Exploring Important themes from Eicha and the Tisha B’Av Kinot by Rabbi Yossi Goldin

this Shear is sponsored for the Academic Year by Dr Mrs Manaka Marcus and memory of the Beloved ants rahas and hild Meer thank you so much for uh For Your sponsorship okay so uh we are now a week before Tab and what I wanted to do today was to do again something connected to I know that normally we do um the was I didn't even know I knew that there was no class next week but I didn't know that the classes after that were canceled so I thought we would be picking up with par Sho in a couple of weeks but I just heard that we are now after after this week we're we're on a break for a few weeks um by the time by the time you pick up again my father will be back um there's ratem and uh able to pick up his class so uh miss you so I will miss you as well so this is our last time last opportunity to learn together um but um at least for now um but I did I wanted to do something on T on TSH specifically because I I feel that in general um in general TSH is a day that I believe many of us myself included have trouble connecting to um it's never fun to be sad no one likes to be sad in general um and as we know the events um connected to D specifically the destruction of the bet mikdash is is something that that that was so long ago a bit more forign I do believe this year uh we might be able to connect to things because of temporary events that are happening um it might become more real to us in terms of certain aspects of Destruction and and death that we've unfortunately as as a people have been uh have been have been experiencing I saw around time of of shivas I saw there was a there was a a meme going around that uh no one needs to be told about the danger of of of of a broken fence or of a of of breaching of a of walls whereas you normally Shas is is is the day we commemorate the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem and something that we don't necessarily fully understand but this year um after seeing the results of the breaching of the walls down of the wall connecting uh Gaza to to to uh to the Gaza envelope and and the destruction that ensued that we all can definitely better relate to the idea of the danger of of of of of a wall or a fence being being breached and and and and being broken down but nevertheless I think that as I said in general connecting to connecting to the events of the destruction is something that I think is is hard for us to relate to and as a result many of us kind of spend just trying to kind of get the day by we watch we watch certain movies about destruction maybe we'll read a little bit we'll sit and if we can for filling up to it maybe we'll go to some keynote and and read the keynote and and and try to connect in any way shape or form but I think as with anything else tab requires preparation just like whenever where we want to have meaning in a r or Y or or P the more that we prepare for that hog the more meaningful it is the more that we create a mindset preparing for that H the more meaningful it's going to be the same thing is really true with this is something that we've spoken about a little bit how ra Sal uh famously talks about the need to build up to the morning on tiaba and how tab how the how the a which is the a the morning that we do for for the BET mikash is fundamentally different from the which is a that we normally have for for for for for the loss of a loved one for the loss of a loved one usually we have the the most intense time is the moment of Destruction is the moment when the death happens that's how usually begins begins with the most intense and then over time the intensity lessons when it comes to the three weeks and the nine days and we go in the opposite direction we begin with the 3 weeks which is a lesser form of of morning the 9 days things intensify during what's called sh the week of which is going to start be starting this coming Sunday we intensify even more and then of course the day of tab of itself is the most intense day of the um of of the morning why is it fundamentally different why is the exact opposite so salich fam famously talked about how um the more morning for the mikash as opposed to the morning of which is which is is felt is is felt intensely the very beginning the aash needs to be taught it needs to be developed it's not natural for us to necessarily experience and feel the loss of the bet mikdash because it happened so many thousands of years ago and therefore it needs to be it needs to be taught if you look at source number one of cation really I again I brought I brought a number of times his his words cuz his words are really really really very very beautiful Source number one with a there is no spontanous reaction the lack the reality of the lack of a bet mikdash all these years has become normal for us there is always an equation between reality and normality whatever is real is normal and whatever is normal is real people do not look upon reality is abnormal and so the aute is much harder there is more than a risk there is a natural reality that over time people will forget it's natural for us to just not feel connected to this reality especially when we're here in AR Isel walking around and despite the dangers and despite all the destruction you walk around an AR Isel that's being developed and continues to grow and continues to in many different ways flourish so it's hard for us to really then mourn something that when we look around doesn't seem to be so bad obviously not current events notwithstanding thus the mning of tab has to be taught one must understand it thoroughly and be sensitive to it we must learn how to mourn to whail and weep for the mdash and therefore it has to be and that has how Salish explains why we start we go we work in the exact opposite direction when it comes to we start with the three weeks we begin to prepare nine days we prepare even more and then eventually we try to get to Tish which was meant to be really a day of crying a day a day of and uses this idea to also explain two interesting other phenomenon and and differences between a and a one difference is the Commandment to cry says there is no in the laws of a in the laws of regular a a person is for their loved one there is no that a person is supposed to cry why not you don't need you don't need it's natural it's normal it's It's the theual reaction to loss and therefore there's no command there's no that a person should try to bring themselves to tears it's totally natural as opposed to the laws of a the laws of mourning for the bet mdash there actually is a concept of trying to tap into this a part of ourselves that brings about the crying for the BET mikdash why does it need to be commanded because it's not normal it's not natural it's something that needs to be developed something that needs to be taught that's one difference the other another difference he points out is the law is is a specific actually specifically a regarding the of what you're allowed to to learn on okay we know that when it comes to when a person is is is is in is in the Shiva for a loved one so a person he's not allowed to learn you're