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לע''נ חיים ישעיהו עה בן יוסף נ''י
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[00:00:06] It's a tremendous host to be here, to be learning with all of you this afternoon.
[00:00:14] It's a schos to be together.
[00:00:17] It's not us to still be here together outside of Eretz Yisrael, and to still be in the afternoon of yet another tish above.
[00:00:29] I mentioned this morning, inshul, that there's a beautiful Minoc that's brought down in the Tamiya Minhagin, that after Tisha Bab, there were communities that buried the kinos, buried the kennels.
[00:00:45] And obviously that dramatic act was supposed to be reflective of a belief that we won't need them again next year.
[00:00:54] And I think every year, you know, it's always interesting, after Tisha Bav, there is this euphoric feeling, right? We come into Shabbos Nachamu. Everybody's happy. Not exactly clear what's changed between Tisha Bab and Shabbos Nachamu, but there is this feeling of simcha, there is this euphoric feeling, because deep down, the Neshama really believes that this was the end, that this was the last.
[00:01:22] The Tisha bav that we experienced must be the end to the years of difficulty and suffering and adversity and overwhelming circumstances for Claudius.
[00:01:32] And the future must hold something better.
[00:01:37] But alas, we are here again on Tishabaab afternoon, and I think for all of us this year, Tishabhav is something dramatically different.
[00:01:51] It's dramatically different because Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael are in the midst of war.
[00:01:58] There is a war.
[00:02:00] And when there is a war in Eretz Yisrael, it's a war for Amni Israel, eminent war for Amnisrael. Whether you have children in the army, children are mishpatfah or not.
[00:02:11] It's our war. We, we, the collective Amnisrael Kaiser, are at war.
[00:02:23] It is overwhelming to think that over 300 days after the start of this war, 300 days sims in Hastora, there are hostages.
[00:02:34] Our brothers and sisters, jewish men, women and even children are being held captive by the most despicable of enemies, barbaric enemies.
[00:02:48] And we don't know their condition, we don't know their location, although we sit here, perhaps a little thirsty, perhaps a little hungry, we know that in just a few hours, Emirates will sit down to a suda by ourselves with a family.
[00:03:07] And we know that the hunger won't last for long.
[00:03:12] And yet for our precious brothers and sisters, we do not know their circumstances.
[00:03:20] And so this year, Tisha Bav has changed in a very dramatic way, because for so many of us, the primary question on Tisha Bav was always, how do you relate to a tragedy, to a loss for which you have no frame of reference?
[00:03:39] How do you mourn for a base Hamikdash that we haven't had for 2000 years and even the Holocaust? You know, one of the interesting things, when we came to Baltimore, I still feel like we're newcomers to Baltimore, even though we've been here for two decades. But I see the way it works here in town. If you're not from here, you're never from here.
[00:03:58] One of the most incredible things that I ever saw when I came to Baltimore was families who had multiple generations born in America. I'm a first generation american. We're a family of survivors.
[00:04:10] And growing up, that's most of the people around us were very much like that as well. Baltimore was the first place we ever came abroad. Hashem people had, I won't call it difficulty, but were removed even from the Holocaust.
[00:04:27] And as time goes on and the Holocaust is almost a century in our historical rear view mirror, and the survivors are fewer and fewer by the day, it becomes difficult for us to hold on to that tragedy as well.
[00:04:44] And then comes the year 5784.
[00:04:48] Qam Simcha of tough Shin pedal.
[00:04:57] For many of us, for the first time, we have encountered national tragedy.
[00:05:08] We've encountered national adversity.
[00:05:11] We've seen wars.
[00:05:13] We've seen terror attacks.
[00:05:17] But many of us have never seen anything like we experienced on October 7.
[00:05:29] And for now, almost close to a year, our hearts have been broken into a million pieces, overwhelmed by the loss of life on October 7, itself overwhelmed by the Kavanaughs. Since that day, overwhelmed by the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of families within our people whose life trajectory are forever changed.
[00:06:10] You know, for us, we often check the news.
[00:06:15] We davim, we say, Tehillim, that's what we're supposed to be doing. We make a kabbalah. We do things, which is incredible.
[00:06:21] But for many of us, Baruch Hashem, for the most part, our lives are intact.
[00:06:30] There is nothing necessarily that has changed in too dramatic of a way. Of course, I'm preoccupied, and of course, my life as I live, my life has changed.
[00:06:42] But it's important to recognize that for thousands upon thousands of families of Khalid is well, their lives are forever changed.
[00:06:53] And even those who haven't suffered the loss of a loved one, for their family members who have suffered injuries, injuries that also change the trajectory of an entire family's entire life, Tish, above, has become different, because now on this tish above of 57, 84, we no longer simply mourn historical events, but we mourn, and we reflect on contemporary loss as well.
[00:07:28] I can say for the first time in my life, I had absolutely no difficulty connecting to the enormity of Tisha Baf, because it did not require a journey into the past.
[00:07:46] All it did, all it required was an opening of the heart to the realities of our present.
[00:07:56] And I want to share with you something deeply personal, because I've been grappling with something for the last little while, and I really came to a head these days leading up to Tisha Bav for me.
[00:08:09] I asked my wife about this. It's very hard for me to prepare for Tisha Bav, generally preparing for Kinnah. So praying for this shir unfortunately creates, like, a week of Tisha bav before Tisha Bav.
[00:08:22] And I found myself contending with a very strong emotion.
[00:08:31] And it was an emotion.
[00:08:35] Maybe it was even a little bit of anger.
[00:08:40] And I found myself constantly asking, what do you want from us?
[00:08:53] What do you want?
[00:08:59] You know, we have a reflexive reaction whenever tragedy occurs to try to figure out, like, what may be at the root of this.
[00:09:09] And a lot of well meaning people often say a lot of very ill informed things, trying to get into the divine mind about why a Kadesh Baruch Hu does things.
[00:09:21] But even if we can't figure out why Akaddish parahu does things, we have an obligation to try to figure out what we're going to do with these circumstances.
