Pondering the Imponderable
Rabbi Bernie Fox
And I petitioned before
Hashem at that time saying: Hashem,
G-d, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand
– for what power in the heavens and upon the earth can perform actions
akin to Your actions and Your might.
Allow me, now, to pass over and see the good land that is on the other
side of the Jordan, the good mountain, and the Lebanon. (Sefer Devarim 4:23-25)
1. The order of the annual Torah readings
Over the course of each year the entire Torah is
read. The parshiyot
– the portions – of the Torah are each assigned a Shabbat. The number of parshiyot
exceeds the number of Shabbatot –
Sabbaths. Therefore, some weeks,
two portions are read in order to complete the entire Torah over the course of
the year. However, there are some parshiyot that are assigned to specific Shabbatot. For
example, Parshat BeMidbar
is usually read the Shabbat preceding Shavuot; Parshat
Nitzavim is read before Rosh HaShanah.
The Shabbat following Tisha BÕAv is among the Shabbatot that
are assigned a specific parasha. Parshat VaEtchanan must be read
on the Shabbat following Tisha BÕAv.[1]
It is notable that, in general, these special parshiyot are associated with the Shabbat preceding
a festival. The examples above
illustrate this pattern. BeMidbar is read before Shavuot and Nitzavim
is read before Rosh HaShanah. This suggests that each of these parshiyot is selected to be read
on its specific Shabbat as a preparation for the festival or observance that
will take place in the coming week.
However, Parshat VaEtchanan
is the exception to this pattern.
It is not read before Tisha BÕAv; it is read following it.
This presents two problems. First, why is VaEtchanan
different from the other parshiyot assigned to
their respective Shabbatot? Why does it follow the observance with
which it is associated rather than precede it? Second, the rationale for reading a
relevant portion in preparation for a festival is obvious. As explained above, the special reading
prepares us for the special event in the coming week. What is the rationale for reading VaEtchanan after Tisha BÕAv? Tisha BÕAv has been observed in
the preceding week. A relevant
Torah reading cannot prepare us for an event that has already taken place.
When you will give birth
to children and grandchildren and you will become long-established
in the land, then you will act destructively and make idols and images of all
things. You will do that which is
evil in the eyes of Hashem, your G-d, to anger
Him. I call to testify against you
today the heavens and the earth that you shall surely be quickly destroyed from
upon the land that you cross the Jordan, there to possess. You will not enjoy longevity upon
it. For you will surely be destroyed. (Sefer Devarim 4:25-26)
2. The Tisha BÕAv Torah reading
There is an obvious connection between Tisha
BÕAv and Parshat VaÕEtchanan.
The Torah reading for the morning of Tisha BÕAv is taken from the parasha. This Torah portion is one of the
distinctive characteristics of Tisha BÕAv. Other
fast days – with the exception of Yom Kipur
– share a single reading.
That reading is taken from Sefer Shemot. It
focuses upon MosheÕs intercession on behalf of Bnai Yisrael following the sin of the Egel
– the Golden Calf. It is
selected for fast days because its theme is petition, forgiveness, and HashemÕs mercy.
On our fast days we ask Hashem to redeem us from affliction and
suffering. We learn from this Torah
section how to petition Hashem. We
adopt MosheÕs model and even employ the words and phrases included in this
portion. We also learn from this
portion that forgiveness can be achieved.
Hashem is a G-d of mercy. He
awaits us to return to Him. When we
sincerely repent, we will be forgiven.
This moving Torah portion is not read on the morning of Tisha BÕAv. Instead, it is
postponed to the afternoon. The
morning reading is from Parshat VaEtchanan. It begins with the passages above. Why is this reading selected for Tisha BÕAv in place of the usual
fast day Torah portion?
How does she dwell alone!
A city that was populas is a widow. Great among nations, a princess among states
is a vassal state. (Megilat Eichah 1:1)
3. Tisha BÕAv recalls an imponderable disaster
Tisha BÕAv
recalls the destruction of our two Sacred Temples – Batai
Mikdash.
It has been designated by our Sages to also commemorate all of the
tragedies and disasters that have befallen our people in the long years of our
exile and wandering. The observance
begins at night with the reading of Megilat Eichah – Lamentations. This work was authored by the prophet Yermiyahu in response to the destruction of the first Bait
HaMikdash – the Sacred Temple. This works opens with the above
passage. The first word of the
passage and the megilah is eichah – how. The prophet asks how such a terrible
disaster could have occurred.