not not supposed to learn Torah Torah sorry excuse me and therefore because Torah is meant to bring a certain happiness therefore there is a that a person shouldn't learn Torah during their during their personal a what about so we all know on Tish as well there is a limitation to what a person should learn although there is an expanded heter expand the header to what you can we're supposed to learn things that are connected to sadness things that are connected to the story of EO the stories in noi about the destruction the garas that are connected to the destru excuse me the destruction salic as well was famous for expanding this heter to many other things as well salic was very very Mak leaning when it came when it came to how much Torah he would allow a person to learn on and it came from this fundamental assertion that if we want to understand Tish we want to connect to Tish we need to learn about it and therefore he was make up to let people learn other things which certain RAB would have been like that's that's that's not that's something you shouldn't learn on Tish he was famous for allowing or being very expansive in what he allowed people to learn on Tish if it was helped that person to understand and relate to the day that they're experiencing the day of Tish if you look at source number two salic explains why this is why was he so lenient furthermore I believe that what is indicated here is that while the study of Torah is prohibited on Tish the study of events that happened in Tish is not only permitted but it is in and of itself a fulfillment of the a learning on Tish about what happened is not just oh I'm allowed to do it it's what you should be doing say on on on on Tab understanding what means a retrospective re experiencing and reliving of the events it commemorates appreciating its meaning in Jewish history in particularly the consequences and results of the catastrophe that struck us so many years ago that it commemorates is identical to a means that is the Fulfillment that is the way that you fulfill the a means to understand what happened and that understanding or intellectual analysis is to be achieved as we will see in the light of both Tora and T the written law and the oral law without the knowledge and understanding that comes from such study our a would be lacking the morning resulting from the is different from aadha the private mourning that follows the death of a relative in the case of the latter one does not have to understand in order to mourn to weep or to feel the loss but in the case of one must understand it thoroughly in order to experience it that is why we must we must be permitted to study the events of Tish on that day even though there's a general prohibition of Torah study and so therefore even though generally when it comes to aut we say no learning Tor makes you happy here if that aut is going to help you in your understanding of what's going on in your processing in the creation in the building of what we're trying to create on and that said was not only allowed but was actually as he called it Kum it was an actual fulfillment of the a process of the of the morning itself and therefore as we are now approaching Tish or a week before tab I think that one of the best ways that we can prepare for Tish is to learn a little bit about some of the some of the texts of is not just a day that has no text that has two main texts it has and you have the Keynotes and while for many of us I know for myself personally these were texts that I don't really look into I I would read through it as as as reading it on on Tish not reading I would skim through it and and it's it's obviously has a lot of tremendous pain and a tremendous sorrow and the keynote as well we I would sit there and and and but I but I think that in order to be able to properly process in order to be able to properly understand and to connect to what we're trying to connect to on tiab what we really need to do is to spend time before tiab thinking about understanding and processing some of the themes of T shabab so what I wanted to do today was to really just discuss a number of major themes that that are found both in uh and and also in the uh in the keynote in the keynote as well and through that hopefully we'll be able to connect more and it'll it'll be a proper preparation for um for tab itself um one other just short point which you may have already noticed the theme but much of what we're going to be talking about today I'm going to be quoting from Sal and the main reason is is that for at least myself and for I know many many many people the keynote and were a closed book they're very hard to understand some parts of it are easy to understand we have the art scroll keynote which made tremendous headways in helping to translate and helping to help us helping us to understand better uh the keynote but Rosel veic used to every single year um for many many many years he would sit he would he have a day in Boston where he would basically sit all day and go through the keynote um throughout the entire day and and and a number of of recordings of that was made and a book came out u a number of years ago I think it was edited by J by Jacob j shakar j j Shaker um and in it it it really again opens up both and the Kos in a very very unique way um and in a way that I for many of us would we would have trouble connecting to the Kos and without it and therefore I use that very much as a as a base for much of what we're going to be talking about talking about today so it all starts with before we get to the Kos we have to understand so used to suggest and explain that and the Kos are not just simply two texts that we that we recite and they happen to one after after the other but they're fundamentally intertwined um is actually called inote is on some level the first ke the way used to used to phrase it was that is the and keynote are the Torah that much of the keynote that is really the first K but it's not just the first it's the most authentic Kina because this was a Kina that was written by y Navi this was y navi's respon responds to the destruction of the mikash is is written in in in in and therefore if we want to understand or we want to connect to the most authentic reaction to the destruction of the mdash what we have in front of us is and and then and then what the Keynotes really are suggest elev is really just a commentary on sets the tone is what is what is the main most authentic response and then the keynote that were written generation the keynote that were written Generations later are really on some level just building off of the framework that was set by by um by by by and um so the first thing that jumps out and this is what I wanted to just spend a little bit of time discussing is to understand the first word the first word is now what does mean how okay good so then we're going to see that there are actually two main uh main explanations two suggestions two M explanations for for what a for uh for a itself the first one the simplest one is the one that many of you just said means how now how do I know that means how well the best way to understand is to see where else do we