What Are We Sad About?
The focus might not be what you assume
It might be a day of mourning for you, but it isn’t for me. Nothing scandalous there - I’m in California and Tisha B’Av hasn’t started yet. But here’s something to think about during Tisha B’Av. Consider what are the subjects of each sentence in Eicha, Kinnos and Nachem - what exactly the author is being sad about. I came up with a list of seven possibilities (and let me know if I’ve missed anything):
The destruction of the Beis HaMikdash
The spiritual loss of a connection with Hashem
The destruction of the city of Jerusalem
The loss of national pride
The deaths among our people
The suffering inflicted upon the survivors
The moral corruption of our people
Of course, we are sad about all of the above. But my challenge is regarding the relative stress upon each one. In fact, if someone can volunteer to do an actual count, that would be very helpful. But even without a formal count, it’s extremely easy to notice the enormous, striking difference between the common claims regarding what Tisha B’Av is principally about, and what Eicha and Kinnos are actually about.
We've had this conversation already - https://www.rationalistjudaism.com/p/the-ignoring-and-ignorance-of-tisha-bav?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web - but:
But before I begin, I hope its clear that even though I completely disagree with you, I have zero hate in my heart. I love you Natan - you are a fellow Jew. So despite our disagreements, let's agree that since we both believe in Hashem and His Torah, we are brothers and agree about the absolutely most fundamental stuff. We are arguing only in details. Maybe even important details, but details. (You can check out my post https://rationalistjudaism2.substack.com/p/dear-atheist to see where I stand and where I think you stand.)
That being said, at least you are consistent Natan. God is not prevalent in nature, but *we* believe that He is controlling every single aspect. God is technically absent from history, but we believe He is painting a grand picture through every single aspect. Honestly, God is pretty absent from the Shulchan Aruch, which is just a book of laws, but we believe that it is His will that are these laws. That is how a good Torah Jew learns the words of the SA. As the will of the Living God, leaning abotu Him, what He likes and doesn't like כביכול.
We believe God is everywhere and everything, and as we say in this week's parsha, "אין עוד מלבדו," read that in its most literal sense possible. That is what everything in Judaism is about according to the Rambam and mekubalim, take your pick - this is where they truly agree.
Including the churban and פסוקים וקינות about it. Even if it's not explicit, it's the deeper message behind every word.
If you need to understand how, it's because the beis hamikdash wasn't just some building, it was the מקום of השראת השכינה. Same exact reason why we are not just 'some people' and today is not just 'some day' - we being a people is because we follow Hashem's will through the Torah. (What does being a Jew mean to you?) When we are worthy, meaning we are representing Him in our lives, we get to represent Him outwardly as well. We get to be a superpower who stands for Him. But being a superpower without standing for Him is meaningless. We have nothing to us - as Yisroel - but the fact that we represent and follow Him.
So when we mourn, we are mourning that building, that loss of Him being the center of our lives, and incidentally, through the חורבן, the loss of the physical manifestation of that connection.
Can I prove to you God is in nature? Can I prove to you that God is running our history? Not so immediately, but that is the נשמה of nature and history. It is the main point, the center, the complete explanation of history and nature. So too, that is the נשמה of today, the main point and complete explanation. If you don't see it, I'm not sure how to 'prove' it to you other than my advice to learn these things according to the מסורה, including our favorite Maimonides.
Alright, it doesn't look like Rabbi Slifikin will be coming back to this. So to summarize some of the comment section there are 3 unanswered (as of now) fatal flaws that completely undermine this post:
The first 2 relate to the point that as followers of rabbinic judaism we don't draw conclusions directly from the bible and prophets but rather from the teachings and interpretations of Chazal
1. The user d g pointed out that the post goes directly against the list of the Mishna in Taanis 4:6. In rabbinic Judaism you can't get much more authoritative than a Mishna. The date of 9 Av was chosen specifically because it was the day of the destruction of the 2 temples. Clearly the destruction of the temple specifically is meant to embody what we are supposed to be mourning. And obviously that is not just a building of sticks and stones, but rather what that building represented - our connection to and serving of God.
2. The Rambam in Hilchos Teshuva (chapter 9) goes directly against the premise of the post that if an idea is not mentioned in the bible text that means its not relevant/important. We see that there may be other reasons why the bible left out the most lofty idea. And in fact, the exact same reasoning for the omission used by the Rambam there can be paralleled here as explained in my comment (https://www.rationalistjudaism.com/p/what-are-we-sad-about/comment/21465542).
3. Even accepting the assumptions of the post it leads you to have to say one of 2 absurdities:
a. We should be mourning the loss of tools without focusing on what the purpose of the tools was.
b. A Jewish national identity, national homeland, Jerusalem etc. are not tools given to us and designed by God in order to facilitate and further his overarching plan rather they are ends in of themselves. If God gave them to us as tools for a higher purpose, common sense would say that we should include a focus on that higher purpose in our mourning.
You see guys? This is how you calmly dismantle a rationalist judaism post without resorting to silly name-calling and the like. I don't think its any less effective, aderaba its more effective.
EDIT:
2 important additions:
1. The Rambam in hilchos taanis (5,1) says explicitly that the purpose of Tisha B'av (and other fasts) is to motivate the people to repent and fix their ways. Using the reasoning behind the rambam in hilchos teshuva, the best way to do so would be to talk about the material destruction despite the real tragedy being the loftier/higher idea.
2. The Meiri on that Mishna in Taanis makes the point that the main part of the list is the 2 temples and the other 3 on the list are just addons (see there for elaboration).