Welcome back to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa, based in Mason City. We're glad you are here A note that our July services will be this week. Erv. Shabbat services will be on Friday the 21st starting at 7:00PM with a kiddish following in the social hall. Then on Shabbat (22 July) we'll hold our Torah Study (Midrash) and be studying this week's portion Devarim or Deut. 1:1 - 3:22. Hope to see you in shul!
Devarim
This week we begin the final book of the Torah, Devarim ( Hebrew for "words") which we find in the first sentence: "These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan...". The entire "book" is about Moses recounting all that the Jews have been through since they left Egypt. You would know this book, perhaps, as Deuteronomy which is Greek (and we don't speak Greek) that some say means the "Second Law" and some say means "repetition". Now you see why we call it Devarim...that simply means "words". This is also the portion that is always read before Tish' a B'Av or the "9th of the Hebrew month of Av". More on that later.
What Words?
Here Moses is in the final days of his life and he recounts for the people what they have been through From the appointment of judges to the story of the spies. Why? He is getting the people ready to forge a new life in Israel. In a place where the people would no longer see the constant presence of G-d and the daily miracles witnessed as they journeyed through the wilderness. From here on the people would have to plow and plant and harvest. They would need to enact courts and they would be tempted.
And, Moses also tells them he knows they will falter but says to them that they will learn from their mistakes.
What profound wisdom. If we make a mistake and we fail to learn and grow from that mistake what a missed opportunity. If you go to hammer a nail and just before you strike you shut your eyes chances are you won't make that mistake again. So too is it as we attempt to follow the Torah. We may fail to always do what is right but if we learn from that failure all is not lost. It is a constant effort and it never gets old.
About Tish' a B'Av
This next week Jews all over the world will remember the 9th Day of the Hebrew Month of Av which falls on July 27. This is no picnic. Over the centuries some very bad things have happened on the 9th day of Av. Consider this list:
- The incident of the spies slandering the land of Israel with the subsequent decree to wander the desert for 40 years.
- The destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon in 423 BCE.
- The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE.
- The fall of Betar and the end of the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans 65 years later, 135 CE.
- Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade. Tens of thousands of Jews were killed, and many Jewish communities obliterated.
- The Jews of England were expelled in 1290.
- The Jews of Spain were expelled in 1492.
- World War I broke out on Tisha B'Av in 1914 when Russia declared war on Germany.
- German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles set the stage for World War II and the Holocaust. In fact, many believe it was merely the continuation of World War I. Thus, the Holocaust also has it’s roots in Tisha B’Av.
- On Tisha B'Av, deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto.
And there have been others. So, how do we mark this day? On this day, one is forbidden to eat or drink, bathe, use moisturizing creams or oils, wear leather shoes, or have marital relations. The idea is to minimize pleasure and to let the body feel the distress the soul should feel over these tragedies. Like all fast days, the object is introspection, making a spiritual accounting and correcting our ways – what in Hebrew is called teshuva – returning to the path of good and righteousness, to the ways of the Torah.
Thank you for reading and may you have a blessed Shabbat and an easy fast next week. We'll see you this Shabbat!
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