see the word in context so look at source number three this is the med quotes a number of other a couple of other times where the word is used and in that context we can understand what means here Source number three there were three that prophesied using the word and this is who they are Moshe yes where did Moshe Moshe it's this week's para which basically means he's complaining to how can I personally hold the nation so there again how how can I posibly hold the nation yes yes uh and how could it be that that someone who was a fundamental part of our she was a a a a a staple of Truth or a staple of stability became a became a prostitute again there means as well how is this possible how could it happen and then we have means how could this city how could this city could the city or could these people be sitting um be sitting alone so what really means according to this meas as many of you have pointed out is means how but there's one problem with that what's the problem with asking how what's the problem with he Meo asking how in Judaism do we ever ask how meaning when we what is the classic Jewish response to tra let's say somebody suffers a hor horrific loss what do we generally expect do we ever ask the question of how did this happen or how could this happen why did this happen is that is that the type of question that we often encourage someone to ask generally when it comes to we have something called what does mean now again I'm not criticizing or saying that a person might not naturally ask that question of course someone someone struggles with a tragedy someone has something in their life that's challenging it's normal to ask how or why but yet in Judaism the response to that very often is we never know we never know and therefore we encourage we say right what is the whole idea of is we encourage the person to move from a place of how and why to a place of as much as they can acceptance okay as ralich in in another context used to say that in Judaism when tragedy strikes we don't ask why we ask what we don't say Lama because we'll never know why we'll never know what God that that's that's God's realm we don't say Lama we say lima lima means for what purpose what is a Kesh trying to teach us what does a KES want from us and that is generally how we as Jews try to deal with tragedy is of course on a human level to ask the question why and to ask the question how is normal but yet there's never going to be a proper response because we as human beings finite human beings will never understand the the the never understand God's God's ways so what we try to do is instead of saying L we say l we try to we try to encourage somebody to accept to bless the God who is the ultimate judge to be able to come to some kind of acceptance it might be a challenge and it's going to take a lot of time and yet our general approach always is for what what does God try to teach us but there is one exception and the one exception is Tish Tish comes and says how could do this and he challenges and the question is why why all of a sudden are we kind of throwing out the general jewi Jewish approach to uh to to tragedy and we're and we're now all of a sudden allowing ourselves to ask why so look at source number four of salic deals with this in very very beautiful terms means how or why how is it possible how could you have done it why did you do it I don't understand but this raises a very serious question what right do we have to say keynote to ask and to complain normally the rule is to the contrary we are not allowed to ask such questions and again when he means not allowed means it might be human to do so but we encourage ourselves to move past it from a from a religious perspective we try to Inc we don't that's not the kind of question that we try to um to to to work with on any other day simply because we don't have the answer on any other day of God forbid disaster strikes the law is the Jew cannot ask why the very question of is intolerable who am I to ask a to explain anything to me what do you mean how or why who are you to understand what allows you to be so bold what right do you have to address to a this way when tragedy strikes the Jew says he acknowledges the justness of the decree of we never find the question of in the ordinary course of events the catastrophe of theban mdash is the one exception to this rule indeed we say things in the keynote that we have no right to say as a matter of course meaning in the keynote we will say things that normally during the year we're not supposed to say we're going to talk in a way that normally we're not supposed to talk to a but in Tish we are permitted to do something forbidden to us in ordinary circumstances the Jew is given special permission on TSH to ask TSH the enjoys a special license if we are indeed mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem and the mikdash we have the right to to say to ask why but why is today different why are we allowed to do something that is prohibited to us every other day of the year our right to ask anti comes from the precedent set for us by Yia a special license is granted KET Isel that allows them to ask because wrote a book in the biblical Canada that begins with the word we know is not the introduction to the keynote it is keynote in fact is not known as migas but as migas keynote or saer keynote the first saer keynote was and so salvic is pointing out that the reason why on Tish we're allowed to act or talk in a different way than we normally are is because we reive that permission from yvi the fact that Yi wrote a safer that his visceral response to the destruction of was began with that is what allows us to enter and to be able to ask those same questions and by the way points out that the fact that a if you want to call it in L terms in kind of like if you want to get to lumus becomes the m is what permits us gives us the permission to then be able to talk and in in in the ways that we normally aren't able to and this R explains is why we we read migas at night normally we don't read millas at night with the exception of millas Esra that's read twice most other all other Migo that we read we read them during the day when most people are coming to sh when it's a it's it's it's an easier time to get there so why is it except for Esther but Esther we read twice okay but all the other millas we if there Mig read only once when do we read it during the day so why are we reading night points out that part of the reason we reading it at night is because if we want to have kenos at night and we're going to have kenos at night in order to set the tone for the for what is going to be we cannot Hally begin the kot without first reading is the m is what enables us to then take from and begin to ask these questions ourselves and that's why it has to be at night and it has to be the first thing we do before we begin the keynote at night because is is the most authentic Kina that then sets the tone for the rest of the keynote and Sal also notes that as opposed to the other millas migas Esther is unique because it's connected to Perman as part of the day but all other millas that we read are not actual mitv