Days of Glory It is customary from the three weeks prior to Tisha B’Av to practice certain customs of mourning. These laws get more intense the closer we get to Tisha B’Av. The cause of our mourning is the loss of our holy Temple, the Beis Hamikdash. But do we today really feel any pain? How many of us lament this loss with true sincerity?
The answer to this question unfortunately falls well below what is to be desired. People will claim that the reason for this is due to the fact that we have never experienced life with the Beis Hamikdash and therefore do not understand what we are missing. However this has not stopped them from bemoaning the unfortunate absence of other things they have never had. For example when it comes to money it is easy for one to feel the absence of money even for those who have never been in a possession of affluence. Therefore the reason is more likely to be that we have become so desensitized to the true deep purpose of the Beis Hamikdash and what it represented. Perhaps with the help of our Sages, we can understand its deeper meaning and paint a picture what life was like with the Beis Hamikdash.
The mourning over the Temple is not the loss of a mere physical building. We are not a nation that prides itself on its ancient architecture or physical prestige. Rather the Beis Hamikdash represented for us a far deeper meaning. This meaning was a sign that Hashem resided among us and was happy with our deeds. When the Beis Hamikdash was standing, it meant that the divine presence was in our midst. This affected our lives immeasurably.
The Gemara in Tractate Yoma tells us that any wine used in the libations never soured. In fact after the destruction all produce and fruit in Eretz Yisroel weakened in their taste. Life with the Temple was a different life. The people of Israel totally relied on Hashem. The clearest sign of this was that three times a year, all male Jews over the age of six would travel up to Jerusalem and rejoice in the festivities and holy days of Hashem. They did this with a full heart knowing they were leaving their houses and livestock totally unprotected, by themselves, and open to bandits and other nations who were looking to plunder. Nevertheless they knew it was all protected by Hashem. When they arrived in Jerusalem time after time there was never an occasion when one man would tell his friend that there was not enough room to stay the night.
Imagine the amazing sight of the smoke rising from the holy altar in a totally straight pillar no matter how strong the prevailing wind. With all the blood from the offerings, never was a pregnant women affected by the smell nor a fly ever seen at the holy ground. Open miracles were a common occurrence and everybody felt close to Hashem. There was a sense of completion and satisfaction in the knowledge that they were fulfilling the will of their Creator. No fashion show today can produce anything like the beauty of the Kohen Gadol’s garments; no perfume company can produce the sweet smelling aroma of the incense. Nor can any music band reproduce the heavenly sounds heard from the choir of Levites in the courtyard.
The Rama quotes a story that when Plato met Jeremiah, weeping at the gates of conquered Jerusalem, Plato asked Jeremiah with surprise why a clever man such as he should be crying over a rubble of sticks and stones. Jeremiah retorted by saying “the real reason why I cry you can never understand, but ask me any of your hard philosophical questions and I will answer you.” Plato proceeded to throw out every unanswered problem that he ever had, which Jeremiah answered with ease. After answering all the questions, Jeremiah explained that all this knowledge came from that “heap of rubble of stones“. The Gemara tells us that if anyone had a query after walking into the Beis Hamikdash all would become clear. We see that the Beis Hamikdash provided for us total clarity.
Then we started sinning and we allowed the Satan to come into our lives. So Hashem “packed His bags,” as it were, and went back to Heaven. Our sins drove away the Divine Presence from our midst and allowed our enemies to invade our holy city. With the absence of Hashem, we lost our special protection and closeness to G-d.
This is our pain, this is our loss, and this is why we cry. We cry not for the loss of a building rather, for the loss of potential spirituality that comes from being close to G-d. We cry for the loss of our special protection. We cry for the realization of how high we could be and how low we really are.
I would like to suggest the following idea. Why do we not eat meat or listen to music in this period? We are telling Hashem that we are not satisfied with the meat that we have today. Rather we want the sweet tasting spiritual meat of the offerings. We do not listen to music as we are sending a statement to G-d that we are not happy with the music we have today. We long for the songs of praise sung by the Levites that we will one again hear at the rebuilding of the Temple.
This is what the Prophet prayed for when he said in the Book of Lamentations: “Return to us, Hashem, and we will return to You. Renew our days, of a spiritual closeness to G-d, as of old.”
The Gemara promises that all those who mourn over Jerusalem will merit to see it in its rejoicing.
May we all merit to see the rebuilding of the Temple and the rejoicing of Jerusalem in our days. Amen. |
