Tisha B'av: Purity of the Heart - Rabbi Mordechai Kraft

[Music] it's difficult time right now as we enter the last uh couple hours of the fast I appreciate everybody staying for another Shure and understand it's not not easy but I'd like to offer a few words that I think give some perspective on a very unique Jewish tragedy and that's the tragedy of the shaah of the Holocaust and we understand that after the Holocaust there's a question do we create a new yv or is it just a continuation of Tish and the rabbis of the time the brisar and others felt just like after the Crusades we didn't create a new day of remembrance we just went on and Tish shabab what is what it is so that speaks to the Holocaust as well the Holocaust is the way in which we focus on it is by Tish and the reason why particularly is is because any Jewish tragedy that happens is really continuation of the gis is a continuation of the Exile and in order to get some perspective on the Holocaust and something unique I'd like to share with us in a moment I think first we have to understand the Exile that we're in the Exile that we're in right now is called the Roman Exile it's the last of the four Exiles and it's the longest the first Exile the Exile of the Babylonians was 70 years followed by the Persians after 70 years we came back and we able to rebuild a base of mikdash the Romans came in and for the last 2,000 years we've been in Exile we can't seem to undo the problem that was caused that led to the destruction of the second temple what was the problem the problem was a disease our sages say that we were affected by or infected by by the Romans it was a spiritual disease it was disease of something called competition a disease whereby you look at somebody else and you don't see a continuation of another you don't see a Divine image you see an enemy you could look at your own brother and what do you see you see an enemy and we call that in Hebrew we call hating somebody else just for who they are and apparently this disease is a disease which is so difficult to uproot that 2,000 years has not yet been enough the first temple it was a v idol worship we realized our mistake we fixed it up there was murder involved we realized mistake we fixed it up there was immorality we fixed it up but when the problem is us when the problem is in our hearts this is something which is so difficult how do we uproot from our hearts this idea of sin and that's why our sages say something very fascinating in the T and Yuma our sages say better the claws of the first temple then the bowels of the second temple what does that mean it means like this we know when you look at a kosher animal an animal to be kosher has to have two signs it has to have a split hoof meaning it can't have claws it can't be a predator it can't grab it can't tear and it has to chew its own cud meaning it has more than one stomach that's the spiritual idea of being happy with what it has and therefore for us to to ingested animal has to have those two qualities it can't be something which prays on others and has to be satisfied with what it has it says that each of the different Goos the Exiles compared to one of the non- kosher animals it says the Roman Exile is compared to the Kaz the pig the pig is the only animal that's not Kosher as the tit says the only one in creation which says look at me on the outside I'm kosher I have a split hoof but when you go to the inside of the pig what do you see you see it's totally totally not Kosher the pig there represents the idea of hypocrisy it represents the idea of I'm pretending to be something that I'm not that's the idea of the kazir and that's what our sages meant we'd prefer to have an animal with claws what does that mean at least it shows me on the outside what it is but the pig says I I look so refined I look just like you I'm so kosher but when you get inside of it you realize there's such defections and that's the problem of Our Generation that's the Roman Exile it's this idea that things can look good on the outside but the heart is so wrong and for 2,000 years we haven't been we seem to have not been able to shake that off you know it says that the sin that brought about the destruct the second temple was the story of of two men called kamsu barsa I'm sure many of familiar with the story but just briefly there's a party and who's invited we meant to invite kamsa he invites barsa and the host looks at the guy says what are you doing here and he ask him to leave and Barson says listen I'll pay for what I eat he says no he says I'll pay for the entire party he says no he picks him out and throws him out question that the moral asks is why do we have to know the details of that negotiation just say he threw him out why do we have to know that first he said I'll pay for what I eat then he said I'll pay for the whole party he says because we have to understand the hatred for barsa it wasn't about money it wasn't about something that can be satisfied by just payment it was about I hate you just because you are who you are I don't see you as part of me I see you as my enemy that's and that's why the negotiations are so important now we've maintained this disease for the last 2,000 years I heard something the other night i' like to quote RAB gladin on it he said something very interesting today we can't say shalom to each other no Shalom and it's a very difficult thing to do we see each other and we so much want to greet each other other and we kind of have to look down and even if somebody says to you Shalom how are you you're supposed to just give a little Mumble back and just say not so not be overly friendly encourage the person they shouldn't be greeting you so the question is why are we doing that on the day when we're working on on the day when we're working on rectifying the hatred of our heart shouldn't we be going from door too and greeting each other and saying shalom it's a beautiful answer heard expressed was the idea that today is a day when we want to be totally real with ourselves how often do we say shalom to each other good morning how are you and in our hearts we're thinking something else thinking I don't really like you I don't want to speak with you I have a grudge against you today we're real today we're going to say no phoniness stop looking like something on the outside if that's not who you are in the the inside don't be the kazer today today is not the day we're going to be the animal the pig that represents the Roman Exile my friends I'd like to fast forward with you in Jewish history and I have to understand that when hasem brings any Sorrows any pain a continuation of the Exile however it's expressed it's designed to help