or not they're just they're thematically somehow connected to the day is fundamentally different is the text of the day it's like the Torah reading quote unquote of the day on some level and therefore m is fundamentally different than everything else than than everything else that we do so what we see here is basically that the destruction of the betam mikdash was a game changer which we know obviously we know that that that's like an understatement of the year but what we see from this halic analysis is that the destruction of the is the one case where we have an exception to the rule of questioning God of challenging God of asking questions to AES that we normally don't ask or normally are encouraged not to ask basically those generally those questions are considered they're considered inappropriate who are you to challenge Hashem who are you to say how and why and yet one day a year due to the with with the permission granted to us by yahu we are able to turn to a and to say why and to ask those questions in a very in a very in a very very important way which means that that's how we're supposed to be spending our Tish this is important it's important for us to understand that Tish for us should be a day where we're thinking about these kinds of events thinking about how this is a unique day and taking advantage of that day to sit and to try to properly ask these questions and process them in the way that we can yes was chastising they got punished he the one who's always okay so what so so what you're what you're pointing out which I think is a very very important piece and we're going to get to this also this is true when we start to talk about the themes in the Keynotes you're 100% correct that when the when we when we start to go into the keynote and we look into the keyot and this is true in as well there's always a very interesting balance in in in in in the Milla and in the kenos which is balance between a listing of the destruction and the pain and the suffering and then always also talking about our sins and there's no question that there's going to be a a connection between the two and that that on some level we believe the things that are happening to us the things that happen to us are a result of our actions on a on a larger scale absolutely and that's very much what tiab is about as well is sitting with that sitting with that pain and also taking responsibility for that for that pain but I I think that it's more than that meaning ralic used to say it and many people us to say that that there's two aspects to is both what we call a and also a what does that mean what's a y okay we have y means is a fast day and we have fast days throughout the year right we have fast days throughout the year and what's the purpose of a fast day generally throughout the year CH chuva chuva we think about our Deeds we think about what we've done wrong and we also then try to correct them and do chuva that is what Y is and that's and Tish has that element has an element of what we call Y but it's not just y CH Yumer is the Y CH all other fast days are mostly about yum Chua Tish is a little bit different Tish has another aspect to it called y a what is a mean mourning now it means that aside from the need to improve and understand what you've done wrong there's also something to just sitting with the sadness sitting with the destruction and just experiencing it and and some might argue that it's it the parts of the day that then the morning is when we sit with the sadness and then after we're we're then there's less sadness and we're focusing more on on the chuva there's no question that both of these are there and we have to think about how to improve ourselves and that's a big theme but there's also an element of not just thinking about how to improve but just wallowing the way that I would say is wallowing wallowing in the depth of the pain of what we're experiencing experience exactly meaning meaning when someone someone suffers a loss there's always going to be what can I do how can I how can I how can I move forward what what what what new things can I bring you know to to bring that person you know what what but there's also just the importance of morning morning and that's what Y and that's what Tish is fundamentally it's a y that also incorporates Y and I think that's what that's what we're doing here that's what Sal is suggesting that that the first thing we're going to do is just means we sit we say God how could you do this how could you now again normally we don't ask those questions but we're sitting there we're experiencing the pain we're talking about the pain and that is a very very important part of what we're doing before we even get to how can I make this better what have I done wrong and how can I approve yes absolutely absolutely excellent question the question was uh you know that I've been talking mostly about the destruction of bash is it also appropriate to ask these questions and to talk about other other other tragedy that held absolutely not only that but it's it's mandated which is why in the keynote as we're going to get too soon when we go through when we go through some of the themes of the keynote the Keynotes start with the betam mdash and then they very very quickly move to other tragedies until we even get to contemporary tragedies and in fact Hally there are many people who believe that this is the day where where we commemorate and mourn all tragedies that befell the Jewish people there was a big halakic debate about about about the establishment of yamasha for many different reasons one of the reason one of the reasons was because it's established in Nissan and whether it was appropriate to establish it during Nissan because a day of sadness during Nissan but one of the main reasons that some were opposed to the establishment of yashua is because they they believed and I believe was one of them they believed that that that we already commemorate everything on Tish Tish is there we commemorate all tragedy so so I would say not only is it allowed but it's it's mandated that that should be a part of this conversation as well I think I think that fundamentally should all flow from the lack of bet mikdash and a proper understanding of that helps us relate to the other things as well but there's no question that it's easier for us to relate to the more contemporary tragedies as well okay so that is that is um that that is one understanding of the word one understanding of the word is as we pointed out means how or why and in fact many many point out that there's a that there's a potential response what's the response that many point out uh to to our to our is that if you if you look very closely again we're not going to look at this medish but if you look the medish in Source number five the M references that the same letters of the word are said by in what are the words of that are said by say for Braes a AA right in the med me it brings a clear a clear connection between between I saying andem saying those same letters but a different meaning AA means where are you in this in this whole conversation which which again highlights maybe the the response we sit