VOLUME 20, ISSUE 32 FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2013 / 5 AV 5773
CANDLE LIGHTING: 8:05 P.M. SHABBAT ENDS: 9:15 PM (CHICAGO)
This week’s CTN Shabbat fax is sponsored by Margie Shabat for Shabbat Chazon (the Shabbat before Tisha B’av) “as a merit for peace, harmony and love between all Jews. May Tisha B’av turn into a day of joy and celebration!”
1. Tisha b’Av: Background:
The ninth day of the Jewish month of Av. The saddest day on the Jewish calendar.
According to Jewish tradition, it was destined to be a tragic day. And history has
proven that tradition correct.
The destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem took place on Tisha b’Av. As did the
expulsion of Jews from England in 1290. And from Spain in 1492.
World War I began on Tisha b’Av, 1914. And in many ways, it was the event that
led to World War II and the Holocaust.
Tisha b’Av: Insights:
Jewish tradition has a lot of celebrations. Shabbat. Passover. Chanukah. Purim.
And the celebrations help keep the Jewish People alive.
But we also have Tisha b’Av.
One day. To focus on Jewish suffering. To feel the pain of Jews throughout history.
But Tisha b’Av can also be a day to be inspired.
By the miracle of Jewish survival.
Spain, 1492. It had been the Golden Age of Jewish life.
Economic success. Torah scholarship. Social acceptance.
We had never had it so good since the exile from Jerusalem.
But in Jewish history, these things don’t last. And Spain was no different.
Things changed terribly. Forced conversions. Pogroms. The Inquisition.
And finally, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s terrible decree:
Renounce Judaism – or leave Spain.
The deadline was August 2, 1492. On the Jewish calendar? The ninth of Av. Tisha
b’Av.
Three hundred thousand Jews choose to leave. They give up everything. Many
thousands die.
The future of the Jewish people looks very bleak. Once again, it looks like the end.
On one of the many ships leaving Spain, is a four year old boy.
His name? Yosef Karo.
Little Yosef survives. And grows up to become one of the greatest Jewish scholars
of all times.
His contribution to Jewish life is unparalleled.
Because throughout our history, it’s been Jewish practice and ritual that have kept
Jewish identity alive.
And for the last five hundred years, if you wanted to know anything about Jewish
practice, there was one place to look.
It’s called the Shulchan Aruch. The Code of Jewish Law.
Its author?
Rabbi Yosef Karo.
2. STORY OF THE WEEK
Palestine 1945. After the horror of the Holocaust.
Hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors, try to somehow rebuild their lives.
Many of them are in Palestine. Working towards the creation of a Jewish state.
Among them is a little boy. His name is Yisrael.
How did he survive?
A group of Jews was transferred to Buchenwald. The Nazis didn’t let them take
anything along.
But Yisrael’s brother hid him in a sack. And somehow he managed to bring the
sack with him.
And finally, when they were liberated from Buchenwald, little Yisrael was liberated
too.
The camp’s youngest survivor.
fifty years later? – Yisrael Lau is the Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel.
3. STORY OF THE WEEK II
June 1967. Israeli troops fight their way into the Old City of Jerusalem. And reach
the Western Wall.
You can’t forget that picture. Battle-hardened soldiers kissing the wall and crying
like babies.
But not all of them.
A small group of soldiers stood off to the side. They were members of a left-wing
irreligious kibbutz.
And they just could not relate to the emotions of the others. The Wall had no
special meaning for them.
Suddenly, one of them begins to cry.
His friend looks at him like he is crazy. ‘You’re not religious! What are you crying
about?’
His answer: ‘I’m crying – because I don’t now what there is to cry about!’
… Tisha b’Av is not just about history.
About remembering the many times Jews were persecuted for their beliefs and
practices.
It’s also a time to deepen our understanding of what gave so many Jewish men and
women throughout the ages the strength to remain loyal Jews, no matter what.
… Because Tisha b’Av is not just about remembering the past.
It’s about seeing to it that there is a Jewish future.