[00:09:30] But I couldn't escape this feeling of almost like a sense of anger on behalf of Claudi Yisra.
[00:09:43] And I even feel a little bit embarrassed to say it, but it's Rebolsham. What do you want?
[00:09:50] What do you want?
[00:09:53] You want us to learn more Torah?
[00:09:56] You can always learn more Torah.
[00:09:58] You want us to give more staka? You could always give more. Tzdakah, do more, Hasid. Always. There's no end. You could always do more.
[00:10:08] And whatever area you think that the cloud may be deficient in, okay, we can always do more.
[00:10:16] But that makes it sound like if you keep doing more, then maybe there's a point that you reach where. Okay, now we've done enough.
[00:10:24] There's no such thing as oh, Kali. So I guess I won't have enough Torah. Enough Hasida, enough stock, enough. Whatever you fill in the blank. Whatever you want.
[00:10:34] What do you want?
[00:10:38] What is it?
[00:10:40] What are we missing?
[00:10:43] What is it that we need to work on?
[00:10:45] What is it that we need to improve, because I can't, in my mind, I can't, in my nishama, figure out something that we are missing that would move Hakodesh Baruch Hu, that would warrant Hashem to visit the type of destruction that he has visited upon us.
[00:11:08] There was a family who lived in Kibbutz near Oz, the Simintou family.
[00:11:14] Tamar, the mother, 35, Yonatan, the father, 36.
[00:11:21] They had five and a half year old twin daughters, Shachar and Arbel, and Omer, a two year old son.
[00:11:33] I know you can't see it, but this is a picture of the Simmental family.
[00:11:41] The Simintot family were murdered in cold blood by Hamas in their home on Sim Khazar.
[00:11:50] An entire family of Klal Yisra wiped out.
[00:11:57] There's no one left from this mishpacha.
[00:12:02] There's no one here anymore.
[00:12:05] From the Simmentov family of Niros or Lidor. Nitsan Rahum, 28 years old, a couple who waited so long to have their first child, Lidor, was four months pregnant, and they were killed at the Nova festival.
[00:12:35] Unborn children, young children, spoke about this morning at Shul.
[00:12:45] The Bebas family, an entire family held captive.
[00:12:54] Two young children.
[00:12:56] Ariel, who just turned five this past week.
[00:13:02] Kfir, who turned one just a couple of months ago.
[00:13:16] The mind can't comprehend these things.
[00:13:21] It doesn't make sense.
[00:13:23] It doesn't compute.
[00:13:28] What could we have done to warrant this?
[00:13:33] And what is it that Akadish Baruch Hu needs us to do as a response to this?
[00:13:41] And I found myself with the same thought over and over and over.
[00:13:50] Have compassion on your children.
[00:13:56] How much more can we take?
[00:14:00] How much more can we do? We've been doing this for 2000 years.
[00:14:07] What do you want from us?
[00:14:14] And I found a little bit of nikhama.
[00:14:17] And recognizing that this is not a new question, if you look at source number one on your sheet, there's a fascinating Gemara, a Mishnah mesaq, and the mishnah says the elu Laginai. These are the families. These are the families during the times of the beis Hamikdash who are remembered. Liginai means not in a good way. Not in a good way.
[00:14:53] There are certain families who possessed certain unique skill sets and bodies of knowledge which made them indispensable for the bais Hamikdash. So remember again on the beis Hamikdash, Rabizu chimera. To see it again, the karav, the. There was a shulchan. And on the shulchan was lechem aphanim, special bread. And this was incredibly unique bread, the way it was made. It had a solid bottom. Then it had, like, two walls that came up and two parts that came in. It was hollow in the middle and had a space between the two parts.
[00:15:24] The Gemara says there was only one family, the Garmu family, who knew how to make this bread.
[00:15:30] And they asked the Garmo family repeatedly for the secret recipe.
[00:15:34] But the Garmu family refused to share. And as such, the mishnah says they are remembered for degradation.
[00:15:43] The fact that they were unwilling to share this information indicates that they only did this for self serving purposes. This is how they made moneY, or this is how THey gained fame and accolade. And soon the Avatinas family. The Avatinas family knew the secret to the kEtodis, the incense. We'll discuss exactly which secret.
[00:16:01] And although they were asked many times to share the ingredients, they refused to do so.
[00:16:08] And the Gemara relates in number two, shall be.
[00:16:20] They knew how to create the incense for the bas hamikdash. But they refused to share the information with anyone else.
[00:16:27] Shulchu chachamim, bedir Ummdin, malekzandra, Shammasayim, Vayu yodim, lefatin Kim Yodim, Lalosun Ashan Kimosan. So this was fascinating. They brought in, they being the rabbis, the sanhedrin. The sanhedrin ordered the Avatinas family to share the secret of the incense. And the Avatinas family said no. They brought in craftsmen, experts from Alexandria, from Egypt.
[00:16:55] And these craftsmen were able to replicate the. Able to do it. There was one thing they were unable to do.
[00:17:08] Something incredibly unique happened with ictorus. Not only did you have to know the right spices, not only did you have to know the right ratios, but there was one specific herb that was added that caused the smoke to ascend in a straight pillar.
[00:17:25] The craftsmen of Alexandria were able to replicate victorious incense. They got the right ratios. They even got the right scent.
[00:17:34] The one thing they couldn't figure out was how do you get the smoke to ascend in a straight pillar?
[00:17:42] So they would ignite it, and the guitar would diffuse all over the place.
[00:17:48] Amulet chachamim. I'm the source number two. About four lines in. So the chachamim realized that they weren't going to make any headway with this. So the Avatina's family needed them. They said, avatina's family. Mare isim shalola lamed. Why won't you share the information?
[00:18:04] Why won't you share the ingredients. Why won't you share it? An ru they said, yodin hayusha bas abba shabayis zer osir licharef amru Shema Yilmot Adam sheena Mohugan the Yalekh Vyavod avod the Zorabikach. The Avatina's family said, you know, all of you think that we're just being greedy. And as I were not sharing, I'll tell you why we're not sharing. We have a messiah. We have a tradition that one day the Besa Hamikdash is going to be destroyed.