there we mourn and we're sad and then afterwards we say where's our responsibility in is means where are you as he did to is saying to us where are you in this picture where are you in all of this where where's your taking accountability and responsibility for everything that you that you've done you're asking how this could happen look around you look at what's happened look at look at everything that's been done and it's almost as if we move from the morning to then hopefully connecting to the response and taking a certain amount of of accountability and and and responsibility so that's what understanding of the word however if you look in the art scroll um art scroll kenos they have a different translation of the word their translation of the word is I'll use a the word that they use alas alas alas what does alas mean like a like a like a right that's the only way right like a like oh what what is so according to this understanding what is happening what does the word mean doesn't just mean why according to this understanding we're not asking Hashem why what we're doing is we're just we're like sighing we're we're we're just we're almost as if right what when does a person say alas or like when does a person make corrects when they just don't have words to describe the pain that they're experiencing so it's when your opens up with a it's not just that he's asking according to this understanding why he's just turning to like o oi exactly oi like like hasem look what's happening look at what's happening how could this happen so one side of it is how the other side is just I'm speechless I have nothing to say I don't know what to say and I don't know and that and that according to Kaz according to his understanding is what yah is saying that's really fascinating if you think about it because what it's basically saying is you have here you have a Nai be Isel who's speechless like this is a na'vi this is this his his whole his whole tkin is the world of n of Prophecy of talking and encouraging and talking to hasem talking to talking to Amel describing all of a sudden it's like he has nothing to to say and what that highlights obviously was the experience that he was experiencing the amount of sadness the despondency that he was experiencing at what he was at what he was experiencing and in fact if you look look here in Source number six another way to say it is that sometimes when a person goes through an event that is so traumatic so challenging so hard they they just they don't have the words to describe it where do we see something similar Source number six the garanin r is talking about um the fact that certain as certain aspects of Amel that c that that part of our punishments were done with the description was done from using letters Al all the way through T So says Al why were am Isel smitten with Al alet meaning the description that was used was from Al all the way if you look in in m in a number of different places you have him going from Al all the way to T because they violated the Torah which was given by and what this is highlighting what what when a person classic example that I can think of is we have there's a famous song that we sing on Shabbat morning we sing K right we sing this song we sing this inak and it goes from Al to what's the symbolism of having a song that starts with Al it goes all the way to tough why why why why do many people when they're when they're writing Pim go from Al to tough what's the symbolism they want accom they want to accomplish everything when we say we're basically saying we're saying we want to praise you but we don't have the words we could go all the way from to T and it still wouldn't be enough to praise you what's the symbolism in contrast to what's the symbolism the fact thatu when he's describing and many of the kinos when they're describing their the destruction they go from alive to T what are they basically saying I don't have the words to describe the pain unimaginable unimaginable I don't have the words to describe the pain of what we're feeling I don't have the words words to describe everything that's going on here and therefore I'm just going to say the way the way that I can olive to talk to show that I don't have the words look at source number seven the use of an alphabetical sequence to praise God or describe a person or concept denotes totality and Perfection for example the pass passage of ases Ky describes in 22 alphabetically arranged verses the entire range of the woman's virtues and following the ways of the Torah the very Torah that was translated into human expression by means of these same 22 letters in a less happy use alphabetic acrostics are employed to symbolize totality of Destruction and transgression in order to indicate that God's full Fury was Unleashed against the people of Israel and so again what we see here is we're using the AL in the same way that we would when we're when we're praising we're turning to and saying this destruction is so horrible is so horrific it's so unimaginable that I can't even put it into words and so what we've seen so far in we' high two themes with theme one was the concept of a meaning how or why highlighted the fact that that when it comes to we ask questions or on we ask questions that normally cannot be asked and the second theme we've seen here is meaning alas o the cor we don't we we don't have the words to describe what's what to to properly describe how we're feeling that's how youry is and that's how on some level we're meant to try to tap into on the days of Tish there's one other theme within that I'd like to I like to highlight before we before we get to the uh to the kinos and that is if your person looks in a and just tries to read straight there's a lot of jumping around there are moments of intense h of intense sadness and then of then then it jumps very quickly to moments of of of deep hope sometimes a little bit of happiness even and then back immediately to intense sadness and it seems like it's very very strange is this person happy are they sad are they deeply unhappy are they hopeful it seems very very strange how could it be that within the same fup Su him a person who jumps back and forth between different emotions the obvious answer to that but it's it be it Bears mentioning is that that's The Human Experience The Human Experience very we very often expect that our emotions are going to you know move in a linear fashion from A to B if I'm happy I'm just going to be happy happy happy that's not how humans are naturally our emotions JP from one to the next naturally our emotions will be from one all the way sometimes from one extreme to the other other times within a certain B within a certain balance but it's natural for us to be ha experience extreme happiness one moment and a few minutes later for whatever reason experience challenge or or or sadness Dr y Zigler in her in her in her um in essay on notes this in beautiful words Source number eight seemingly inconsistent and rapidly changing attitudes towards God may be explained by the fact that emotions lie at its core is God just or not an intellectual consideration of the matter approaches the question