Tisha B'av: Also about Celebration with Rabbi Yehoshua Weber

esoteric and academic. Um maybe a little more towards the inspirational and it it's actually an idea that it's obvious once it's said, but until you see the mccurious that developed the idea, it just it it'll it'll seem new. But once once it's said, I I think it'll just seem like an old glove that fits. And I want to start with phrasiology that we know that we've used all the time. So I'll start with the most familiar one and I'll move backwards. And you say this yourself all the time. Think about the language. Okay? I mean, everyone here is everyone here is involved in learning. So look at the language and you'll ask yourself a question about the language. Look at four benching for sure. such a important request on the city of Shalim on the place where the B is meant to be built al maybe the family of Bavid the family of of that's going to eventually be Msiah and then what's the last phrase in in >> now tell me what is what translate that on >> and the big house of holiness >> the English >> that's called from above >> now tell me what is the question on this >> uh and The question is obvious again. You don't think of it till it's pointed out. I also didn't think of it till it was pointed out. >> It's about it's a it's stones. >> It's not there. It's gone. It's destroyed. It the the is making it sound like the mdash is there. We're not saying that should be >> here. It's there, >> right? But we're talking about down here. So you're talking about here. It's a very nice. That's the beginning of an answer. highest the the bases is not uh consider it's considered like a suka so it's it's there it's just not erect yet >> right I mean the language so I I your answer is really I mean you're saying what I you know the answer but the language is you know >> language is like anyone who's mak with such care right such dict such exactitude we analyze every dot right every vowel so you're talking about the bias present tense like it's there when it's not your exists maybe it's destroyed the family exists maybe it's not functioning in leadership um the um the but the md the the stones aren't there so Allah is saying the beginning of the answer which you can sort of intuit it that on some level it is there some power but we don't want to really look at as the basic is being destroyed of course it's destroyed But we also want to look at it as being, you know, extent as if it exists on some level because um because we're not letting go of it completely. It's not destroyed and going to be rebuilt. It's broken. It's not functional. There are levels of destruction. >> We have one wall, >> but something exists. Good. Good. That's why broken. Maybe left this one wall. Something is here now. And once you'll see this, you'll see everything about mikdash is present tense which is a little bit um strange until you see the answer. Now I'll go back to gumarus that you may have come across and again you may have asked this or not. Look at the first one. Anyone who mourns sees the but that's like >> in in in it but what's I underlined what's strange about that if if you would write this yourself right what would you write if I would write this I would say give a year it will be to see means he's seeing it Now we're using present tense >> it it doesn't it's not correct at least at first glance it's deliberate of course rightash when they wrote the didn't just write things right a lot of careful thought >> right clearly it should be future tense clearly they're using past tense there's something motivating this of using present tense why if it would be just this one but here you have the of of the of of the um of the benching which is the same odd phrase present tense. So really in a nutshell the question is is that when we talk about the odash or that is destroyed we we make it sound like it still exists when it doesn't exist. >> So it's like it's here. It means you haven't really let go of it. And I'm going to bring an example that you know from right. um you want you know this from kumish now where does this come from so maybe the best part I didn't actually bring it down but I this is something you know because you've you've heard this discussed you've heard this rashi so you've heard this rashi you've heard um the medish so when we talk about Jacob of losing the brothers come and they tell him um it's your son's garment and hak And Jacob, it seems, believes that he was killed, right? He was he was he was he was destroyed. But then the language is is that all of his children came to be he refused to to accept. And why did he refuse to accept? So here's the medish, very well-known medish in the world of Josh was developed. Look at two. Why didn't he accept? So the med tells you the end of two there is an when if someone is dead there's no if someone's alive if someone is alive on one level maybe it's something metaphysical and esoteric something we don't understand maybe it's something psychological maybe yakavino on some level sense that yph is still alive you know parents feel things you should know I mean you a parent um I think maybe mothers more than fathers women have an intuition I know and I spent close to 20 years living up you know in Toronto right so I would call my mother all the time I know and I know that you know if it was a little it was complicated if there was a difficult thing is sometimes complicated I wouldn't call her cuz she can tell in my voice right away a mother can tell right away um is everything okay it's just sort of a something maybe I I can't tell it so quickly in my son's voices my kids voices maybe my wife can mothers can maybe fathers can also but you can sense So maybe Yakov sensed he was alive or maybe he was suspicious. I mean he had certain reason he had reason to be suspicious. You know the brothers came and said that he was this right hacker not but again these are good people. Um even the best of liars aren't good liars. I can't imagine the were good liars. So maybe he sensed you know he may have sensed. What was he going to