| Imagine a huge kiddush in the synagogue after services. There’s everything from Kosher Sushi to kugel, from Cholent to chopped liver. There’s pushing and shoving, especially from the younger crowd, to get to the tables loaded with food. However, when it comes time to attending services in shul, the younger crowd has no problem giving the front part of the shul to the older people and being magnanimous by sitting or even standing in back. They are even willing to stand in the hallway, outside of the sanctuary, to help make room for those who want to be inside. Where’s the enthusiasm, the pushing and shoving to get to shul? Kiddush provides an important social feature to Judaism and it is enjoyable to have great food but it’s clearly not as important as the prayer service. There’s something wrong when people are willing to easily give in to important matters but push and shove when it comes to physical satiation. Moses is about to pass the leadership baton to Joshua but before he does, he gives soft rebuke concerning the incident of the spies. And all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us so that they will search out the land for us and bring us back word by which route we shall go up, and to which cities we shall come.” (1:22) How is this rebuke? Rashi contrasts the wording between this and later verse (Deut. 5:20-21) describing how the people approached Moses before receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. They approached Moses with a proposal to send spies on a reconnaissance mission (before conquering Israel). They came close in a frenzied fashion, with younger people pushing aside the elders. In contrast, at Mount Sinai, they approached in a calm and organized way, with the younger generation respecting their elders. Why did they push and shove in the spies’ incident but had restraint and dignity at Mount Sinai? The Jewish nation needs elders— elders are not necessarily old but, rather, wise, learned, and have life experience. Young people have the enthusiasm, idealism, and energy to make things happen but their lack of life experience, along with the tendency to get excited or passionate about something without realizing the consequences, can work to their detriment. When Isaiah gives the dismal prophecy about the siege of Jerusalem, the worst of the 18 curses mentioned is that “the young ones will rule over the elders.” Let’s contrast the later incident (sending the spies) where the young people were pushing the elders as opposed to the earlier incident (at Mt. Sinai), when those same people came in an organized and respectful fashion. The commentary Kli Yakar explains the difference between the two gatherings. If the young people were so eager that they pushed and shoved when it came to conquer and take possession of the Land, why were they not equally as excited when it came time to accept the Torah? This inconsistency indicates that the younger crowd placed greater significance in the physical (taking possession of the Land) rather than the spiritual (accepting the Torah).Moses recalled this inconsistency in his rebuke because it demonstrates a lack of understanding about what makes the Jewish people unique. G-d chose us as His nation because we were the ones willing to be a moral beacon for the rest of the world. The Land of Israel is part of the package but it’s not the crux of our lives as Jews.On one hand, Moses was very impressed with the people’s ability to be calm, generous, and gracious at Mount Sinai, yet when it came to taking possession of the land, there was a minor riot. Their misdirected enthusiasm was the subject of Moses’ reprimand. This Monday night begins the fast of Tisha B’Av ; it is the only sad day on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the day of the destruction of the first and second Temples. After explaining Moses’ rebuke, Kli Yakar concludes that the first seed to cause our long and bitter exile was connected to incident relating to the sending of the spies. Their misplaced eagerness was the catalyst causing the death of that generation as well as delaying their offspring from entering Israel for 40 years. The incident of the spies is inexorably connected to the destruction of the Temple, which means that one of the things for which we mourn on Tisha B’Av is the misplaced enthusiasm of our ancestors thousands of years ago. Tisha B’Av is a time when we sit on the ground to mourn the destruction of the Temple as well as the fragile situation of our exile. Since October 7th, we don’t have to look too far to realize how tenuous our situation is. On Monday night, we will read Lamentations (Eichah), written by the prophet Jeremiah.Remember G-d what has happened to us, look and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. (Lamentations 5:1-2) We need to unite not just in communal mourning but in prayer and resolve to identify what really matters to us as a people and where my priorities as an individual are. Let’s make the most of this Tisha B’Av by thinking of some way, even one way, for us to align our priorities with those of our ancestors, who managed to live their life as Jews throughout Crusades, Cossacks, pogroms, and a Holocaust. If they found guidance and inspiration through those hard times, and were able to maintain their Jewish connection, we should be able to do the same in these relatively peaceful times. Good Shabbos |