systematically excuse me offering coherent logical arguments however when humans address the same events through an emotional lens contradictions abound God is both just and unjust humans are simultaneously baffled abashed angered and comforted by God the EB and flow of human emotions and the way they shift and converge Collide and contradict can account for the rapid swing between different perspectives in a this represents the emotional conditions of humans offering a realistic and multifaceted portrait of how humans cope with God's role in their tragedy and so what we're what we're seeing with in and the same thing we see often in the keynote if you look very very carefully is just is it's just the the general experience of a human emotion somebody who at times feels is despondent and then moments later all of a sudden there's a glimmer of hope that he feels and then maybe that even touches upon a certain amount of Happiness before it goes back into despondency that is the human that is the human condition that is who we are that is how we are built and what a does is it highlights that in a very very in a very dramatic way so these are the three themes that I wanted to highlight with a just things for us to think about for us to maybe Ponder a little bit more um as we're as we're getting ready for tab number one one meaning of aeka aeka with an understanding of why how which is an unusual question we normally we can't ask if we can aak meaning alas o this understanding of this questioning this inability to properly experience or discuss or verbalize the intensity of the emotion and the third is this jumping around from different emotions how captures The Human Condition in a very very powerful Way by recognizing that our emotions don't work in linear fashion as much as we would like them to and that we as human beings very often will jump from one emotion to the next what I'd like to do now with remaining time that we have we don't have a ton of time so we're going to go a little bit quicker um is to is to highlight some of the themes I I haven't gone quick enough now is to highlight some of the themes of uh of the keynote okay keynote are what we do or how we spend most of our day on Tab and I would encourage those who are able to and feel well enough um when it comes to the fasting those who are able to fast if you have time and you're feeling well enough I encourage you to go to your local Sho and to engage in in in this recital of the keynote if you need to be at home there are numerous different options where you can uh get a live stream uh of of a number of different people who are doing keynote throughout the day that are being uh live streamed over the internet but the best way that we can connect to the day is through the recital of the keynote but as with anything in order to properly understand the keynote we need to we need we need to kind of understand what's what's the overall structure of the keynote what's the goal of the keynote what's the purpose and what are we trying what are we trying to get to so what I'd like to do is is just kind of go through and highlight a number of different themes um once again most of what I'm going to share with you really really is developed by by Rosal um in his in his Wonder in his wonderful book so before it was really a massive difference between the past so I I again I'm GNA uh the question that was asked was it was it really such a different C of elev I haven't found other books doesn't mean that they don't exist no no meaning I don't know what I mean is my understand I know that that for me my experience with this show have drastically changed when I was able to understand the meaning I as a kid I would go and i' say the Keynotes I didn't really understand most of what I was reading and sometimes I had the English translation sometimes I didn't and and and I found it harder to connect to from the moment that I was able to to to to to you know tap into some of the explanations that are given by Ric it made it much easier for me and I've heard this I've heard I have heard it said no no no I have heard it said that that that that his explanations did open up a world of keynot doesn't mean that there weren't other people I don't want to meaning it could be their word and I just I just did not stumble upon them uh but in order to really understand the keynote it takes not just a certain Brilliance there's also the language is very hard to sometimes is hard to understand it's it's it's not just a Torah knowledge it's also an ability to to appreciate the language that's being used it's poetry it's Pros it's it's it's it's and therefore it requires someone who has an unusual and to an unusual combination of eloquence and knowledge to be able to understand and then relay some of those messages so I it could be there are other great I meaning as I said art schol came out with an English translation many many years ago and it's a wonderful translation the introduction is excellent exent um but I was still feel like I fully understood it and I feel like a lot of what I was able to gain from it came from the salic but it could very well be that there I'm sure there are other people as well I just don't I just don't know anyone who's I guess that it's been it's been kind of like um that that most of what he said has been has gone has gone around as much and has been spread around as much at least certainly not in our in our circles um what I so again as we mentioned the keynote are basically just the next step from a is the first K and what the keyote do is the keynote are meant to put words to our sense of loss and to our sense of Destruction now by the way in the back of your I don't know if you someone could just check the last page on your sheets I asked them to uh a list there should be a list of the keynote yes so that's just for you as reference if you want to what I'm going to do is I'm going to basically we're going to go through we're not going to go Kina it'll take way too long to do that but I wanted to just highlight because there actually is a an actual process that we're going through when we go through the note the beginning of the keynote highlight a certain type of theme as you go on in the keynote they hire more more more themes and I want to just highlight for you just as your just as as way of introduction to understand what we're doing when we go through the keynote um so if you want to mark up or use this reference the uh the list of the keynote that I that I copied for you as well that might help so the first number of keynote as we've mentioned if we go through the keynote again we're not going to go through each one the first number of kot I would say the first the first four or five we say we say anti shabab night then then we start start with k the sixth K we start with the next day after shakar and if you look through the first I would say 17 18 19 Keynotes the themes are the destruction of the bet mikdash there's no that is the biggest theme that's from That's from the art scroll the art scroll keot that's from the art scroll keynote yes that is from the art scroll keynote I should have read that on top that