do? You don't want to ask questions that you don't want to hear answers to. So he might not have asked anything. But he might have lived in sort of a a cloud where he really didn't accept the fact that his son died not just illogically but logically because um because he just sensed that he wasn't dead. So he didn't accept maybe on some esoteric level because um was alive maybe psychologically because he sensed might be alive and accepting is the worst thing because then then you don't search for the person and what you want is the person. So um it might have been his his wisdom his intuitive psychology but the core of this media is and so many so many I I haven't seen them all I know the yitz develops this develops this raers develops this and in a beautiful way one motif that they all develop is is that we really shouldn't view the bish is gone is gone is gone there's destruction But something was always there. Now of course the physical building isn't there but as you pointed out correctly something of the building is there and because is still alive because of that when when created the gar they deliberately wisely used present tense even though it doesn't seem to be grammatically correct because they wanted to make this point. Anyone who feels a veil is seeing it now because if he feels the veil now what does it mean? It means isn't gone and that's a little bit of an already not accepting for was a good thing and there was a little bit of sim in that cuz he didn't accept because in some level he realized was still alive >> that's a good thing. >> Yeah. Yeah, he's also he laughed at the fox >> because he saw that coming through. That's another excellent component. So you have um you have um Yak not accepting as being almost a positive thing might be still alive. If someone being 2,000 years, it's almost 2,000 years after the destruction. It's 20 26 almost 2,000 years. It means that there's a little bit of a kaduca that remains. If um even if even today when we bench we say no we're talking about the house present tense it means it still exists it all comes together in a very beautiful way and that really is um a point and again that a gad you know all of gumari is so so important um we learn more you know we focus less on the agata more on the component is very important but just the way you have to be and ag to understand what it means. Um because it's a to also there are messages um and complicated what those messages are not so simple but there are messages. So there's a line that develops in a god that that is developed in a goat all the time here. Look um look at source three. We use the term all the time because it's it wasn't totally destroyed. music ducha u maybe real sadik can sense it um maybe if you can't sense it but there's something there and that's a motif that kazal are trying to um develop and because of that this leads to such interesting discussion tonight it's going to be really more inspirational rather than you know where we usually go I think it's appropriate to do with tishab um the um what what emerges from this is is that because we mourn on tishabove at the very same time what we're doing is we're saying that we believe tishab is not gone isn't gone the kadusha isn't gone it still exists >> and then again >> and that's a good thing because it means it's not totally dead we don't have to wait for the um ba mikdash there's something that's alive and relevant even now something that maybe people who have who have the capacity to appreciate kadusha can appreciate now but it's there now and then suddenly you can travel to all sorts of different aspects of Tishb and you'll see that even in Tishb today it's it's an odd day. It's not really a day that's all about mourning. It's a day that it's actually there's um there's this dialectic there's mourning but then there's on tishab there's this emphasis on on bringing sim into the day bringing celebration into the day why so on one level you could say because we believe that when the base of mdish is rebuilt it'll it'll start on tishab when the base of mdish will be built it'll be turned into >> into a yumptive when the base of md understood it wasn't a day of fast. It was a day of celebration. All of that is true. But is that the only reason for it being a day of sim? At the end of the day, it's not a day of because the mdash wasn't rebuilt. Um so it's not a day of sim. But if you go back to this core idea that if someone is dead, then you mourn them. And if someone is alive, you don't mourn them. And I'm sorry, if someone is dead, eventually you give up mourning. You forget. and the mason but if someone is alive person will keep on mourning and that's a good thing and that's actually something to celebrate because it means the person is alive the way was still alive that's why kept mourning him the fact that we continue mourning means it's still alive it's not something that's gone there's something about it that's still there and that creates celebration into its own right and I want to point out that more than people realize there's this um there it's actually moriranic there's this piece of tishab that seems to be about and we can go we can look at one thing but if you look at one thing you'll say that one thing might just be an exception but it's actually many things so come with me look at and you know this yourself right so look at five we don't um say five there's no now the truth is you could say that is a is is a very powerful fulfill I don't know exactly how it works but it's very very powerful and we don't want to say and and there's something durgeike and negative about it so we don't say it during a time of shabas even um in the afternoon we don't say but also when it's a time of great morning we're afraid that there's going to be an overload of morning so we don't say so you could say we don't say because it's too much morning right that would be the reason but that's not what the Hey, look at so that could be um you know why you don't say it and that would all also explain why we don't say it on but that's not