Videos > Israel Matters #8: The 9th of Av - The Lessons of Jewish Historical Memory Israel Matters #8: The 9th of Av - The Lessons of Jewish Historical Memory Pesach Wolicki 139 views • 3 likes 6 years ago • 26:33 min
Transcript [00:02] welcome back to israel matters everyone [00:04] it's good to see everybody [00:05] uh i mean meaning all i can see is [00:08] elliot chodoff but uh [00:09] that's it's good to see you elliot good [00:11] to see you welcome back everyone we're [00:13] uh to our discussions of what matters [00:15] most to israel [00:16] this week of course is the week of the [00:20] 9th of the month of ab we mentioned this [00:22] last time [00:23] in relation to my to my growth that this [00:26] is a period of mourning a period of [00:28] contemplation [00:29] of jewish history and and the weight of [00:32] jewish history this is [00:33] this is what we're immersed in at this [00:35] time of year and uh [00:37] in light of that eliot and i have [00:39] decided that we [00:40] are going to take a break from talking [00:42] about current events and even the big [00:44] picture background of current events as [00:46] we were talking about last time [00:48] and really discuss tisha b'av and [00:51] the jewish historical memory [00:55] that is associated with tisha b'av and [00:57] some of those lessons i just want to [00:58] share [00:59] a brief thought and then i'm going to [01:00] pass it over to elliot [01:03] and i wrote this up a number of years [01:05] ago in the times of israel [01:08] but it's a while ago and uh just want to [01:10] share this interesting nugget [01:13] in in the year 1771 [01:17] the first edition of the encyclopedia [01:20] britannica [01:21] was published in edinburgh scotland [01:26] and uh it's not very big it's not like [01:28] the current encyclopedia britannica [01:30] which is many many volumes it was the [01:31] first edition it was three volumes [01:34] and on page 833 [01:38] of volume 2 is the entry for the word [01:42] jews and i saw a copy of this my [01:45] my father-in-law has a facsimile edition [01:47] of it that was given to him as a gift [01:49] and the first thing i did when i saw it [01:51] was i looked up jews like what [01:53] in in the 18th century when [01:56] some british academics were writing the [01:58] first encyclopedia [01:59] what did they write for jews [02:03] and listen to what they wrote and they [02:04] only wrote 150 words just imagine elliot [02:07] that you were given an assignment that [02:09] you had to write an encyclopedia entry [02:11] for the word jews and you only had 150 [02:14] words [02:15] i can't say good morning in 150 words [02:17] right exactly i mean [02:18] but think about that it's a very [02:19] interesting thing 150 words [02:21] someone had to write this entry and they [02:23] had to think about what are the few [02:25] details that we're going to give that [02:28] define and give [02:29] background and let the reader know what [02:31] jews [02:32] are are you curious now elliot [02:36] you got me so listen to this this is the [02:38] entire entry i'll read it beginning to [02:40] end [02:41] jews those who profess obedience [02:46] to the laws and religion of moses [02:49] so far so good good opening center yep [02:53] when a modern jew builds a house [02:56] he must leave part of it unfinished [02:59] in remembrance that the temple and [03:01] jerusalem now [03:02] lie desolate they lay great stress upon [03:07] frequent washings they abstain from meat [03:11] prohibited by levitical law [03:14] for which reason whatever they eat must [03:16] be dressed meaning prepared [03:18] by jews after a manner peculiar to [03:21] themselves [03:23] every jew is obliged to marry a man who [03:26] lives to 20 [03:27] unmarried is accounted as actually [03:29] living in sin [03:31] the jews it is said were formerly at the [03:33] disposal of the chief [03:35] lord where they lived and likewise all [03:37] their goods [03:39] a jew may be a witness by our law being [03:42] sworn on the old testament and taking [03:44] oaths [03:45] to the government now the last two [03:47] sentences [03:48] deal with the status of jews and british [03:50] law at that time [03:51] right the opening sentence is simply a [03:54] general statement about what jews are [03:58] and in between those two we have four [04:02] examples of jewish practice to [04:05] tell the reader what a jew is [04:08] right and it includes kashrut jewish [04:11] dietary laws about what we can eat and [04:13] what we can't eat [04:14] it includes frequent washings