is that is basically a table of contents from the art scroll keynot the art scroll translation of the keynote and if you look there you can see that most of the keynote of uh that that that we start start with and it makes sense are destruction of the bikash if you look through the keynote the two themes that are highlighted are the ones we've mentioned before which is a a description of the destruction and then b a list of our actions and our sins and very often the keot will jump back and forth between the two of them as we mentioned that because there's two type there's two aspects of the day of Tish there's the Y A where we're just sitting and wallowing in the pain wallowing in the sadness andab is also a where we have to recognize our contribution to what occurred and to and to and to and to strive to do chuva that is what the first 17 18 keynote are about beginning with keynot number 21 again I don't have the list on me actually so I don't have the name of it but it's the one about the all of a sudden we get to K number the 10 Martyrs that were killed the shift that we we shift in our focus at this point in time we're no longer just talking about the destruction of theam mdash we are now beginning to talk about other other tragedies in Jewish history and of course says rosic and many other post today is the day to comment on that look at source number nine rosic explains why Tish abov is more it is a day of mourning not only for the tragedies that occurred on it but for any Exile any tragedy any disaster that has struck our people whenever it may have occurred Tish is the day to commemorate kurban in general to mourn for all the tragedies and all the disasters that have struck the Jewish people throughout our long history in one of the keyote about the Crusades entitled we read that it is inappropriate to add another another holiday or another commemoration to what what we have already we are not to add a separate fast day or additional day of mourning to commemorate any additional catastrophe disaster Massacre Devastation or destruction no fast day other than Tish is to be established no additional days can be designated to commemorate later tragedies on Tish we fast and mourn for all tragedies and all our disasters it is not only the day that commemorates the destruction of the B mikdash and the other tragedies that occurred on it but that day that commemorates every destruction the countless destructions we have experienced as a people down Through the Ages there is a that one must not establish or designate a separate day of morning in commemoration of a tragedy in addition to tab the many tragedy and disasters that occurred in Jewish history should be recounted described and portrayed M mourned and eulogized on Tab not on any other day and that is why additional tragedies were introduced into the morning of tab the morning is not only for the mikash but for much more it is mourning foran is in every fashion and manner whether spiritually or materially in fact is is a part of the mikdash because this is an important point if the bet mikdash were standing our destiny would have been different why does our salvic feel that it's important that Tish is the day that we mourn every tragedy because fundamentally the root of every tragedy that beell the Jewish people the root of its cause is the destruction of bet mdash had the BET mdash been standing things would be drastically different and therefore it's most appropriate that the same day that we mourn the destruction of bash that is the day that we mourn everything else that happened don't understand one second let me just finish all of them are a direct result of mikash had the destiny of the mdash been different all the catastrophes and disasters would never have happened if not for the mdash the Crusades and the Hitler Holocaust for example would not have taken place everything every disaster is a result of mdash that destruction is responsible for everything yes question no I don't understand how you can say that you don't understand how you can say that so I is definitely something that yeah I mean I meaning there's correct Exile but he thinks that that's all same pack correct meaning again I don't think it's not the kind of thing that I would have felt comfortable saying in in such an intense way meaning only someone of a certain stature can make a comment like that but at the same time I think what he's basically suggesting is that our reality is different when there's aash we don't fully understand what that means our connection to a our strength as a people our strength as a nation and so many factors are different when there is a b go the reality me I think it's hard for us to understand it because I don't think we can fully properly understand it's full of idol worship and everything else under true correct what you're pointing out is that even during the times of when there was a bam mikdash we as a people committed certain sins which led to destruction and led mean obviously the fact that there was a destruction bam mdash means that it not that it can't happen I think what I think what he what he what what he is saying is that is that when there is a betam mikdash or if there were to be a third betam mikdash which is also understood to be fundamentally different from from the from the first two our reality would be different and therefore the nature of things would be different but it's but it's a it's it's a but but the key that he's saying here is therefore it's most appropriate to um to uh happens to us is a whole different correct correct fact that the is now gone 100% 100% And that's obviously when we talk about the talk our relationship what we mean that is ultimately the but what but as as some of them are pointing out there was a there was a time when there was a mikdash and yet if you read through things things things things did happen meaning meaning meaning things things did happen as a result so therefore it's hard for us to fully understand understand that because how could it be that there was a destruction if there was a during the time of the second so these are things that we don't fully understand uh that's that's I think the main question but it could be the differentiate between the second and third wasn't that the day the spice came back that yes the shabab was also the day never mentioned no we didn't discuss it today but that certainly is mentioned in I just just because of time because we'll only have a couple more minutes uh yes we didn't we didn't head on everything we didn't head on everything I I want to just highlight a couple of other things important themes in the I want to highlight a couple of other themes in the in the so we've talked about how we went from destru of to all types of Destruction all types of tragedy if you look and you go on the r if you look if you move to um sorry one minute k k 23 which is a couple of Kos later we actually do something a little bit different rosic points out it in K number 23 we don't just talk about communal tragedy we begin to talk about personal tragedy and this is a k that talks about the Son and the daughter of who didn't know who were separated at