[00:18:35] And we are concerned that if we share the secret recipe for the keTorah, somebody's going to take it, and they're going to use it for idolatrous service.
[00:18:47] And therefore, we have a family pact. A family pact.
[00:18:52] Avatima's family does not share VictoriA's recipe.
[00:18:58] The gemara says, the rabbis heard this.
[00:19:00] The algov Azeh masculinity. By the way, interestingly enough, the avatin assembly also had a very interesting minug.
[00:19:08] All of the women of the avatinas family, no one was allowed to wear perfume boying.
[00:19:17] So no one should ever think that the avatinas family is using the guitar recipe for their own benefit.
[00:19:26] So it turns out that the avatinas family was not trying to be greedy.
[00:19:30] The Avatinas family knew long before, when no one else knew, that the day samikdash was not going to endure, that the day tsamikdosh was going to be taken from us.
[00:19:45] And if the recipe is not closely guarded and held only by the Abatinas family, it is only a matter of time until it makes its way into idolatrous service.
[00:19:56] And there is another story in source number three. Amr. Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi akiva the great. Rabbi Akiva said, sakli. Rabbi Shm lugah. So Rabbi Shmuel says the following story as well.
[00:20:12] Listen to this story.
[00:20:14] So this is already after the Beis Hamiklish was destroyed.
[00:20:18] Rabbi Shmoba is walking in a field with one of the members of the Avatinas family. And why were they walking? To collect herbs.
[00:20:29] And I saw that this young man, member of the Avatina's family, he cried and he laughed.
[00:20:36] Why are you crying?
[00:20:38] Amarly Kevod Avosay Niskarti. The young man said, you know, I remember the glory of my family.
[00:20:45] When the Bayes Hamikdash stood, Yavatina's family was royalty.
[00:20:49] They were the holders of the secret of the ktholas and now that the Bais Hamikdash is gone, my family has faded into obscurity as well.
[00:21:02] So why did you laugh, Amar Aleem?
[00:21:09] He laughed because he remembered that as painful as loss is, one day Akadish parachu is going to give us back our base. Haniktash. And rabbis says to the young man, what did you see in the field that triggered this response? Right? What did you see in the field that caused you to laugh and to cry? Or to cry and to laugh? Listen to this. Amarla. Ma'ala ashan kinegdi.
[00:21:37] I saw the spice called Ma'ala Ashan.
[00:21:42] What does the spice of Maala Ashan do? That's it.
[00:21:47] Literally translated, what does Maala ushan mean? Causes the smoke to ascend.
[00:21:53] Ma'ala ashram is the ingredient in the ketoris that allows the smoke to rise up in a straight pillar. So they're walking in the field. This young man from the Avatina's family is looking for bismill. He cries and he laughs. He cries because his family has been lost. He laughs because he believes hash brow is going to give us back the bas hamikdash. And Rabbi Bhmal says, what triggered this emotional response? I saw. I saw the herb called Ma'ala asham, the secret ingredient of the rabbi Shemal says. Rabbi Shemal says her Ali, show it to me. Show it to me. Amr eli shvua hibi adenu shayn marin osala khal Adam.
[00:22:35] I can't, because we have an oath that we have undertaken in our family to never show anyone the Ma'ala asha, you know, struck me that we know the ingredients of the Ketogas. In fact, actually, if you ever, I'm sure you can get it anywhere. But I know I saw this for the first time in my life in Shiloh. In Shiloh. Shiloh has a gift shop. It's not like a biblical gift shop, but again, it's a relatively contemporary gift shop. And in there, they actually have the spices of the Keturahs.
[00:23:09] We know what spices went into the keturahs.
[00:23:12] Whats the one thing we dont know? The one thing we dont know is the mala hashem.
[00:23:18] Thats the one thing were waiting for mashiach for. Thats the one thing were waiting for avatinas for the mala ashram.
[00:23:24] The one thing were missing in this world is the ability to get straight from where I am to Akada Sparachua, that herb, that ingredient, that item that allows something to go from this world in a straight line to the kissi akava to the throne of Akada Sparachu.
[00:23:49] That's what's missing.
[00:23:52] That's the ingredient no one could find.
[00:23:55] That's the thing that everyone's been looking for for the millennia.
[00:24:01] Maybe there is still someone from the Avatina's family around who knows it, but they're certainly not sharing it with anyone else. And I think this represents one of the most difficult things in our yiddish kite.
[00:24:19] Where are you?
[00:24:23] What do you want from us?
[00:24:27] Why do I feel like I can't find you?
[00:24:33] What is it? What? What?
[00:24:37] I wait for mashiach every single day.
[00:24:41] I wait for mashiach every single day.
[00:24:45] I really wait from a shia every single day.
[00:24:50] And a number of years ago, when I had the opportunity to lead a group to Poland, and I had the opportunity to be by Auschwitz, and for the first time in my life, that was the closest I was ever to my great grandparents, the closest I was ever to my great aunts and uncles and scores of cousins who left this world in that very place.
[00:25:21] We're waiting.
[00:25:23] We're doing, but yet we can't seem to figure it out.
[00:25:31] What do you want from us?
[00:25:34] Just tell us.
[00:25:36] Just tell us, and we'll do it. We are the most devoted flock that humanity has ever seen.
[00:25:42] No matter what has been thrown away, we have never forsaken you. No matter what has been visited upon us, we have never lost our amuna.
[00:25:50] No matter what has gone wrong, we have never left your divine side.
[00:25:57] But we can't seem to find the maa'ala ashram.
[00:26:01] I can't seem to figure out how to get from here to there.
[00:26:06] I can't seem to figure out what it is that you want of me.
[00:26:11] And I can't seem to figure out what you truly want from us.
[00:26:21] We've been looking for this ma'illa asham, for this ability to create that straight connection from here to there.