which may [04:17] be a reference to laws of family purity [04:19] uh ritual baths and immersions something [04:22] oh and [04:23] watching before bread jews wash their [04:25] hands before they eat [04:26] so those are very visible and prominent [04:29] practices that are pretty much every day [04:32] um and then there's the reference to [04:34] marriage [04:35] which displays the importance of family [04:37] building in jewish culture [04:39] right but before all of those the very [04:41] first sentence [04:44] that was written was this law this [04:46] custom [04:49] that a jew will leave a part of his home [04:53] unfinished as a way of remembering that [04:56] the temple [04:57] and jerusalem are destroyed now that's a [05:00] very obscure from your perspective [05:02] elliott you and i are both awesome [05:03] i would i would not have added that as a [05:05] description never in a million years if [05:07] you gave [05:08] if you took uh just for everyone [05:10] listening those who aren't jewish [05:11] who are watching this if you took a [05:13] hundred jews and gave them this [05:15] assignment [05:16] right a half a dozen [05:19] practices that define jews as jews [05:23] probably the passover seder would be in [05:24] there yeah shabbat would probably [05:26] use it and and the other things [05:28] mentioned here kashruts you know uh [05:30] jewish dietary laws [05:32] praying three times a day there's other [05:34] things that we could have thought of [05:36] this happens to be a practice that has [05:37] been practiced for jews for [05:39] for for centuries and what the practice [05:42] really is [05:42] is that uh a piece of one's home will [05:46] maybe be left unplastered [05:48] uh as a way of of saying look just as my [05:51] you know the temple is not built [05:53] my home is also not fully built it's a [05:55] way of remembering [05:56] the destruction now to me what's [05:58] interesting here is not [06:00] what this says about british [06:02] intellectuals who are writing the [06:04] encyclopedia britannica but what it says [06:06] about [06:07] the jews at that time meaning because [06:10] whoever wrote this entry was thinking [06:13] about what are the most distinctive [06:14] characteristics of jews [06:17] and the first thing they put in was that [06:20] jews [06:21] remember and commemorate that memory [06:23] they enshrine it so to speak [06:25] in their homes they remember that the [06:27] temple and jerusalem [06:29] are not built that they are in a state [06:32] of destruction and that kind of [06:34] historical memory really speaks [06:36] volumes about what defines jews [06:40] that that that the fact that we have a [06:41] long historical memory [06:43] is a strength and something that keeps [06:45] us going uh [06:47] it it's amazing to me and it makes me [06:48] wonder if someone was writing an [06:50] encyclopedia entry about [06:52] me about us a few hundred years from now [06:55] what would be in it [06:56] uh so i thought that that was an [06:57] appropriate uh appropriate nugget [07:00] to share in light of tisha b'av which [07:03] really highlights [07:04] the importance of remembering the bad [07:06] times because it keeps our focus on what [07:09] needs to be fixed in the world [07:12] absolutely i thinking about it um [07:16] it occurs to me that that it was [07:18] probably [07:19] a a prominent knowledge because the [07:22] people building for jews were not jewish [07:26] the architects the masons the [07:29] carpenters whomever this was something [07:31] that outsiders would have known [07:33] yes but to me what's striking is not [07:36] just that they would know it [07:37] that the jewish homeowner client [07:42] not only would tell them not to finish [07:43] something but but would explain [07:45] why uh interesting [07:49] that to me that that that's a key point [07:51] because you know you could tell your [07:52] contract do me a favor just leave [07:54] leave the corner unfinished why not [07:55] because i'm a little crazy [07:59] right they obviously explained it and [08:00] this was known but you know [08:02] so it's uh again this this spoke very [08:04] powerfully to me when i first read it [08:06] and [08:06] uh and i think it really speaks to who [08:07] we are as jews yes [08:09] a number of weeks back we were talking [08:12] about the incident of the spies and you [08:14] mentioned at the time [08:15] yes that there was something you wanted [08:16] to talk about closer to tisha b'av [08:19] right um so let me just start by [08:22] referencing back