However, the prophetÕs intention is not to formulate an
intellectual question. The sentence
is not a quarry. It is an
exclamation. How is such tragedy
possible! In this very first
passage of the megilah an important element of
the Tisha BÕAv observance
is expressed. Tisha
BÕAv requires that we experience astonishment. We are required to relive the tragedy of
the churban – the destruction of the
Temples. If we succeed in our task,
then like Yermiyahu we will be astonished that such
punishment and suffering is possible!
One who can quickly and easily come to grips with the churban and feel that he
understands it, simply does not appreciate its magnitude.
Some years ago a Holocaust survivor asked me how I can believe in a G-d who allows His own children to be
humiliated, tortured, and exterminated.
Where was G-dÕs mercy or justice when six million of His children were
decimated! After a brief discussion
I realized that I was not being asked a theological question. I realized that I was experiencing a
declaration of unbearable anguish and horror. How could the Holocaust be
possible! There is no answer
because there is no question – only a cry of intense anguish.
Tisha BÕAv
requires that we feel that anguish.
We must strive to imagine the horror of the churban
– to grasp the imponderable.
And he said: If now I have found favor in Your eyes, Hashem, let the
presence of Hashem be in our midst.
For it is a stiff-necked nation and You will
forgive our iniquities and take us as a portion. (Sefer Shemot 34:9)
4. A
time for grief and a time for consolation
The above passage is taken from the closing of the normal
fast day Torah reading. This is the
Torah portion that is read also in the afternoon of Tisha
BÕAv. In
the passage, Moshe asks Hashem to forgive the nationÕs terrible sin – the
sin of the Egel. MosheÕs request is granted and the
people are forgiven.
Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik ZtÓl suggests
that this message is antithetical to the mood of Tisha
BÕAv morning.
It is a message of consolation, hope, and forgiveness. Tisha BÕAv morningÕs theme and
atmosphere is of inexorable grief.
We are not yet prepared to move beyond our astonishment, horror and anguish.[2]
Therefore, this Torah portion
is postponed to the afternoon. Through
reading the kinot – the liturgical
lamentations – recited the morning of Tisha BÕAv, we give voice to our perplexity and anguish.
5. The morning Torah reading
Instead of the normal fast day Torah reading, on Tisha BÕAv we read a section from
Parshat VaEtchanan. What is the relevance of this portion of
Tisha BÕAv?
Every festival is assigned a specific Torah portion to be
read on the occasion. These
readings are selected on the basis of their relevance to the festival. Festivals prescribed by the Torah are assigned
Torah readings that discuss the festival.
Festivals established by Sages are assigned Torah portions that are
relevant to the festival. For
example, Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Bait HaMikdash.
Its Torah portion discusses the dedication of the Mishcan
– the Tabernacle – of the wilderness.
Accordingly, Tisha BÕAv is assigned the Torah portion that discusses the
occasions that we commemorate – churban,
exile, and suffering. On Tisha BÕAv morning we read the
portion of the Torah that describes a time at which the nation will become
complacent and take for granted its blessings. The people will abandon the
Torah. They will be punished with exile, affliction, and destruction.
When you are afflicted
and all of these things befall you, at the end of days, you will return to
Hashem your G-d and you will listen to His voice. (Sefer Devarim 4:30)
6. Parshat VaEtchanan – a message of tragedy and of consolation
The Tisha BÕAv
morning Torah portion focuses upon three ideas. The first is that our suffering is not a
merely a capricious accident or happenstance occurrence. Our afflictions are a result of our own
choices. Wrongdoing and iniquity are punished. The punishment can be severe. Second, Hashem awaits our repentance. When we return to Him, He will accept
us. Finally, we are assured that we
will repent and that we will be delivered from our suffering. Our relationship with Hashem will be fully restored.
We read these messages on the morning of Tisha BÕAv because this is the
Torah portion that discusses the events commemorated by the day. However, we are not ready for its
messages. We are not prepared to
hear its rebuke. When we are overwhelmed
in our contemplation of the enormity of our suffering, we cannot accept this
message of accountability. Also, we
are not yet prepared to be consoled.
Messages of ultimate redemption cannot be processed by one who is in the
deepest most intense level of grief.
However, these messages are fundamental. They provide
context for the catastrophes Tisha BÕAv recalls.
These messages are harbingers of better times – of peace and an
end of all suffering and affliction.
So, as with the passage of time, when better prepared, we must return to
this Torah reading and consider its messages. Therefore, the Sages assigned Parshat VaEtchanan to the Shabbat
after Tisha BÕAv.
In short, Parshat VaEtchanan differs from the other parshiyot
assigned to specific Shabbatot. These other parshiyot
are each read in preparation for the festival to be observed in the coming
week. VaEtchanan
is not a preparation for Tisha BÕAv;
it is a response. It gives Tisha BÕAv a needed context and
provides a message of solace and hope.