly inappropriate, conclusion of the
three week mourning process on the day after the most intense mourning of all?
The Bais Halevi[3]
records the following poignant thought:
The gemara
(Chagiga 5b) relates that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chanania was once in the presence
of the Caesar, together with a Sadducee[4].
While sitting there the Sadducee spitefully turned his head away from Rabbi
Yehoshua. Rabbi Yehoshua responded by stretching out his hands.
The Caesar asked
Rabbi Yehoshua for an explanation about what had just occurred. Rabbi Yehoshua
explained that the Sadducee had turned his head away from him to symbolize that
G-d had turned away and spurned the Jewish People. Rabbi Yehoshua immediately
responded by stretching out his hands to symbolize the verse[5],
“עוד
ידו נטויה עלינו – His Hand is
still outstretched upon us.” In other words, G-d still maintains a connection
with the Jewish People.
Then the Caesar
asked the Sadducee to explain the exchange between him and Rabbi Yehoshua. When
the Sadducee could not explain why Rabbi Yehoshua had stretched out his hands,
the Caesar had him executed.
The Maharsha
questions Rabbi Yehoshua’s response. The verse Rabbi Yehoshua used actually
refers to the retribution and punishment that is meted out against Klal Yisroel
for not properly adhering to the Torah. The full verse reads, “And despite all
that, His wrath has not been quelled, and His Hand is still outstretched upon
us.” Perhaps Rabbi Yehoshua fooled the Cesar, but why did he use the
aforementioned verse to prove that G-d has not spurned or rebuffed the Jewish
People, when a cursory reading of the verse has the opposite implication?
The gemara (Bava
Kamma 26a) discusses the halachic status of one who smashes a vessel which was
thrown off the roof a building but did not yet hit the ground. The gemara’s
discussion centers on whether we assume that, “מנא תבר תבר – he broke a
broken vessel[6]”
or not.
The Bais Halevi
questions why this case differs from one who casts his vessel into the ocean ("זוטו של ים"),
where the law is unequivocally clear that one who does so relinquishes
ownership over the vessel, and another person may immediately retrieve the
object and take possession of it. [This is true even if the original owner
swears that he still wants the vessel and never intended to relinquish
possession of it.] Why should casting a vessel off the roof a building be
different than casting it into the ocean?
The Bais Halevi
answers that the ocean is endless and, therefore, as soon as something falls
into it, for all practical purposes it is lost. Therefore, when one casts his
vessel into the ocean he is demonstrating that he no longer cares for the
vessel. However, when one casts a vessel off a roof where it will
unquestionably smash, he demonstrates that he specifically wants the object to
break. If he only intended to relinquish ownership he could have thrown it into
a dumpster. The fact that he bothered to ascend to a roof and throw it over the
edge indicates that, for whatever reason, he wanted the vessel to break.
The Bais Halevi continues by explaining that
the Sadducee turned away from Rabbi Yehoshua to symbolize that G-d had
abandoned Klal Yisroel and relinquished ownership over them, as it were. Rabbi
Yehoshua replied by stretching out his hands, symbolizing the harsh retribution
and punishment that Klal Yisroel has suffered. In effect, Rabbi Yehoshua was
replying that the Sadducee had misinterpreted the underlying message of our
suffering. It is not that G-d has abandoned us. Au contraire! The fact that G-d
continues to punish us so harshly demonstrates that He has not given up
on us.
Our suffering is not analogous to an owner
who casts his vessel into the water. Rather it is analogous to an owner who
casts his vessel off the roof with the intention of breaking the vessel. G-d
indeed inflicts harsh punishment upon us and we have unquestionably been
subject to severe suffering throughout the millennia. But it is because our
‘owner’ knows that doing so is the only way to preserve us and refine us.
With this idea in mind, we can gain a
deeper perspective into the mourning period prior to Tisha B’av, as well as to
the conclusion of Megillas Eichah. The final verse of the Megillah which speaks
of retribution and G-d’s wrath contains the key to our consolation. The very fact that G-d still bothers to
punish us shows that G-d wants to preserve us as His Nation. The very fact that
He has been so angry with us demonstrates that,” His Hand is still outstretched
upon us”, and He has not given up on us.
When one gives up
on something and casts it aside, he no longer becomes angry on account of that
abandoned vessel. His attitude becomes more apathetic and uncaring towards the
forsaken vessel. But our pain and suffering shows that we are still the Nation
of G-d and that G-d still loves us deeply enough to not allow us to falter and
forget who we are.
This idea also
explains why the mourning process which develops gradually until Tisha B’av
seems to diminish so quickly. The vast
and numerous lamentations that we recite on Tisha B’av evening and morning
depict and recount the endless suffering, tears, travails, and persecution that
we have been subject to throughout the exile. However, therein lies the roots
of our consolation. The persecution we have suffered symbolizes that we are
still the Chosen Nation and therefore are held to a higher standard. The mourning
of Tisha B’av actually contains the source of our consolation.
Chumash Devorim,
the final book of the Torah, records Moshe’s words to the nation during his
final weeks. Moshe began by reviewing all of the vicissitudes and events that
occurred to the nation throughout their forty year sojourns in the desert.
Moshe not only described each individual event, but he also demonstrated how
everything that occurred connected together. Everything was part of a composite
bigger picture, dictated precisely by G-d.
Parshas Devorim is always read the Shabbos
prior to Tisha B’av. The message is that nothing is random and there is no
coincidence.
The rivers of
Jewish tears continue to rage with incredible intensity. But there is a purpose
and value in every one of those tears. It is a concept we believe although we
cannot comprehend. It is that belief that has given us the courage and strength
to withstand inquisitions, crusades, pogroms, holocausts, and libels. And it is
that knowledge that has given us the fortitude to hold our heads high –
sometimes even singing and dancing – in the face of demonic enemies and
horrific challenges.
We also know
that those rivers of tears will soon overflow and G-d will send Moshiach to
herald in the blissful era of the Final Redemption. At that point Tisha B’av
will be transformed into a day of joyous celebration. May it be this year!
“His Hand is
still outstretched upon us”
“Bring us back
to You G-d, and we will return”
[1] This story
is recorded in “Small Miracles of the Holocaust”.
[2] Anyone who
has ever spent a summer in an overnight camp knows that the Melave Malkah
following Shabbos Nachamu (the Shabbos after Tisha B’av) is an extremely festive
and joyous event.
It should also be noted that in a year such as this
year (5769) when Tisha B’av concludes on Thursday evening, there are many laws
that are mitigated already Thursday night because it is Erev Shabbos.
[3] Parshas
Vayetzei & Derush 7
[4] The
Sadducees were Jews who tragically denounced the Oral Torah.
[5] Yeshaya 5:9
[6] In other
words, do we assume that once a vessel has been cast off a building we view it
as being already destroyed, and therefore the person who smashed it before it
hit the ground did not do any further damage and is therefore not halachically
liable. Or do we assume that until the vessel hits the ground and shatters it
is still physically intact and therefore the person who shattered it is indeed
liable?
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