something that i [08:24] mentioned last week two weeks ago [08:26] um santayana's famous quote [08:31] he who cannot remember the past is [08:32] condemned to repeat it [08:34] um i'd like to talk about [08:38] tisha the spies [08:43] uh because we look at at the ninth of [08:45] ave [08:46] as a an event in its own right and it is [08:49] but it's also a consequence and [08:53] this is i think part part of the memory [08:56] of the past [08:56] and not repeating it is taking the event [09:00] back to at least by [09:04] commentary if not deeper than that [09:08] to its origins and the origins of tisha [09:10] bob actually is a story of the spies [09:12] i mean when you say the origin of [09:14] meaning the origin of the destruction of [09:15] the destruction right the [09:17] the original commemorative date [09:20] for what it is a day of mourning goes [09:23] back to the spies [09:25] and we read through it we've talked [09:28] about this of course [09:29] the translations don't do it justice [09:33] but even reading through it in hebrew if [09:35] you don't do it carefully [09:37] you miss very important nuances and i'd [09:40] like to go through [09:41] aspects of it not for the purpose of [09:44] repeating the story [09:46] but rather as a teaching tool [09:49] for contemporary issues as well [09:53] it begins by god telling moses [09:59] send people for yourself [10:02] yeah interesting uh syntax right in [10:05] other words [10:07] i don't need it i i know what's going on [10:10] there [10:11] you need it now the interesting question [10:12] is why does moses need it let's [10:14] hold that for a moment the next words [10:17] are let's interesting the hebrew word is [10:20] in the english word are identical [10:23] to tour the land as you know the word [10:27] spies does not appear anywhere in in [10:30] that chapter [10:31] we attribute it we we add that word in [10:35] the description [10:36] but the word spies only really appears [10:38] when joshua [10:39] sends spies to jericho [10:42] to conquer the city because their [10:44] mission and here [10:45] here's part of the teaching moment if [10:48] you will [10:49] their mission is not to determine [10:50] whether or not to take jericho [10:52] their mission is determined to determine [10:55] how to take jericho [10:56] it was a military mission there was [11:00] the military mission whose objective was [11:04] let's figure out how we are going to do [11:06] this [11:07] not let's ask ourselves if we are going [11:09] to do this [11:12] and i'll just add parenthetically [11:16] everybody studies for the test in other [11:17] words if i tell you [11:19] this is what you're looking for that's [11:20] what you're going to find at least [11:22] categorically [11:23] you may find some of this or some of [11:25] that but i will [11:26] i'm setting the category for you send [11:29] people to tour the land [11:31] and i know that many of our our watchers [11:34] have toured israel [11:35] um there's a difference [11:39] in commitment between a tourist [11:43] and someone who's coming on a mission to [11:46] do something [11:47] and a tourist has no commitment now [11:50] they may be they may have a higher [11:52] commitment somewhere but the tour itself [11:55] has only a passing kind of commitment to [11:58] it [11:59] the question is why these why are these [12:00] people being sent to tour [12:02] if we look at who they are it answers [12:05] all of these questions together and i [12:09] know you're familiar with this [12:10] we we we've both used it and heard it [12:14] many times [12:15] um and particularly for our our [12:16] christian viewers who [12:20] uh i think we have to say honestly no [12:22] scripture chapter and reverse better [12:24] than most of our jewish [12:26] compatriots at least in terms of [12:28] reciting it by heart [12:30] often often they do um [12:33] we know that there are 12 spies [12:35] everybody knows the name of two of them [12:38] joshua and caleb who were the ones who [12:39] came back and said let's go let's do it [12:42] this is what we need to do the ten [12:45] who said no are written their names are [12:47] listed [12:48] nobody knows them and of course the [12:51] obvious lesson is if you speak out [12:52] against the land [12:54] and you speak out against against the [12:56] destiny of the land [12:57] you're going to be forgotten even if [12:59] your names are written in the book [13:02] but to me beyond that i mean that's an [13:04] interesting quirk [13:06] but beyond that is who are these people [13:08] these are