[00:26:32] Since the time that the bass Hamikdash stood and the days in which we are living, this is not another tisha baf. You know, I sometimes think to myself that, like, it's gonna sound strange, but there's, like, a little bit of tish above market saturation videos and this and that and WhatsApp chats and this, like, ba ba ba. I literally had to turn my phone on for five minutes during kinos because I had to see if I got a message from someone. And again, Baruch Hashem blew up. Watch this, watch this, watch this, watch this, watch this. And it's beautiful. Can I make a suggestion to you, don't watch anything.
[00:27:23] You know what Tisha bav is?
[00:27:25] Tisha Bav is sitting somewhere by yourself for just a few moments. Of course, you should watch so much beautiful content and moving content. Of course, there's a time and a place for everything, but people spend their days on a device.
[00:27:42] And while it's meaningful content on a day like today, you missed the point a little bit.
[00:27:50] So much of Tisha buff is actually being alone with yourself, by yourself.
[00:28:04] What's going to be?
[00:28:09] I'm heartbroken for my people.
[00:28:13] I'm heartbroken for Eretz Yisra.
[00:28:18] The soil of our precious land was defiled on Simcha's Torah.
[00:28:26] The soil of our precious land was defiled by all of the tunnels that our enemies have dug within the precious borders of our ancestral homeland.
[00:28:41] My heart breaks for Eretzra.
[00:28:46] My heart breaks for our people. My heart breaks for Eret Israel.
[00:28:50] And all I'm looking for is one thing.
[00:28:54] Tell me what you want. Tell me how to get from here to there. Give me an answer. Give me a vision. Give me a navi. Give us something, because clearly we're not figuring it out on our own.
[00:29:11] And these are the feelings.
[00:29:14] These are the feelings that have enveloped me, not only today, but in the days leading up to Tishava.
[00:29:23] Almost like a righteous indignation on behalf of Claudi Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael, wanting Kivyachel to have a good talking to Akadishvarachu.
[00:29:37] Just tell us what you want, and we'll do it.
[00:29:43] Tell us what it is, and we'll make it happen.
[00:29:50] But one thing is clear.
[00:29:53] I feel like I can't go on like this.
[00:30:02] One heart, even a collective heart, cannot bear so much pain, cannot bear so much adversity.
[00:30:13] One heart cannot think about the things that our people are currently undergoing and have undergone for the last 2000 years.
[00:30:23] I'm just looking for the mala asha.
[00:30:26] I'm just looking for that thing that's going to help me get from where I am to where Kadesh Baruch hu needs me to get to that straight line.
[00:30:34] But now we come to the afternoon of Tishabaf, and after Katzos, everything changes. Our behaviors change.
[00:30:44] You even feel like a break in the mood of the day. Everything changes.
[00:30:49] We pull back the parochas, the curtain over the auron. We sit on our regular chair.
[00:30:53] Interestingly enough, when one looks at the original halachic sources, there were a number of fascinating customs.
[00:31:01] Some had the custom to do laundry after chatsosantisha. Now, calm down. Calm down.
[00:31:08] It's not how I Paschen, but it's interesting.
[00:31:13] Interesting.
[00:31:15] Some have the custom to go in and dispense with many of the morning customs already after chatos, after Midian Keshav, because everything changes.
[00:31:24] Everything changes after midday.
[00:31:27] So whereas before Katsos, there was a certain feeling of what do you want from us? A certain feeling of just give us the ma'illa Ashan.
[00:31:40] After Hatzos, things change.
[00:31:43] If you look at number four, there's an incredible posseq in Mishlei. The posseq says, such a beautiful posseqatzir sir ne'iman le shav venefesh Adona of Yashid, literally translated like the cold snow on the day of harvest, is an emissary faithful to his sender, who refreshes his master soul. And the Malbi number five, what does this mean? Malm says so beautifully. What does it mean? Like a snow on a day of harvest? It doesn't even make sense, because if harvest, harvest generally takes place when in the spring, summer, spring, summer, there's no snow in the harvest time. So the mountain says something so beautiful. He says, you know, sometimes it is so hot outside, and the person is working in the field, and he's harvesting the field, and the sun is blazing in tavot sinas shelleg toshib es nafshal.
[00:32:46] You know, on a blazing hot day, if you get a little breeze, I'm a chaya.
[00:32:54] It's wonderful.
[00:32:56] Pasik says the same way that a sweet, gentle breeze on a hot day is literally, again, mesh ibnefish. It restores the soul. So the last part of the possibly speaks about, again, an emissary faithful to Ascendu. And I know that I have someone who is really willing to help me out, someone who is really willing to advocate and to be by my side.
[00:33:20] That gives me relief. Just like a beautiful breeze.
[00:33:29] There is nothing more refreshing, more rejuvenating, more restorative than a little breeze on a hot day. And Rabbi Nachman Abrezl says in number six, something incredible.
[00:33:38] The rebbe says, I'll translate it to what the rebbe is saying. The rebbe says, you know what pulas hare means?
[00:33:52] Taking a deep breath.
[00:33:56] Taking a deep breath, says the rebbe, is the same thing as a gentle breeze. Ben Adam Shahovid bakatsir tacha shemesh kopachas, homa kabo, meshev luachonim. So ultimately, the rebbe says, when a person is working, they're outside and it's blazing hot, and a little breeze comes and suddenly again, I feel restored, says the rebbe, something amazing.
[00:34:29] Do you know what is as incredible and restorative as a beautiful cool breeze?
[00:34:35] A good, cleansing, deep breath.
[00:34:40] When you take a good, cleansing, deep breath, says the rebbe, you take a deep breath. Anach nu yocholim lehi zocher mishlichos shalalu. We are able to remember our shlichos, our purpose, our agency, what we are supposed to accomplish.
[00:35:05] And I think if we heed the words of Rabbi Nachman, when we come to Chatsos, when we come to mid day anti Shabbat, and the overwhelming intense pains of mourning are perhaps a little bit behind us, our avodah is to take a deep breath, deep breathe.
[00:35:28] And to reorient ourselves and to ask ourselves one simple what is my shlichos?
