This Shabbat we begin reading a new book of the Torah, Devarim, Deuteronomy - Moses’ classical retelling of the Biblical narrative and his charge to the Israelite people as they stand ready to enter the land of Israel. Moses could have begun his retelling at any point in his lifetime – perhaps with our people’s great redemption from the land of Egypt or the revelation of the Torah upon Mt. Sinai. However, instead of beginning with a great moment of triumph, Moses starts off by describing the failures of the Israelites – specifically, the Israelites’ refusal to enter the Promised Land after receiving a questionable report from the scouts about the condition of their future encampment.
It can be very challenging for us to look back and recount difficult moments in our history. Yet, as with all of our historical experiences, we know that it is important for us to remember and learn from such bitter moments. And in our Jewish calendar, we have a fixed time to do just that. This Sunday, we will commemorate the Jewish day of mourning – Tisha B’Av – the ninth of the Month of Av. Tisha B’Av is the date that our tradition notes both the First and Second Temple were destroyed. In addition, other calamities in Jewish history reportedly occurred on the ninth of Av, such as the end of the Bar Kochba rebellion, the Expulsions from England in 1290 and Spain in 1492, and the outbreak of WWI. Our tradition also reports a link between our parasha and Tisha B’Av. According to the Talmud, it was on Tisha B’Av that the scouts brought back the discouraging report to the Israelites. As a result, the Talmud teaches, God declared that this would be an eternal day of mourning for the Israelites.
Tisha B’Av is particularly haunting this year, as we will wake up on the morrow of its commemoration to the disengagement from Gaza. And while we look forward with a great sense of hope that the disengagement might bring us a step closer to peace and stability between Israelis and Palestinians, we also know that it is causing great strife within the Jewish community.
The Rabbis teach that the destruction of the Temple was not caused by foreign rulers nor occupying forces, but because of the senseless hatred that existed between Jews. What worries me the most about next week’s withdrawal from Gaza is the divisive behavior that threatens to create a profound schism within the Jewish community. Threats of rebellion, desertion, and sabotage of Jews against Jews evoke the memory of the same senseless hatred that plagued our people during the time of the downfall of the Temple.
Tisha B’Av is an opportunity for us to take time for reflection as a people. Just as on Yom Kippur we fast and reflect on our personal behavior over the past year, Tisha B’Av is a time for us as an entire Jewish people to take an accounting of our national soul. The observance of Tisha B’Av obligates us to take a step back and examine our priorities. Our challenge on this Tisha B’Av is for all of Am Yisrael, all of the Jewish people, to look to one another with tolerance and understanding, not senseless hatred, and realize that we share a common destiny; to see that we cannot let our community be torn asunder over matters of disagreement over Gaza.
Moses began his charge to the Israelite community with rebuke in order to remind us to be responsible for our actions and to show courage in our faith. Today our community needs nothing less: to support our leaders to do what is in the best interests of our people and to have faith that our future will be strong only if we go forward with a sense of communal responsibility. For the Israelites the challenge fell in trusting enough in a Divine plan to take the first steps into a new land. For us today, I pray that we maintain the vision and courage to take the painful first steps out so that we might move forward together toward a land of peace.