the leaders [13:09] of the tribes who sends the tribal [13:12] leaders [13:12] as spies when joshua sends those two [13:15] guys into jericho [13:16] he picks two guys who i mean assumed [13:20] that he chose capable people he knew [13:21] they were and that sort of thing [13:23] but they weren't people's status [13:26] in other words the reason moses has to [13:28] send them in the first place [13:30] is because they're already speaking out [13:32] against going [13:35] and god basically says listen you need [13:37] to you need to send people because [13:39] you're not convincing them now part of [13:42] the lesson here [13:44] is that if they're going [13:47] in order to prove their own argument it [13:50] was a doomed [13:51] mission from the outset [13:56] you can't send somebody who is arguing [13:59] against the case and say well go look at [14:01] it and you'll see that i'm right and [14:02] you're wrong [14:04] it'll happen on occasion you know just [14:06] to emphasize your point right there in [14:08] in the verse in verse 20 and this is of [14:11] course this whole story takes place in [14:14] in the book of numbers chapter 13. and [14:16] right there in verse 20 where moses is [14:18] giving [14:19] the instructions to [14:22] what we call the spies to these to these [14:24] to these men these [14:25] nobles really who were going to go into [14:27] the land he says to them [14:30] um uh to how is you know [14:33] they should check out the quality of the [14:36] soil [14:38] uh bring back some of the fruit [14:41] these are not things that you do if it's [14:43] a military mission [14:44] correct he wants them to come back with [14:46] this glowing report of how fertile the [14:49] soil is and how beautiful the fruit is [14:51] obviously this is a pr mission exactly [14:55] and he's hoping that they'll be [14:57] convinced in other words he's giving [14:58] them directions [14:59] that he believes will be sufficient to [15:03] convince them [15:05] and they come back with all of the [15:07] evidence [15:08] and interpret exactly the opposite way [15:11] that he wants [15:12] um i think there's a very important [15:14] lesson here for us as well i [15:16] i i know you get into discussions [15:20] on on the issues that we're we're [15:23] talking about i'm talking [15:24] in general in in our talks i certainly [15:27] get into a lot of them when i'm speaking [15:29] and many people begin [15:32] their comments to me with [15:36] well if i were them i would and whether [15:39] them is the iranians [15:41] or hezbollah or hamas or the [15:43] palestinians [15:44] the syrians whomever back in the day [15:46] saddam hussein the iraqis [15:48] if i were saddam hussein i would and i [15:51] always stop them at that point and say [15:52] but you're not saddam hussein he [15:55] could look at exactly the same data that [15:58] you're looking at [15:59] and come to 180 degree opposite [16:03] conclusions [16:04] don't think that what is self-evident to [16:06] you is necessarily self-evident to [16:09] somebody else [16:10] and part of the error here [16:14] if you will and criticizing it now just [16:17] in terms of decision making and [16:18] selection [16:19] taking a bunch of people and sending [16:21] them off leaders [16:22] who've already staked out a position and [16:25] sending sending them off and saying well [16:26] look you know just go see for yourself [16:28] and come back and you'll draw the right [16:29] conclusion [16:31] it just doesn't work that way [16:35] we know what happens in the end they [16:36] come back and they convince the people [16:39] and here [16:39] here's another very interesting um [16:42] phenomenon we see [16:44] today as well the power of [16:48] negative speech [16:51] the power of negative declarations [16:54] is far far greater than the power of [16:57] positive [16:59] well fear is a is a powerful uh you know [17:02] tool return fear negativity um [17:08] there's a natural tendency not to act [17:10] not to take action not to take [17:12] initiative [17:13] and if somebody can justify that for you [17:16] especially a leader then so much the [17:19] better [17:20] and if if they play into those fears and [17:22] we see that again without going into [17:23] details [17:24] with what's going on in america and in [17:27] israel today [17:28] how easy it is uh obviously facilitated [17:31] by mass media and social media [17:33] to play into people's fears with with [17:36] rumors with conspiracy theories [17:39] uh you can't keep up with them [17:42] and here if if you