[00:35:39] What's my agency?
[00:35:41] What's my purpose? People think that it's only Chabadnekim, it's only lubavitches who have shlichos.
[00:35:49] Every jew has a shlichos.
[00:35:51] If you didn't have a shlichos, you wouldn't be here in this world.
[00:35:54] If you didn't have a purpose, Gashmore wouldn't allow you to take up space and oxygen and resources.
[00:36:00] If you're here in this world, it's only because I have a shlichus.
[00:36:05] But says so often, we just get so overwhelmed by everything else going on in life.
[00:36:11] We get so busy with the day to day, we become so preoccupied with the things that are important, important to take my time, that I forget that I am here for something bigger than just getting through today's to do list, that I'm in this world to accomplish something bigger than just my task list. The task lists are incredibly important. The to do lists are incredibly important.
[00:36:41] But I have a shlichos, I have an agency.
[00:36:44] I'm here in this world to accomplish something, whether I have a lot of years or I only have a few years, whatever it is I Beshlich has. And says the reba, how do you reorient yourself if you feel that you're getting kind of like ping ponged around in life a little bit and you're going here, there, running this to that doing, and you feel you can't focus on what Yash says? The rebbeta Rebbe says, take a deep breath, deep, cleansing breath.
[00:37:21] Clear your heart, clear your mind.
[00:37:24] And now ask yourself the what's my shlichos?
[00:37:29] And I think that this is the avod of Tisha Bav afternoon, that whereas the morning is about feeling the collective pain of qali Surah that the mourning is about feeling the sense of loss and the void that has been created within our people over 2000 years of suffering. Whereas the morning, yes, is feeling even a little bit, a little bit of righteous indignation on behalf of cloud Yisrael. Demanding, demanding an end to the gods, demanding an end to our suffering, demanding the third base Hamikdashen after hazos, things change.
[00:38:09] Deep cleansing breath.
[00:38:11] And now it's time for me to get to work.
[00:38:14] Time to reorient.
[00:38:16] What is my shlichos? What is my purpose? What is my agency?
[00:38:21] And whereas there is no one answer to this question, each and every one of us have a different shriekos.
[00:38:29] We're all put in this world. We're all put in this world to accomplish something different.
[00:38:35] And our job in life is to try to figure out why am I here? As the Rab Khal writes in his introduction, a person has to ask themselves one simple question. Ma Chawvas al Ba'ulama, what is my obligation in this world? Not what do I want to do when I grow up? Not where do I want to go on vacation. Those are all great questions. Also not what do I want to do, what's my profession, Mahavaso Ba'ulama, what is my responsibility, what is my obligation in this world?
[00:39:03] And that each of us have to figure out on our own kind of on a personal level.
[00:39:08] But I think Big Adol, like in a panoramic, national sense.
[00:39:13] I'd like to share with you three things, three short things that I think are part of our post Chatsov's tishib of and that we need to take with us into the days ahead. Number one is Gemara. In source number seven, famous Gemara. Gemara me. Sechusuma writes, why was the bait Hamikdash destroyed? Mikdash, Vishal, Mithnay, makharav. Why was the first basemeth destroyed? And the gemara says, cause of three cardinal sins. Avodazora, idolatry, gila Rios, immorality, shvs domin, murderous. Big sins. Big sins. That's Allah based Hamikdash. Everybody was from.
[00:40:00] There weren't the same problems with morality, idolatry and bloodshed. Everybody was learning, everybody was doing hasad. So why was the Bais Hamikdash destroyed?
[00:40:13] We know this skimara. We know this skimara because there was sin. Haschinam. When the Gemara says, what do you see from what do you see from here? That Sina schnum is as severe as the three cardinal sins.
[00:40:31] First Beis Hamitesh was destroyed because of immorality, idolatry, vodchad. Second beis Hamitesh, sina Shinom. So you see, Sina Shinom is the equivalent of the three cardinal sins. And, you know, when it comes to sinasinim, how do we translate Serran Srinam? How do you translate it?
[00:40:47] Baseless hatred. Now, it doesn't make sense, right?
[00:40:51] If you hate someone, one thing is clear, which is there's a reason. Oh, everyone answered that one very quickly. Good. There's a reason, right? There's a reason. In other words, okay, I hate a person. Maybe it's not a good reason, but there's always a reason.
[00:41:09] We have this idea of, like, Sina Sin that people walked around just hating each other for no reason. That's not Sinam. What's Sina Srinam? Take a look at number eight, the baka, the shrites. And this is incredible.
[00:41:19] He says, sina Srinam Shahadam soma, as Hachim Shal Anashem Zulassam says, every person possesses some measure of beauty.
[00:41:34] And that is called chain.
[00:41:37] That is called chain. It doesn't mean the person is not a jerk. And it doesn't mean that they don't do upsetting or annoying things. And it doesn't mean that you have every right not to be friends with them.
[00:41:49] But the need. But beneath even the jerkiest of exteriors, there is a.
[00:41:57] Every person has. We call it a goodkite.
[00:42:01] Every person has a goodness.
[00:42:04] Every person has a. Do you know what Sinam is?
[00:42:08] Sina Sri Lam is when you can't find even one good thing about another jew.
[00:42:17] That's Sin Asrinam.
[00:42:19] Because if you can't find something good about another jew, that means you're not looking hard enough.
[00:42:29] Because everyone possesses something good. You know what Sina Srinam is? Sina Srinam is when you dislike someone because of something they did or some view they hold or some way they do, or they don't practice Judaism. Okay, that happens. That happens. We have disagreements with people. Those disagreements create a chasm. And we're not necessarily on the best of terms.
[00:42:49] But did you look for something good?
[00:42:51] Did you look for something good in that person?
[00:42:55] Everybody has the family member. That is incredibly difficult to get along with. To get along with no one.
[00:43:01] They don't know how to forge meaningful or good relationships. Maybe they even pull the rug out from a lot of other things that the family is trying to do.
[00:43:08] You have to look for something good in that person also.