Birth didn't recognize each other we put into a room together and if you go through that Kina it's it's a powerful Kina and there's so much to learn from that Kina but salvic pointed out from that Kina was something very important this Kina is not about National tragedy it's about personal tragedy what is it doing in our keynote why here we all of a sudden talking about personal tragedy on a day of national Calamity and National destruction say of salvic the way that we as a nation work is Hal doesn't just recognize and commemorate and mourn National tragedy we also mourn personal tragedy because whenever we're dealing with a with whenever a Whenever there is National tragedy and even sometimes when there isn't National tragedy there is always a certain level of personal tragedy and the Haka recognizes that and incorporates that into T shab as well because we're not whenever somebody from the Jewish people is in some form of aut or some form of Destruction or some or some sense of loss that impacts the entire the entire Jewish nation and that's why we incorporate this Kina into into our keynote because we don't just mourn National tragedies I'm te we also mourn uh we also mourn personal tragedies I'm again I'm moving quickly because I want to just finish this uh last two points as we go on if you move to K 36 we begin a number of Kos called the Kos halali halali is a number of Kos that begin to descri that describe the beauty of the bet mikdash the beauty of and what what we're doing say Sal and this connects to the she that we we had a couple of weeks ago had a couple weeks ago we talked about how there are two ways to commemorate the mdash one is called and one is called is when we describe the destruction that is one way to commemorate the loss of the discussion another way to describe the loss of the mikdash is we don't just talk about the destruction we talk about how beautiful it once was we talk about the Beauty and the Splendor and the connection we had to and the resting upon us we talk about the reality that we had and that is part of the mourning that is part of how we mourn for the BET mikdash and we talked about a couple weeks ago how you need both of those and how when it comes to commemorating we talked about how remembering the Holocaust there are different approaches should we go back to Poland to see the destruction or should we go back to Poland to hear and learn about the communities that were for those who are comfortable going back and we we had an article from Rabbi lamb RAB nor lamb talking about two different ways to commemorate 9/11 was it is it better to leave Ground Zero as as as a place of Destruction or to build something even more beautiful to commemorate the beauty of what of what of what the World Trade Center was before and the same thing is how October after October 7th Kim are struggling as they rebuild their Kim should we have a museum should we leave certain houses destroyed to commemorate what was or should we rebuild bu and build an even more beautiful kib than we had before that is how we in Judaism the way that we commemorate destruction and more mdash is both and the question is though and this is something that a little bit strange is that it's it's out of order normally if you had to pick the order of what should come first which one should come first or why should come first because you want to remember how beautiful it is and only if you remember how beautiful it is are you then going to appreciate the so here's my question we've been discussing the destruction for so many k all of a sudden K 36 we now switch to why why why not start with k should be about should be about the beauty of I believe the answer is we have to understand the nature of what Tish is fundamentally Tish is a day where we wallow in the sadness and in the destruction and therefore the first thing we're going to do is talk about that destruction talk about that destruction sit with that destruction feel that destruction later on we'll remind ourselves how beautiful it was and that'll hopefully then help us connect to the destruction as well but to open up with the beauty and everything it would almost be taking away from what chish is about which is a day of sadness and a day where we're meant to sit and wallow in the destruction of the B of the bash it's not something we want to continue forever once Bish above one tis once Tiss above is over we're meant to then St get up you know what get to take off shake off the dust and move on which is a number separate question the whole idea of but for these moments we're supposed to start with the destruction and to wallow in that destruction okay I'm just going to just to just to summarize what we've done and I apologize that you're not going to have much too much of a break before uh before Rabbi uh uh fing them comes in we try to highlight a number of different themes both in a and in the keynote as a preparation for we highlighted a couple of important themes regarding the explanation of the word or meaning how could this happen and the the response of from or meaning alas we have no words to describe it we talked about how also has mixed emotions varied emotions because that is M mirroring the The Human Experience we talked about how within the themes of the keynote we start with destruction we start with national the bet mikdash we then shift to National calamities that have beell the Jewish people throughout the ages because that is a part of the experience what we're doing on TI we then talked about how it shifts to not just National Calamity but personal Calamity personal tragedy which is an important part of it and then of course how it shift from we go to because these are two ways for how we commemorate the mdash in our day um and the one thing that I I wanted to just mention to end is there is of course as we go as as as the keynote go on towards the end of the kyote we have that moment where we begin to incorporate keynote on contemporary issues on contemporary issues there's a k about the Holocaust there's a k about a number of other temporary issues you should know that there are kinot that have been written um again uh right wrote something about the Holocaust there is actually a Kai I have it here again for those of you want to see it you can even get it R umina about October 7th that is now if for those of you who get the magazine M magazine he putting a magazine this week it'll be in the magazine it's it's available all over the place in the H upcoming H magazine this K will be found it is a k my my opinion a beautiful K describing our emotions post October 7th a number of other people have also done the same thing it's not we shouldn't take it for we shouldn't do it you know take it lightly it's not the kind of thing that we should do you know after every tragedy but I think October 7th was a game Cher in many different ways and at least it was Felton felt it appropriate to write a Kina that many schs may choose to incorporate as part of their part of their part of their part of their keynote um this year as well okay wishing everybody a meaningful rest of the week and a and a meaningful and easy fast as well