I was talking to a friend recently about Tisha b’Av, on Tisha b’Av Jews mourn the loss of the two Temple’s in Jerusalem. We learn during this time that the second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred among the Jews. So what does this mean? And what can we take from this? During the second Temple period there were many rifts between the various factions of Judaism it all came to a head when the Jews revolted against the Roman Empire. Rome a seemingly invincible force had to send over half of its army into the tiny providence of Judea in order to quell the rebellion. As their armies slowly dismantled the revolt city by city, the population of Jerusalem began to swell as refugees from all over poured into the massive and well fortified city. Eventually with most of the providence safely subdued. The Roman General Vespasian turned his sights on Zion. After surrounding the city the residents had to decide what to do. Due to the influx of residents in the city there was great turmoil. It all came to a head when a civil war broke out within the city itself. Jews fought Jews over control of the sacred Temple and de facto control over the siege set against them by the Roman army. Eventually due to disagreements and an inability to cooperate, food supplies that could have sustained the quarter of a million plus residents were burned and the Jews forced to fight the mighty Roman Army. They were crushed and Temple destroyed all because the various factions of Jews couldn’t work together. This is a powerful message especially in today’s climate. The world is in seeming chaos, and the Jews still can’t get along the right thinks the left naive, the left thinks the right are extremists and the list goes on and on. And I was thinking what does this remind me of? What parallels exist? And most importantly where else can we find these lessons in life? The first that comes to mind is always have a man on your back, it’s a simple lesson but not always easy to follow. This reminded of a game my friends and I play regularly backgammon. In backgammon when you go it alone, if you're always leaving pieces exposed you’re bound to be bumped back to start and it might not be so easy to get back on the board if you do. Your enemy will do everything he can to block all the paths back on the board by teaming his pieces together. Backgammon like life is all about getting ‘there’ in life, love and Judaism our destination isn’t always as clear it is in backgammon but the same principal still applies. The another place I clearly see this theme is in the Harry Potter series. In a classic tale of good versus evil this is one of the main themes that runs though the series. The seemingly unstoppable force of evil Lord Voldemort is a loner. He doesn’t have any friends or family. He’s afraid to confide in anyone or anything he is totally alone in this world. Meanwhile our hero Harry is quite the opposite. He relies heavily on his friends not just for help in figuring out the next riddle or in fighting the next battle but also when he’s at his best emotionally as well. He trusts and confides in his friends, he loves deeply and passionately. And this is ultimately why he prevails, he has the strength to be open and to trust others, while Voldemort is ultimately destroyed because he trusts nobody and is blind to the powers of love and trust i.e. making ones self vulnerable to others by being open with them. He doesn't understand that people will do uncommon things in for what they believe in but for the people standing next to them in battle. He loses because he overlooks this critical part of human existence . It seems to me that in this world we’re living now these lessons are only becoming more important. If we as human beings can’t get past our differences then what will become of us? And if we as Jew’s can’t look beyond our differences and come together as one to look out for one another then who will? May the next three weeks be filled with much contemplation on this matter and may we rebuild the third Temple speedily in our days.
Amen.
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