[00:43:12] Or maybe there's the person who? Mamish. Stabbed you in the back.
[00:43:17] Stabbed you in the back.
[00:43:20] There are people like that. There are backstabbers, and sometimes the people we least likely think is going to come from other ones. Who comes from?
[00:43:28] Should you be friends with a person like that? Unequivocally and absolutely not.
[00:43:34] Should you keep your distance from a person like that? 100% yes.
[00:43:39] But all of that, Yuravoda, is, let me find something positive in them. Again, I want nothing to do with that person. I'm not talking to them anymore. I'm not interacting with them anymore. I'm not dealing with them anymore.
[00:43:52] But it has to be that for every jew, I find something positive, and the rebbe says, avaskinom. What's Avaskinum? You know, so Avaskinam, we often have this idea, you know, we talk about Avaskinam. Anyone ever hear, like, one of these, like, talks about Avaskinam, about loving every jew? So what happens in your mind when you hear someone talk about loving every jew?
[00:44:16] I'll tell you what happens. You're like, no way. I know a lot of unlovable people. I know a lot of Jews who I'm never going to love. I don't want to love. I want nothing to do with them. So I guess Avasinam. Cause that's not what Avaskinum is.
[00:44:31] Avaskinam, if Sinam is, the inability to find chain in someone else is the ability to find something positive in every single person doesn't mean you're in love with every single person. It doesn't mean you're enamored with every single jew. It doesn't mean that you have a good relationship with every person who you cross paths. That's impossible. That's never happened. Remember again, it's always important to understand back in the beginning, there were two human beings on the face of the earth, Adam al Chava.
[00:45:09] And guess what?
[00:45:12] They didn't always get along.
[00:45:15] So if you're the only two people on the face of always get along, Allah has Khan Alaka, and there's a lot of it.
[00:45:22] Avaskinim just means that we strive to see something positive.
[00:45:29] And how incredible would it be if the next time you had a negative interaction with someone, which may be as soon as there's the bottleneck going out of the doors at the end of the shear, imagine for a moment, you say, you know what? Especially if you know the person, she's a good person because she does x, she does y. Or if you don't know the person, just say to yourself, I'm sure that they have something beautifully redeeming about themselves, but you have to want it.
[00:46:08] It is not easy to love everyone and it is not easy to see the good in everyone. If it was, if it was, we would be sitting in Yerushalayimira Kodesh in the shade of the walls of the third base Hamikdash. If it was easy, it would have happened long ago. Its not easy. But this is our don't start trying to be friends with everyone. It's not gonna work.
[00:46:35] Don't even try loving everyone. Certainly not gonna work.
[00:46:40] Just try to see something good in every single person. You know, the Balatanius says, this idea of seeing something good. The Baltania says, you know, sometimes what do you do if you're trying to see something good but you really can't find anything?
[00:46:53] The Baltanya says, you don't just say to yourself, at least they walk on two legs and not on four.
[00:47:03] Gotta get something.
[00:47:05] Gotta get something.
[00:47:08] It is important to change our disposition about how we look at each other. Every yid has a chain. Every jew has something beautiful. So you are now, maybe you're in mahochas with someone right now. It's not always easy to. It's always nice when people talk about if you're in a state of malfocus with someone, reconciled, reconciled, you know, as we get a little bit older, a little bit more sophisticated and understand a little bit more how the world works. You can't always fix every broken relationship. And you can't always mend every single mach locus, as they say. It takes two to tango.
[00:47:41] I might want it more than anything. It doesn't mean there's a partner on the other side of the aisle.
[00:47:45] But what you can do, starting right this moment, is say, hineni me kabel al azmi.
[00:47:53] Liros esacheim bechol yudi hineni nikabal ala tzmi. I hereby take upon myself liros es Sachin to see something positive in every single jew.
[00:48:07] That's our shrichos. That's number one.
[00:48:10] Number two, take a look at source number nine. The pritzadek. The Pritzadik southern point of oblinde. The priest Sadiq mentions something that always intrigued me. He says every year, every year, mashiach is born on Tishabav. Shabbat Shroy leo hador zakayim utchilas oro betyom hes baav. Because in every generation there is someone who is ready, who is Fitzhe to assume the messianic mantle to become the male chamashiach. To become the male chamashiach, just a generation has to be worthy.
[00:48:51] But if you look at the words of the rebbe, it's a little bit contradictory, because the rebbe says every year mashiach is born.
[00:48:58] But to be honest, I don't need mashiach to be born every year. What do I need? I just need once a generation, that's all. Generation spends whatever. Whatever amount of time. So which one is it? Is mashiach born once a generation, or is their mashiach born every single year?
[00:49:16] So perhaps what the rebbe is trying to highlight us could be explained through a beautiful maisa. It's a Maisa. My family has heard this story hundreds upon hundreds of times.
[00:49:26] Maybe I've said it over here. I don't think I've ever said it over in this year, but to me, it's one of the most transformative stories I think I've ever heard. The story is told about the Hasid who once went to the Baal sham taba Kaddish. And he said, reba, I want to see. Ilya Hannawi.
[00:49:45] I want to see.
[00:49:49] Okay, thought about it a little bit. This Hasid was a pious individual. So he tells the, you have to go to a certain town, and in that town, you'll meet Eliyah. Hannavi says, you have to go spend Shabbos there.
[00:50:01] So he goes to the town, he goes into the base, Medrash mincha Kabbalah, Shabbos mairev in the basement.
[00:50:09] No one's even inviting him for a meal.
[00:50:12] Doesn't know what to do. So everybody's gone. He makes his way to one of the homes. It looks like a little broken down hut by the edge of the town. He knocks on the door, and a young woman, clearly with been crying red eyes, opens the door.
[00:50:28] And he says, could I stay here for Shabbos?
[00:50:32] And she says, I'm so sorry.
[00:50:35] I'm recently widowed, and we have no food.
[00:50:40] We don't have enough. I wish I could host you, but I can't, which the chase says, don't worry, I came with all of my stuff. I even have enough for your family. Enough for your family. Just let me stay here for Shabbos.