what the TA says. The TA says we don't say because there's a component to look at the seven Zion the interestingly enough says that's not only true for that's true for every evil when there's a will eventually there'll be it's going to be good I will turn um um I will turn mourning into a celebration and so you have to keep that in mind but that's the base for um not saying and the is even a little bit more emphatic about it. Tishab is going to be a and because of that we don't say so that could be just like one little piece to the puzzle but there actually many other pieces also let me share another piece. We're supposed to have a sudafish and we've actually made it a very very basic meal supposed to have one baked item and one cooked item and that's what we do. We generally have um a bread and a hard-boiled egg and that's it. and you dip the hard boiled egg in ash but just one baked one cooked down that's all we have the truth is that's really not so satisfying so what most people do is before they have the sudra mafus they have another meal beforehand which is a fuller meal I think that's you see in most homes not everybody actually some people mak have actually just the sudafkus but you have both meals now why do you have a second meal before okay so one reason is the mug of rum mug of rum tells you is that um you know you could go ahead and say that if you would just have a beer basic meal that's not going to give you enough to weather the fast but the mam says there's another piece to the puzzle he says if tishab is going to be a yant and because of that we don't say if tishab is going to be a yiff because the base of mish will be rebuilt if tishab is even now because there's a little bit of the base of mdish that remains you have to have a suda you can't have an antishb so you have a proper suda because it's going to be y look Interesting. leaves going to be I want to take this to the next level and now I want to start sharing with you I don't have inside but I want to go through them with you outside and it'll actually I think it'll I think this will resonate with you and I want you to develop this so the P we quoted before was that Yakavina refused to accept why did Yakavina refuse to accept because Yavina was was alive and and because of that you don't accept And what does the PK say? The Pik M brings it down. The Pik tells you he refused to accept. Now let's remember right the was written with very very byes perfectly right when when similar language is used it it it's it's supposed to catch your eye so you draw comparisons. when spoke to the Nim and shared certain ideas and used language then also that language used for was used for a specific reason and if there's language in a na'vi that parallels language in the Tyra if there's a ya that parallels the in the why talk to that way obviously seemingly because wanted you to connect that with the so the There's a phrase in one of the most famous haurus and and and it's a phrase that'll come to you. I mean most people don't keep in mind but I think this phrase comes to you. It's about and cries so much tries to comfort her but won't be comforted. And what is the phrase in the Torah in that's the term now isn't just picking words and aes didn't just send words to chose specific phrasiology to use with and that phrasiology is an exact replica of the phrasiology that the Tyra used to describe there's reason for it It's not for chance. Let's go back to Yaku. What does the medish tell you? Why did Yaku not accept? Because Yf is still alive. And again, again, um years ago when I was young and I heard this, I said, "Oh, that's it. It's the nama. The nama can't accept when a person is still alive." And that might be the truth. That might be the truth. But there may be another reason also. Yakavino had strong reason to be suspicious not to believe that Yseph really died. Um there strong reason and and again people sense things. Yseph is gone. His his sons were with him. Body language give things away especially with a parent. So you don't think Yakov was able to read that something had happened and it's Yakov. It's a regular but Yakov right a Na'vi a sadic one of the wisest people that ever lived couldn't read. So again, why didn't he ask? Because sometimes you don't want to ask because you don't want to open Pandora's boxes. But he must have sensed something. Did he know? Did a madrash say he knew for sure. Did a madrashim say he didn't know. >> Said right out that he was dead. >> Yeah. >> Hak no they implied which which again hack >> there's different ways you can kill a person. You can be them >> or another way is you can take all their money away. So by as a slave, he now has no belongings. >> So they sort of killed him. >> Technically, they didn't lie, >> right? And they didn't even say this lie. See, is this your um your child's garment? Um they, you know, they use that phrasiology, but by um because I what what they would in good conscience, you know, what they were presenting is we don't know that you're dead. We just saw this garment and it's bloody. um you sent him to us um and and and and this is likely what happened. Um again very difficult very difficult to to you know understand what happened here. These are shift this is Jacob but any which way it's parallel phrasiology. Now maybe Yakov his realist he wasn't dead maybe he was suspicious because it >> doesn't sound like the are too they're upset about it. They're like >> they're not even >> as in would they be more upset? Oh my gosh, my brother just died. >> They they they don't know what to say. They don't know how to present it. >> So, but and they don't want to they don't want to lie because first of all, people don't want to lie and secondly they don't want to be in a position of saying something to their father. >> Could be he says that, >> right? And the truth is they might have believed this is what happened. Very important to know the simplest way of reading the story um um these say theatim did not sell did we ever discuss this theatim never sold into slavery um and the truth is >> one of them did >> according to the none of them did because I think we have to remember slavery then was was worse than killing somebody you sell somebody into slavery you're um again we were mention to our slaves because there's a tyra But in the non-Jewish world, you would castrate them. You would you would you would they were treated worse than animals because there was again there was no respect for human rights. We live with respect, right? We we sort of forget what it's like. We're living in the 21st century. There is respect for other human beings. But but you would do the most horrible things to slaves without any any any compunctions. There was no again I we mentioned just a few days ago a few weeks ago stress. Why was a slave called Strris? Because you would cast him. How could you do that? you did what you wanted. You're a slave because because you they were worse than animals. Um um so so these visham say and they they're so clear. The pusk never says theam sold them to slaves. The pik says they were upset. Um they really were because they had left the family. Here he's coming and he's wearing the sinus pum telling them I still control you even from afar. That's the way they took it. They would have never sold him to slavery. But when people are angry, they just say things. You should never tell somebody, "I'm going to kill you." But normal people say that, right? One shouldn't talk that way. But there are people who talk that way. Not good. But there are people who talk that way. They're so upset. You know, they did all the right things. Ysef is making them big problems. He's destroying the family from their perspective. As destroyed, destroyed the family one generation before. Yeshal destroyed the family two generations before. The runner says they see Asf doing the same thing, trying to take control. So they leave the family. That's how hers explains it. They leave the family to start their own community. They they don't want mus. They don't want the they don't want to hurt anybody. They don't want to fight. And here comes after them telling them, "No, I'm going to control you even from afar, wearing sinus bas." So they say things, but they never meant it. They just didn't know what to do with themselves. So what the bomb says is they put him in a pit because they just didn't know what to do because they wanted to secede and start their own family. Y was coming saying that I control this area. That's how they viewed it. Um what did they do? So they they they just they put him in jail so to speak while they talked about him in the pit. They left him there in the pit. They went and they ate at a distance. In the interim um um um Arabs came by. They heard someone screaming. They pulled him out of the pit and he was sold to slavery. Not through the It happened without them knowing. They came back to the pit. He was gone and they saw the pasum. They actually thought a wild animal had devoured him. It makes so much sense. It's a simple reading of the Pekk thevatim emerge. You know it. >> But didn't someone come and kick him out of the pit? >> No. >> Was it Reuben or something? >> No. It say it says Reuben came and tried to in the medish but um the Pik the Pik says Rub was no the Pik says that Ruben really came the Ruben goes back to the pit and the truth is it's almost like the Pik says Ruven goes back to the pit and he isn't there what do you mean he isn't there what the sold him without Revenizing so there's a med that says Ruven went back to but think about again reading madrashim literally can create such problems the the med says um Yseph was about to be killed. His life is hang in the balance. But there was rotation among the about who would go back to serve their father, right? They were in they were in their father was inviu like what took a plane to to to serve his father while his his son was about to be executed. Again, reading with literally creates just it's hard. The simple reading is that they all went and they ate at a distance what to do and Ruben is the one who's the eldest. He goes back to the first to take Yseph out. But they would have never sold him. How could you do that to another human being? But other people who who who who had nothing to do with the brothers passed by pulled him out of the pl um the um it seems it seems like they saw the so they said well their cousins >> even so they would >> right but they would still people um people castrated slaves. That's what they did. It would have yeah they would have been >> right the word is being used for in a different sense than >> right or maybe they were the general slave traders and it happens to be manum but and and so when they went back and they saw he wasn't there they actually thought a wild animal had pulled them out >> what does the rug have to do with them >> right so so the story of so also very important the story of mas never happened the way it's presented it couldn't have because all these live in different generations So it's a it's a theme that we suffered and but again it gets factually the live different generations. So how could it be um and and punished sadikim um thousands of years later because of something that that the I mean just logic >> if you believe in gulum >> it's not believed it's a fact. So gag is a big big um raban is very passionate about is very passionate against very very >> otherwise how do you fit anything you know like you see a person that's born he's suffering and then he died like >> it's very hard it doesn't make any sense but if you don't have that answer >> so you're right if without that gille takes away like kids who were two who died in halus what is their chance to live very difficult maybe we'll give a I I have some ideas there's Rambam Rambam believes you get a Google once um but um we'll talk but I say most women don't believe Raana is a big passionate believer in big discussion but I want to come back >> big it's a big big big important topic but I want to come back let me just come back to this why am I coming back to this so theatim at least going to really thought a wild animal had pulled him out of the pit that seemed to be the most logical thing so they weren't lying uh yeah but what about that shim asked lady what should we do with it? So they spoke let's kill him but I have heard people normal people say I'm going to kill him I've heard people say this they don't mean it but they're just so >> they're not normal people they're talking about >> right so theatim had but they were suffering so much from him they knew as they knew Ishmael they thought was destroying the family that's they had given up everything they walked out in the they walked around the family we want to go to have nothing to do with the family we'll stop we And even here he's chasing us. >> They were also upset at Yak also. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> When Yoseph came when he came with they thought that oh >> Yakov sent him >> sent him to make a statement. See I like him better than I like you. >> Right. Right. Right. So but according to the it's it actually you again I don't I don't know many people who would sell a brother into slavery. I mean it's a really and it's not just slavery. Slavery means it's worse than death. It's worse than death. So to do this to a brother. So I'm just these are very very standard rishum very standard rishum. Um that make a lot of sense out of and they they know the garis and all the talk about sailing is they caused it because even throwing in a pit is a terrible thing right um they didn't they weren't going to kill him. They put him in just to sort of figure out what to do but but they really So why am I digressing there? I'm digressing far and wide. What I want to say is that Yakov might have sensed that Yseph was still alive. He really believed that there was some life there and that's why he couldn't accept. Maybe it's a sh maybe it's practical. He suspected I want to go back. We use the exact same phrasiology. If the me says and it says was using paraphrasiology through attention. What is the Pik telling us about not um accepting the even when we're in gul even after the there's no because we're still alive is alive is alive is alive means even now everyone is still alive and how does the conclude I should have photo tells you it's right that's What's wrong about the phrasiology? Translate it doesn't read well her children cuz he isn't. It's singular. It doesn't say no. And um he's not here. What do you mean? Why the singular? Well, what what Nari is alluding to is is that it all connects. Yakov accepts no on Rahul's son only Ysef Rahul then doesn't take on any of the shift horrors others all of there was no formless it's for sure not for chance that use the same phrology to draw your attention Jacob didn't accept because he knew Y was alive. He sensed that the body language. She sensed it. However, he sensed it. Ra refused to accept because she's a paradigm. The example is Yf but it plays itself out in all the children. >> Why did Yseph have to send a >> I mean to to prove to his father that he was alive. He knew. >> So if he knew, he sensed, he um Yakov does seem surprised. But you know, he he sort of lived, you know, I know a lot of people. I know people spent decades not talking about some of the most important things in the world because they're afraid to because once you have that conversation, you don't know where it's going to go. And sometimes that's the right thing to do. So did Joseph want to ask the brothers more? Probably. But did he know that it's probably not wise to? So maybe he didn't. And that leads to discussions about what happened in in in Mitrine. Did JF tell Yakov? Did J not tell Jacob? Same discussions sometimes you want to avoid. But the core motif is is that tishabove for all of its agony and for all of its mourning is also >> there's many other is dedicated tonight to the police. Um it's um it's there's on the one hand it's a it's a day of of ais it's morning but on the other hand the fact that we're still means something still lives there's no because it's still alive there's some power that's still there and that you see in ro today and the n of contemporary ro um you see it in in in a way that we people haven't seen for the last 2,000 years and then years we should settle down and get better and um our boys there should be safe. >> Okay, >> that Yseph was put into the pit. They knew he was broken. So they knew that he potentially could die if >> Right. So here I would again >> they weren't they weren't trying to kill him. There's like if if that's what happens then >> right so here I I would not be you know I would say that for they would not take that medish literally the doesn't say the scorpions and snakes tells you what's the medish but is it a fact but again good people like the would they put their brother into a pitful of scorpions and snakes and just think about it how how much of a monster do you have to be to kill somebody and to kill somebody in such a But this is not they're they're not killing him. They're putting him in a situation where if Hashem decides to make a nace and he doesn't deserve, >> you know, I have I have two brothers. They're both good people. But I'm 61. Over the course of my life, I'm sure one or two of them got me upset once or twice. I never envisioned putting them, you know, into a pit of scorpions and snakes. It's like I'm going down. I'm trying to say that they they they understood deep stuff and they >> for sure and and you can go in that direction. >> I'm not trying to >> you can for sure there's no that goes in that direction. A beautiful he says they thought that maybe they weren't sure. So the was that if if it's shim you'll only die if if you're meant to die. So they they didn't kill him. They put him in front of squ. But I'm just saying that these are all the simplest reading is is the rashbam and it it's actually believe I'm not even talking about shift I'm talking about regular people very few people would sell a brother into slavery it's really a a really terrible thing to do I think also I mean it's not what I meant to talk about Right.