Mourning and Reflection: The 17th of Tammuz

Today begins the three weeks In a Shiva Asur Betamos, the beginning of the Bane Hamid Sarram, the time between straits, a stint of time on the Jewish calendar marked for remembrance and mourning, book-ended by Shiva Asur Betamos and the eventual Tisha of the 9th of Av. And perhaps the same way that a doctor is less concerned about his patient's runny nose because he's more focused about the cause of it, the root illness and bacteria, the infection in his patient's body, perhaps it would follow that while we are mourning what we have lost, we should also focus on the Siba, the sins that cause this destruction, so that we can seek to rectify it. Because, after all, it is our job to rebuild the Bane Hamidash through Tikka, ramidas, halacha, tyra and Av Hashem. So we begin in unraveling this puzzle for the cause of the destruction from Amishnah in Mesachta Tainas. That tells us that on Shiva Asur Betamos, five calamities and tragedies befell the Jewish people. Number one Moshe broke the luchos. Number two the carbon hatom abs ceased to be brought. Number three the walls of Yerushalayim were breached. Number four opostomus burned Ezra's famous Saffir Torah. Number five an idol was placed inside the base Hamidash. And I found, in Rob Gladstein's great work on the three weeks an unbelievable anoyra of Oyoim di kevart from the great Orychlaner Reb Yaakov Etlinger the Baal Mincha, shai the Baal Bikure, yaakov the Baal Orychlaner, and interestingly enough, this 19th century Gaon was one of the Rabbaimur of Shamshin Rafal Hursh. Now he tells us that the five events here are not in a random order, but they are actually documentation of the sequence of the descent of a Jewish person of a Jewish community of Klawishtra. God forbid that. It starts where a person will break his luchos. It begins with a slacking off in one's steadfast devotion to Torah study, breaking the luchos. Luchos represent Torah. Eh, i can miss today's dafiyomi. I don't need to learn B'iyun. Eventually that leads to a B'utol hatomid. And now there is no more davening. I don't need to go for a minion, i can daven in the office. I'll put Tfilin on at home. I don't like Nernusokh, i'll go here. There's B'utol hatomid, there's no more Tfilah. Then it turns into breaching the walls. You are now without any sort of guardians on your walls and things enter just pouring into your house, into your body, into the community. It's not a wonder why you select other sort of gross, putrid foods, because ultimately one is bereft of spirituality. His walls have been broken Fourth, a spasthumus. It then burns the Torah openly. Where now there's nothing left of this Jewish person, the community, even Lulav, even Chanukah, even the Pesachs they are now gone. It's been burned And now lastly God forbid there is nothing, because there is a celem, there is an idol inside of the Besam Mekdash. Your Judaism, your Yahadus, has been replaced by an idol. Your children marry non-Jews. There's nothing to be shown for your Yiddish Tragedy. And it all could have been prevented if a person would have stayed strong in his Torah learning, If he would have stayed in that dafiyomi, he would have stayed in his Eon, if he would have stuck to his Kovatah, eat him. La Torah Rapsad Jagon tells us that the nation of the Jewish people are not a nation that is bound together by the same ideals and the same logic and the same morals. But no, ain Ha'uma el-Apetairah, we're only a nation because of the Torah. Commit to your Siddharim, set yourself up Chavrusahs, stay true to Torah study, because after that things unravel rather quickly and eventually God forbid it ends in an idol being placed in the base Hamidash.