[00:50:52] Okay? Man comes in. It's a very nice Shabbos. He knows what the rebbe told him. He's going to get to meet the ilya and Abu. He said he's looking at the door. The entire Shabbos. Shabbos night, Shabbos day, shall Ashuddeshuddhi Kodesh Kadoshem is the holy of holies. He figures here, certainly Moshiach is going to come. Every hour is going to come.
[00:51:10] Nothing happens. Maze Shabbos goes back to Meshbiz, goes back to Mashantev. He says, rebbe, rebbe. Okay. I'm not asking any questions on the rebbe, but I. But I went. I didn't meet the Leo. Rebbe says, a little bit. He said, you know, it's okay. Go back again. This Shabbos, this Shabbos, you'll meet Eliyah Hanabi.
[00:51:30] So he goes back, goes to the shore, waiting for Eliyahu Navi, waiting to see something. Once again, no one invites him. No one invites him. He makes his way to the same little hut. He knocks on the door. The widow again opens. Opens the door. Her eyes tear drenched. Can I stay? We don't have any food. Don't worry. I have food. And he comes, and he spends a second shabbos with them.
[00:51:54] Whole Shabbos goes by. And once again, no two Shabbat says, I promise you, go back one more shabbos, and you will meet Eliel Hanavi.
[00:52:14] Man packs up the wagon, goes back for Shabbos. This time he knows that no one is going to invite him. So what does he do? Davening is over. He makes his way right to the widow's home.
[00:52:26] And he's standing by the door.
[00:52:32] Through the door, he hears the children cry, mama. And mama, we're so hungry.
[00:52:37] Ever since Tati died, you've been crying the whole time. There's no simcha, there's no food.
[00:52:46] What's gonna be with us?
[00:52:49] And the mother, trying to comfort her children, says, my tyraken, my beautiful children, do not despair.
[00:52:58] The same way that Hashem sent Elia Hannavi the last two Shabbat, he'll send Eliyah Hanavi again. Beshabbos.
[00:53:10] In that moment, the man realized what the Vashenda was trying to teach him.
[00:53:15] Stop waiting for the agent of redemption and become the agent of redemption.
[00:53:25] We forget that we have the ability to affect change.
[00:53:29] We forget that we have the ability to make a difference.
[00:53:33] We forget that we have the ability to dry tears of others, that we have the ability to mend broken hearts, that it's not just Ilya and has the ability of.
[00:53:46] But we could do it, too.
[00:53:48] That we have so much qoach and so much. And yes, of course, I wait for mashiach every single day. But waiting for mashiach does not mean having your face pressed against the pane of glass, eagerly waiting for mashiach. Waiting for mashiach means I wait. But every single moment that I'm waiting, I am acting messianically.
[00:54:09] And every single moment that the ultimate messenger of comprehensive cathartic change is not yet here, I will effect change in his stead that until Iryohana becomes to usher in a period of dramatic change, I will be that messenger of change.
[00:54:30] And I think that's what the priests tic is saying. You see, Mashiach is born once a generation, which is very comforting to know that amongst us is someone who is fit and someone who is ready to assume the messianic mantle. But what does it mean?
[00:54:53] I think that is talking to us that after Hatzos on Tisha Bav, there is a rebirth.
[00:55:02] After Hatzos on Tisha Bav, there is a reclamation of our personalistic shlichos.
[00:55:09] And part of what we each have to do is figure out, how am I going to be someone elses Ilyo Hanawi.
[00:55:20] How am I going to be someone else's mashiach?
[00:55:25] What can I do to help? What can I do to make a difference? What can I do to be the messenger of salvation? Whether it's in my own family, my extended family, my community, am Yisrael. We underestimate the power that we have as individuals, and we think of mashiach as the only entity who exists who is able to effect comprehensive change. But it's not true. I can't do what mashiach is going to do. But just because I can't do what mashiach is going to do doesn't mean that I can't be messianic in my own right. Just because I can't be the Hannawi doesn't mean that I can't affect change in ways that are like.
[00:56:11] We spend all of our time waiting.
[00:56:15] While we're waiting, we also have to be doing bechoshana b'shona, tisha b av nolod mashiach that's talking about me and you.
[00:56:26] That if we emerge from this Tisha baby ready to accept that messianic mantle of affecting change in the world around us, there is no telling what we can do.
[00:56:36] Stop lamenting the things that are broken and start rolling up your sleeves and try to fix them.
[00:56:47] Stop asking, why me or why this?
[00:56:52] And accept that Akadish parachu as a plan that defies comprehension. But whatever it is, lean into it.
[00:56:58] Whatever it is, accept it.
[00:57:00] Whatever it is, own it.
[00:57:03] And whatever it is, maximize it.
[00:57:08] We have to wait for the messenger of salvation, just like we have to wait for mashiach.
[00:57:15] But we need not wait passively.
[00:57:19] We have the ability to act in a redemptive fashion each and every day.
[00:57:25] Like that Hasid who became the Ilya hanabi for that broken family.
[00:57:31] Each of us has the ability to become an ilyuhanavi for ourselves and for others as well. And lastly, this will conclude source number ten. This sif say khain writes as follows.
[00:57:43] We're familiar with the halakha Tagosholu rabin chayim vital. The answer was, that's halal.
[00:58:02] So there's matzi fish above. We say we bench the new moon every month Roshodesh, even though, again, technically speaking, we could have done it already at Mazeshabis. But we dafka wait until Mazei Tishabov to do Kiddoshlavana. And they asked of Chaim Dhitao, why do we wait until maze Tishabov? He says something was destroyed and we were exiled.
