Torah Thinking

What happens on Rosh Hashanah? It's not what you think.

This shiur was given recently in Israel. It was produced by Yiboneh. Visit them at www.yiboneh.com.

The Essence of Rosh Hashana

From the archives of older shiurim/classes given by Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Rosh Hashana Is Not What You Think

What is the underlying theme and focus that lies behind the day of judgment and coronation of Hashem as King?

Shabbos Nachamu | The True Purpose of Destruction & Mourning

Hashem offers us a consolation deeper than the assurance that we will be redeemed.

By Rabbi Mendel Kessin
Synopsis is not necesarrily in Rabbi Kessin's own words

The Jews ask why

• The medrash says that at the end of time the Jews will ask Hashem why they had to go through the tremendous suffering, persecutions and desolation of galus.
• Hashem will send the Avos and various leaders of the Jews to console them, but they will not be successful
• Hahem then consols them Himself with Nachamu Nachamu Ami.

Questions

• What did Hashem do that the others couldn’t?
• Why does Hashem use a repetitive language?
• The pasuk that mentions this response of Hashem uses the divine name Elokim, which refers to Hashem’s acting towards us with justice. Wouldn’t the Name of Mercy be more appropriate?

The tannaim mourn the majesty of Roman society, and Rabbi Akiva’s response

• 4 tannaim were walking through Roman society. They heard loud voices from the Roman palace many miles away (this means they viewed the success and majesty of Roman society).
• 3 of them started crying
• They were distraught at the Tiferes (reference to wisdom) and Oz (reference to success) caused by the nitzotzos hackedusha that was transfered from Jews to Satan and the nations connected to him.
• Rabbi Akiva laughed
• The others asked why he was laughing
• He asked tham why they were crying
• They answered that the Romans are sitting at peace and our temple is burned. Why shouldn’t we cry?
• He answered that's why I'm laughing. If this is how Hashem behaves toward those who defy him, how much more so for those who serve him.
• Rabbi Akiva was saying - if Hashem rewards them in this way for whatever zechusim they did have, this demonstrates middah of Hashem that one gets what he deserves even if one is evil.
• Rabbi Akiva looked at what the Romans had and its implications for us as opposed to what we had lost

The tannaim mourn the desolation of the Bais Hamikdash, and Rabbi Akiva’s response

• These 4 tannaim were then waking on Har Tzofim - the mountain that overlooks the Har Habayis
• They all rent their garments in mourning
• When they came near the place where the Kodesh Kodoshim was, they saw a fox leave that place.
• 3 of them started crying
• Rabbi Akiva laughed
• The others asked why he was laughing
• He asked tham why they were crying
• They said that when the Bais Hamildosh stood, if someone entered the Kodesh Kodoshim when he was unworthy or unauthorized, he would die immediately. Yet now a fox can go there and remain unharmed.
• Rabbi Akiva responded that that was precisely why he was laughing.
• Rabbi Akiva then referred to verses in the Navi that imply that the nevuah of redemption is dependant on the nevuah of destruction.
• The others replied: Akiva you have consoled us. Akiva you have consoled us.

Questions

• Why did we need to know the type of animal it was?
• Why did Rabbi Akiva ask why they’re crying? Isn’t it obvious that it’s because of the destruction?
• Even if Rabbi Akiva was confident in the eventual redemption, the fact remains that at the time there was destruction and suffering. Why did he not seem to mourn?
• What does it mean that the redemption is dependant on the destruction?
• The other tannaim knew that there would eventually be a redemption. What new point of view did Rabbi Akiva tell them that consoled them?
• Why did they answer with a repetitive phrasing?

Tough love

• A father once had a son to whom he gave everything
• The son, however, spurned him and was ungrateful
• As much as it pained the father, he realized that the only way his son would learn to respect was if he lost everything.
• The father threw his son out of the house.
• Eventually the son realized the good his father gave him and missed it and his father.
• The son started to mourn the loss and expressed yearning to come back.
• This was the very thing the father was waiting for.

The mourning and suffering is the solution

• The suffering, persecutions and desolation of galus rectifies the issues that caused the galus in the first place
  • The pain itself is mesaken
  • The mourning shows we want to be close to Hashem and to regain our previous status and situation. This rectifies by countering our spurning of Hashem through sinning
• The mourning itself is the tikun for what we did to cause the destruction. Tisha B’Av itself is the refuah

The stories explained

• Note that when the tannaim got to Har Hatzofim, they all rent their garments - even Rabbi Akiva. He did agree that now was the time for mourning.
• The fox was specified because it is a sly animal. This was a sign to Rabbi Akiva that there was a message here that was not readily apparent
• When Rabbi Akiva asked the others why they were crying, he was prompting them to offer the idea that he would use to show his point that the destruction and mourning was the key to the redemption
• Rabbi Akiva reinforced his point with the pesukim from the Navi saying that the redemption is dependant on the destruction - because of our sins and lack of teshuvah the destruction was necessary as a mesaken to bring the redemption.
• The consolation that Hashem gave that no one else could was Him showing how throughout history, both nationally and personally, all the pain and suffering was the key in being mesaken what we didn’t so we could experience the bliss of Olam Haba. All the others who offered consolation only showed how the suffering will eventually end with the redemption - not why the suffering happened.
• The name Elokim is used to show how when all is said and done - the redemption will be just because of the suffering and not an act of kindness alone
• That’s the repetitive language of consolation:
  • Nachamu that the suffering will end and the redemption will come
  • Nachamu that the suffering itself had the purpose of being  the cause and key of the redemption

The future celebration of Tisha B’Av

• Chazal say Mashiach will be born on Tisha B’Av. This is because the mourning of Tisha B’Av gives rise to the redemption
• After the redemption, Tisha B’Av will be the greatest of the holidays
• Anyone who mourns the destruction properly will merit (present tense) seeing its rebuilding. By connecting to the past there's a surety that it will happen, and it is as if it’s happening now.