read [17:46] these the 10 reports [17:50] it's essentially a conspiracy theory [17:53] they they tell the people [17:56] we were seen in their eyes as if we were [18:00] grasshoppers in other words [18:01] how do you know how they saw [18:05] you [18:08] this is how they saw themselves being [18:11] seen by them [18:12] back on themselves now an analysis [18:16] brings you there very quickly the people [18:18] say oh my god these are giants [18:19] we're you know we're bugs and [18:23] it's very very easy to do that last but [18:26] not least [18:27] um i mentioned that [18:31] the the destruction and all of that uh [18:34] all of those things we'll talk talk [18:36] about them in a moment that happened on [18:37] the ninth of of [18:39] uh are a consequence in other words the [18:42] spies are really the [18:44] the triggering action because as you [18:48] know the commentaries say that when the [18:49] people [18:51] cry out actually let me back up a step [18:54] um when i used to teach this [18:56] here and in the united states and in [18:59] college classes [19:00] i would always ask the students jewish [19:02] and christian [19:04] um what was the great sin of the desert [19:07] and 95 of them would give the sizzle be [19:10] the mill answer which is the golden calf [19:14] in fact this is the sin of the desert [19:16] the golden calf was a sin but this is [19:18] the sin this is what [19:19] brings the 40 years which is the [19:22] great punishment right they're not that [19:25] whole generation was not doomed to die [19:27] because of the sin of the golden calf [19:28] correct [19:30] and right this was the this was the sin [19:32] that [19:33] doomed them right and this is this is [19:36] collective across the boards that god [19:38] says to them [19:39] because you cried when you should have [19:41] rejoiced i will make this a day of tears [19:43] for all your generations [19:45] you're you're not going into the land [19:48] your children who you said would die are [19:50] the ones who will inherit in other words [19:51] there's something very powerful here [19:53] in the message that's beyond just you [19:54] did something wrong i'm going to punish [19:56] you [19:57] there's there's a huge impact [20:00] on the the whole rest of this story [20:04] because this was supposed to be a [20:05] holiday we're going into the land of [20:07] israel and [20:08] let me just add parenthetically i would [20:10] argue and i'll argue on a very narrow [20:12] point [20:13] the whole purpose of the exodus is to [20:16] bring them into the land of israel [20:18] of course yeah right i mean all the [20:21] other stuff happens [20:22] but the only thing god can't do in egypt [20:25] is bring them into the land of israel he [20:27] can free them from slavery he can give [20:28] them the torah he can unite them as a [20:30] people he can do also [20:31] all of that in egypt physically they [20:33] can't be in egypt then in the land of [20:35] israel the exodus is to get them to the [20:36] land of israel [20:38] and here they are at that critical [20:39] moment of what it was all about [20:42] and they say no we're not going so sorry [20:44] you're not going [20:45] i'll teach you you're not going forget [20:48] about it [20:48] your children will but forever [20:52] this day will be remembered and [20:57] we know of course the the three major [21:00] early events that are attributed to this [21:02] date [21:03] the destruction of both the first and [21:05] the second temples [21:08] the crushing of the bark of rebellion in [21:10] 135 [21:11] and the death of barcoba which in many [21:15] ways is the [21:16] other end of the book ends of the [21:19] destruction of the temple [21:21] in terms of the exile okay the first [21:23] temple [21:24] destruction people go into exile to [21:27] babylonia [21:29] after the destruction of the second [21:30] temple many jews are still living here [21:33] in the land of israel the exile [21:36] really starts with the fall of barcappa [21:43] which is why rebel udanis he writes the [21:45] mishnah right afterwards because he [21:46] knows [21:47] what's happening we have lots of [21:49] indicators that [21:50] that's really the anchor that gets [21:52] ripped out [21:53] even more so in terms of in terms of um [21:57] exile even more so than destruction of [21:59] jerusalem [22:02] and another event and there are there [22:04] are others but i i want to bring it up [22:05] to date and and leave it with that [22:08] is that there's a 20th century event [22:10] that also happened on