[00:58:40] Why? Because yawakidos represents the moon waxes and wanes, and at this time of month you go out to the moon. Tonight will be the 10th of Av. The moon is very small. In a couple of days from now, the moon will once again be whole, and then the moon will once again gradually diminish and ultimately disappear. Kiddush Lavana is the ultimate metaphor for the jew that no matter how much we break, no matter how broken we are, no matter how much others break us, we have the ability to become whole. The bais Hamikdash lies in ruin, but like the moon, one day it will be restored. Eretz Yisrael is not what it once was, but it will be restored to that glory. Khal Yisrael does not occupy the once elevated position we held, but we will be restored to that pedestal.
[00:59:42] Just like the moon renews and rejuvenates, everything that is broken becomes whole.
[00:59:49] I think if we think about Chaimikal's idea, in the midst of all of this mourning for cloud Nisrael, in the midst of national tish above, there's also personal tish above, because I think many of us have internal Chorban as well.
[01:00:09] There are things inside of me that are in a state of destruction.
[01:00:14] Maybe my life has not gone as it planned.
[01:00:18] Maybe my marriage is not what I thought it would be, and maybe at this time when I thought I would be married, I'm not yet married.
[01:00:28] I thought I'd have a bigger family. I thought I'd have bigger paranasa. I thought my children would be one way we all start out life with all types of visions and all types of ideas, and very often, they do not fully materialize.
[01:00:44] But on a personal level, you know, we start out life with goals, with dreams, with aspirations, things we're going to do, things we're going to accomplish, the kind of people we're going to become.
[01:00:56] And then things happen in life.
[01:00:59] Sometimes they get derailed. Sometimes they get demolished, sometimes obliterated, sometimes sidelined.
[01:01:07] So we often walk around life with a lot of inner Khorban.
[01:01:11] There's a lot of broken pieces inside of me.
[01:01:15] Kadeshlovana and Matsay Tishaba reminds us that in this world, whatever is broken can be made whole.
[01:01:29] Now, disclaimer, when you make something broken whole, it doesn't always look the same the way it was before it broke.
[01:01:40] But a lot of times, it looks even more beautiful.
[01:01:44] And a lot of times, it's certainly more functional, and it's always stronger than it was before.
[01:01:52] We end off this heartbreaking day with a reminder that although we all carry around broken pieces, if you want to repair the khurban that is inside of you, do it.
[01:02:09] And tonight and the days ahead is the time to do it.
[01:02:15] The rest of the day. Today, we have all this to identify your inner Qurban. What are your broken pieces then? Beginning tonight, my newfound shlichos tells me that I have obligation to put the pieces back together.
[01:02:29] So if we bring this all together, it turns out that our Tisha bav has two distinct and dramatically dissimilar pieces.
[01:02:39] Our morning of Tisha bav. M o r n g ing. Our morning of Tisha Bav. The first part of the day of Tisha bav is literally the mourning. Mourning.
[01:02:51] The mourning over that which has been lost. The righteous indignation, the kailey. Kailey, Lama Azaftani. The want and the begging and the yearning for the ma'ala asham. Just tell me how to get where you need me to get to.
[01:03:06] And then hatsos comes.
[01:03:09] And like Rabin Ahmed says, I take my deep, cleansing breath, and I reminded I have an agency. I have a shlichos.
[01:03:18] Three things to remember for our shlichos. Number one, be an avas chhinom jew.
[01:03:25] Be a jew who begins every day. Hineni me kabal al azzmi liros es hachem bechol yehudi. I hereby take upon myself not to be friends with everyone, not to love everyone, but to find something positive in every single individual. Part one of the shlichos.
[01:03:42] Part two of the shlichos.
[01:03:45] Don't wait for mashiach passively.
[01:03:48] But while you're waiting for the messenger of redemption, become the agent of salvation.
[01:03:58] While you're waiting for mashiach to change your life and the entire world, figure out what you could do to change your life and the lives of those around you. Don't just simply wait for the agent of salvation, but become someone's, become your own messianic redemptor.
[01:04:18] And lastly, as we take leave of this yantif, and one day, this day will be a yantif, as we take leave of this sacred, overwhelming day, the first thing we will do tonight, many of us, even before we eat, is Teresait K. Dashlavana to make a bracha over that thing in nature which waxes and wanes and it reminds us everything is broken, could be made whole, and everything that is broken inside of me, somehow, someway, could be put back together again.
[01:04:56] Let us hope that Emirates Hashem and the sos of coming together on this tish above afternoon in this Kosovo, allowing ourselves to feel the collective pain of our people, and in this Kosovo, taking a deep, cleansing breath and once again acquainting ourselves with our life shlichos.
[01:05:13] May we be Socha, each of us in our own way, to seize the reins of this life, agency of this life shlichos to maximize our shlichos.
[01:05:24] Just imagine if all of us fulfill the tenets of our sheikhas, if all of us do the things that Ekadish Baruch hu expects of us.
[01:05:34] Can you imagine the light?
[01:05:37] Can you imagine the energy?
[01:05:39] Can you imagine the holiness that we will infuse into this world?
[01:05:45] I believe with all of my heart that this is the last tishabaf.
[01:05:54] And I believe with all of my heart that mashiach, that gulah is closer than ever.
[01:06:03] And we will be Zochan Erzachem. I hope to be able to give this year for many, many years to come. But first of all, number one, there'll be refreshments outside before you come in.
[01:06:16] Number two, while I love Rabbi Rose and Rabbi Hauer, we are not hosting it here ever again.
[01:06:24] It is going to be in the shade of the walls of the third base, Hamikdash.
[01:06:30] You'll be surrounded by generations of Yidden who have joined us through the miracle of Triassa mason.
[01:06:37] The instruments will be playing in the background.
[01:06:41] The levien will be singing their shira, the kohanin dressed in their beautiful big day Kahuna.
[01:06:51] And us, together with all of our families, Obi Zocha to see the moshiach.
[01:06:59] Obi Socha to see Moshe and Aaron once again leading our people Obi Soha Mirza Hashem to bask in the beauty, in the glory, in the holiness, in the splendor of our people ul biz Yocha to dry our tears, ul Bizocha to have our collective heart mended.
[01:07:20] And if we just do what Akadosh Baruch hu wants of us, it will be zochet to see all of this become a reality bin here.