Glossary

• Galus - exile
• Avos - patriarchs
• Nachamu - be consoled
• Ami - my nation
• Pasuk - verse
• Tannaim - rabbis who authored the mishnah
• Tiferes - beauty
• Oz - might
• Nitzotzos hakedusha - holy sparks
• Zechusim - merits
• Middah - attribute
• Bais Hamikdash - the holy temple
• Har Habayis - temple mount
• Kodesh Kodoshim - the Holy of Holies - the innermost sanctuary in the temple where the Ark of the Covenant was located. It is the holiest place on Earth.
• Navi - prophet. Also refers to the books that contain their writings given by Hashem for posterity
• Nevuah - prophecy
• Tikun - rectification
• Mesaken - rectify
• Teshuva - repentance

Tisha B'Av | Why We Mourn

The Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed long ago. There is a more profound tragedy to this event that we can relate to even thousands of years later.

By Rabbi Mendel Kessin
Synopsis is not necesarrily in Rabbi Kessin's own words

5 Things that happened on Tisha B’av

1. The spies that were sent to survey Eretz Yisrael came back and gave a disparaging report
2. The First Bais Hamikdash was destroyed
3. The Second Bais Hamikdash was destroyed
4. The Jewish revolt against the Romans in Beitar was defeated
5. The Har Habayis was plowed like a field

Main themes of Tisha B’Av

• Churban
• Mourning

Questions

• Why are we still mourning if all this happened so long ago?
• Why are we mourning? Our ancestors were the ones who caused the destruction?
• Jews never just commemorate events. There’s always some sort of tikun we need to accomplish that’s related to the theme of the time at hand.

It is our fault after all

• Every year there’s a court case in heaven that considers whether we will merit Mashiach and the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdosh
• If we have not rectified the problems that caused the destruction, if we continue to exhibit those issues, we are deemed unworthy.
• Indeed, if we have not rectified the issues, we could have potentially caused the destruction in the first place had the Bais Hamikdosh still stood.

We made things worse

• We have not only been found undeserving of Mashiach and the Bais Hamikdosh, we have further empowered the Satan
• This has caused a major catastrophic perversion of the way things need to be in order for the tikun to be done.

A consequence of Adam Harishon’s chet

• Originally, Adam Harishon’s mission was solely to bring down kedusha into this world, thereby being mesaken it and turning it into Olam Haba
• He was to ignore the suggestions of the Satan, embodied in the Nachash.
• When he sinned, the relationship changed.
• Adam now needed to first destroy the Satan and only then bring down kedusha and transform the world into Olam Haba
• To facilitate this, Hashem put them into an inverse relationship.
• Everything needs a shefa - a flow of divine energy - from Hashem to exist (Called yenika)
• Hashem removed the Satan’s conduit from the source and attached it to Adam’s conduit.
• However, only enough shefa for one entity flows through this conduit.
• The acts of man determine the direction this flow will take.
• Satan now has a personal stake in getting man to sin.
• It is now combat.
• This relationship with the Satan carried over from Adam Harishon to the Jews.
• The stronger the Satan becomes the harder it is for us to do the tikun

The strengthening of the Satan manifested in history

• Reality conforms to mirror the balance of kedusha between the Jews and the Satan
• If we show that we don’t want the presence of Hashem through our sinning, He removes it and the high levels of kedusha that come with it and gives it to the Satan
• 2 traits that Hashem bestowed to Jews
  • Tiferes / Beauty which is manifested as incredible wisdom
  • Oz / Might which manifests as incredible success
• When Bais Hamikdos was destroyed, Hashem’s presence left and the Tiferes and Oz went to the goyim as the balance of kedusha shifted.
• Within 100 years after the first Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed, the Greek philosophers grew, various religions grew in the east, and Rome was founded.
• After the second Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed, the tiferes and Oz went to Christianity
• As the Jews kept sinning, the goyim kept becoming greater.

We lost more than just the Bais Hamikdosh

• On Tisha B'av were not only mourning the Loss of connection to Hashem, but that our Tiferes and Oz was given to goyim
• Not only that, but because of this many jews are lost to Yiddishkeit

Tikun through tumah

• Hashem promised that whatever happens, we will accomplish the tikun
• Parah aduma shows that we can still be mesaken even when the Satan holds the majority of the kedusha
• IF need be, Hashem will enable us to accomplish tikun through the greatness of the Satan and his minions. The suffering and agony we endure because of this causes tikun.
• Hashem mourns this state of affairs. 3 times a day he bemoans that this method is necessary.

What our mourning accomplishes

• When we mourn on Tisha B’Av, we show that we want to be reconnected with Hashem’s presence
• We also join the Shechina in pain and mourning.
• This is mesaken as well, removing the need for pain and suffering.

Glossary

• Churban - destruction (often specifically referring to the destruction of one of or both temples)
• Bais Hamikdosh - the holy temple
• Adam Harishon - Adam the First
• Chet - sin
• Tikun - rectification
• Mesaken - rectifying
• Kedusha - Holiness
• Yenika - nourishment