the ninth ave [22:12] it was cataclysmic for basically the [22:15] entire world ultimately [22:17] but it had disproportionate impact on [22:20] the jewish people [22:21] and that was the outbreak of world war [22:23] one [22:25] it could easily be argued and maybe it's [22:27] it's not for for here [22:29] that the 20th century began the outbreak [22:31] of world war one on august 1st 1914 [22:35] and the 20th century if we're looking [22:38] from jewish perspective [22:40] is marked as the century of the [22:43] elimination of the european jewish [22:45] community [22:46] now there are jews still living in [22:47] europe today but there's no european [22:48] jewish community [22:50] it's a tiny shadow of what it was [22:53] well more importantly it's not the [22:54] center of gravity of the jewish [22:56] of the jewish world or a center of [22:59] gravity it's a satellite it's it's not [23:01] uh it's even less than a satellite [23:03] in other words the the there are jews [23:05] living there but the idea of a [23:07] european jewish community is gone [23:12] it started in world war one many jews [23:14] were killed we don't talk about them [23:15] because the holocaust [23:15] overshadowed it the immigration as a [23:17] result of that then of course the [23:19] holocaust is the [23:21] the final step the massive step of the [23:23] destruction [23:24] but all of that as a consequence of the [23:25] outbreak of world war one in 1914. [23:28] in other words teshaba of 1914 [23:31] is the date that begins the destruction [23:34] of european joy and [23:39] i mentioned that because there's a [23:41] tendency to think about these things [23:42] only in ancient times you know [23:44] stuff that happened 2000 years ago uh [23:46] it's not a coincidence [23:48] as you know that jews don't do anything [23:50] of any great importance on the ninth [23:52] vote [23:54] because you know what it's a better day [23:57] than usual to get slapped [23:59] you know i'm wondering i'm wondering now [24:03] just maybe we could close this out [24:04] i'm wondering now with with what you [24:08] mentioned about the sin of the spies [24:10] being on the ninth of ave and world war [24:13] one in the 20th century being on the [24:14] ninth of ave [24:16] if the connection might be the fact that [24:18] the [24:19] the zionist movement and the and the the [24:22] the national [24:23] movement to go back to the land of [24:25] israel [24:27] uh really gets going in [24:30] towards the end of the previous century [24:32] towards the end of the 19th century and [24:34] the first zionist congress in 1892 [24:39] 1897 1897 sorry 1897 which is not long [24:43] before [24:44] and european jewry [24:48] was not as on the bandwagon to go back [24:52] to the land of israel as it should have [24:54] been [24:55] and perhaps with the benefit of of of [24:57] the distance of [24:58] the historical distance we now have we [25:01] could argue [25:03] that there was some element of [25:06] not being excited about going into the [25:08] land some element of the original sin of [25:11] the spies [25:13] that was still infecting the jewish [25:14] people around that time [25:30] i'll leave you there looks like we had a [25:33] bit of a zoom [25:34] freeze here [25:39] hello it looks like i lost elliott [25:45] well folks that i think on that note [25:47] we're going to end our conversation here [25:49] for today [25:50] uh thank you very much for watching uh [25:53] sometimes with our technology as it is [25:55] these days [25:56] we we encounter such problems [25:59] so uh everyone stay safe [26:03] and remember this coming thursday is the [26:05] ninth of ave [26:06] and that is a day that we commemorate we [26:08] really contemplate a lot of the things [26:10] that have [26:11] happened in our history and jewish [26:13] history and in world history [26:14] that have brought about some some some [26:17] of that which is broken that we need to [26:19] fix in the building of the kingdom of [26:21] god [26:22] on this earth so thank you for watching [26:25] and may we all see the messiah come [26:28] speedily [26:29] in our days
In this installment, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and Defense and Security expert Elliot Chodoff take a break from current events to discuss the 9th of Av, the darkest day in Jewish history. Elliot takes us all the way back to the "spies" of the Book of Numbers, the original tragedy of the 9th of Av. Rabbi Wolicki shares a fascinating source from 1771.
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