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The Three Weeks The three weeks between the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av, which began on Tuesday, are set aside for remembering and mourning the loss of the Beis HaMikdash and Eretz Yisroel. Throughout our long exile we have used this period to mourn the many tragedies which have befallen us. The Midrash compares the Jewish people to a traveller who was attacked by wolves and miraculously saved. He continues his journey telling everyone about the tremendous miracle he experienced. He was then attacked by bears and again miraculously saved. He continues his journey telling all of his deliverance from the bears. Serpents then attacked him. He no longer talks about his deliverance from the wolves or the bears, only about the miracle of the serpents. So too with the Jewish people. In the course of our wandering throughout the world we have been attacked many times. We forget the earlier pains in the trauma of the later ones. However, we - the generation that follows the destruction of the bulk of European Jewry in a barbaric way unprecedented in our history and only paralleled by the destruction of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisroel by the Romans after their burning of the Beis HaMikdash - must not allow our faith to degenerate solely into one of remembering destruction. If all we give to our children is that Jews are destroyed and killed - without any appreciation of the positive aspects of our faith - why should they want to be Jews? When we teach about the destruction, which we faced, we must include the reason why so many of our grandparents and great-grandparents were willing to sacrifice their lives to be recognised as Jews. We must teach why they did not take the easy options of conversion and betrayal of our heritage, instead remaining steadfast in their beliefs against the greatest possible pressures. Today, when so many of our friends and children are being lost to the community, we must ask ourselves, "Why did the earlier generations remain committed while our generation is lost in such unprecedented numbers?" My answer is - because we do not give them reason to believe. In fact, as explained above - we give them reason not to believe. We do not teach them the value and reasons for being a Jew - we teach them the costs of being a Jew. The prerequisite of passing on the benefits of being Jewish is knowing the answer for ourselves. Let us ask ourselves, "What benefit does being Jewish bring me? Would I be able to follow in the ways of my forbears and willingly sacrifice all I have for the benefit of being Jewish?" If one can not honestly answer this question with positive affirmation, it is then clear that we do not understand what motivated the earlier generations and we have much learning and growing to do. In fact, in order that we should not allow ourselves to wallow in grief, the first Sedra that is generally read during these three weeks is Pinchas, which includes all the offerings of Yom Tov. This reminds us to look past the immediate grief and focus on our future. May we learn, so that we may merit to have the example of the generations which preceded us before our eyes, so that we may be motivated to study and understand their ways and commitment to Hashem, so that we too pass that fortitude on to our children and our children to our children's' children. A Chassid of R' Simcha Bunim of Vorka moved to Eretz Yisroel and settled in Yerushalayim. After living there for some years he decided that he could not adapt to the lifestyle in Eretz Yisroel and to return to Poland. Before leaving he went to his Rebbe, to bid him farewell and to receive his blessing for the journey. R' Simcha Bunim sighed from the depths of his heart and told the Chassid, "I really pity you. Yerushalayim evidently did not like you. Had Yerushalayim liked you, you would have liked Yerushalayim!" |