us fix up the problem that we possess that's the purpose of Galos that's the purpose of Exile the darkness that we have is here in order for us to break through it and discover who we really are our deeper sources say that the side of the Satan the side that is there to create Darkness so to speak in order for us to rise and break through it and discover what we can really be and to break out of any type of bad personality traits or bad habits the side of the suon is called the SEL s me Al lamid it's interesting if you look at a simple gatria I'll just say this gatria not because I'm an expert in any way in numerology but just because I think it corroborates very beautifully the point that I want to make the if you take the the the you add together it's 131 happens to be the numerical value of one of the greatest enemies of the 20th century against the Jewish people is 131 akman was the one who orchestrated the final solution the one who the Israelis eventually caught in 1961 and executed in akman the S the su's way of challenging Us and how interesting it is if you take the words of the the and you write out the letters l of course if you take the first letters you have the 131 but interesting it is if you take the remaining letters it's numerically 2 54 again if you take the the me of the me of me of the the lamid pay of the Al and the me of the lamid it's 254 254 is an interesting number why because it's the same numerical value of these letters he which is Hitler so R glazerson Points out in his safe the outer letters of the the is the one who externally brought about the final solution the inner letters those letters the inner letters what do you see you see the numerical value of Hitler I think the message is very significant in the test of the Holocaust what do we discover we discover the Sam we discover aem's Angel there who's trying to test us and interesting it is if you add those numbers together the 254 of the inner letters and 131 of the outer letters it comes to 385 is the same numerical value as the hashem's loving presence I would suggest the test of the Holocaust the test of the showah was a continuation of the Roman Exile a continuation of hashem's need and desire that the Jew should discover and rid himself of this Roman Affliction which is my heart is not pure to rid ourselves of being something on the outside and being false on the inside I think to understand this I'd like to share with everybody a piece from one of the great rabbis Rabbi desler and Ru says in his M he asks a question his question is about his own Yeshiva in kelm in 1941 the Germans came into kelm and they took the entire Yeshiva and they brought them out to a field they had the Yeshiva builds dig their own Graves and then machine guns were lined up in order to execute the entire Yesa the Riva of was somebody named Danel movitz movitz was a great a great sadic he went to the German in charge and he turned to the German and he said we need a few minutes the Germans said you could take a few minutes he went back to his Yeshiva and he said to his boys you have to understand right now we're dying for kesem we're going to sanctify God's name I'd like everybody to clear their mind from any distracting thought if it going to be a true kurban there can't be any blemish he then walked back to the German office officer in charge and he said we're ready now you can proceed and the Germans executed killed in Cold Blood the entire Yesa a magnificent display of self-control a magnificent display of what a human being is capable of achieving at the most critical point in his life something would I think about I take tremendous pride in in being a member of a Nation that's capable of having such people R desler raises a question when he talks about his is he talks about and his question is as follows he says I don't understand in Jewish history we've never seen a case like this in Jewish history there's always been a choice for example if we go back to the Crusades it's a choice the choice was accept Christianity or be killed and so many Jews refused of course and died if we go back to the Spanish Inquisition 1492 many Jews were given that choice as well the choice are you going to accept conversion or death and Jews accepted death kesem has always been in Jewish history a function of a choice sanctifying God's name given a choice what am I going to do and rabesa raises the question he says I don't understand it when it comes to the Holocaust when it comes to the showah in most cases there was no choice they brought our brothers and sisters out to fields and shot them or they took us to concentration camps and brought us almost many millions straight to the gas Chambers where was the choice if there's no choice How can there be kides hasem what is one doing when one has the opportunity to sanctify God's name so certainly we can say that kesem is a function of dying because we're a Jew we represent the almighty and when the rim of the world wage war on us on our bodies and our Terra they're Waging War against theem so certainly just dying because one is a Jew there's no question that that's kesem and there's no question that every Israeli soldier who died in the defense of Kel is dying as kesem we should see the end of that but perhaps there's something more rev Del suggests that perhaps in the way a Jew dies there can be kesem because what happens at the time of death what happens at the time of death is a person has to make a decision the decision is what do I believe do I understand that the almighty is good do I understand that there's a here that I don't understand do I understand that there's an that I can look forward to and I can expect there's a test that a person is put to in that situation where one has to to find themselves at their core who am I and what am I what is in my heart am I real with myself do I really believe or have I been putting out an act have I been putting on a show that's the question a person has to face and it's that question R desler says which is M which clarifies the heart and perfects the heart and I would suggest that in the Exile that we're in right now the Exile of Rome the Exile of the pig the kazir an exile where there's falseness on the outside and we've created that falseness on the inside as well we can't love each other we don't we we see we have seen asan we don't appreciate another where the problem is the heart perhaps the gave us a showah gave us a situation a test like no other test in human history where for millions of Jews the test was only what's in your heart what are you going to feel and think and believe at this moment and by doing so I would suggest that the shaah was a means by which hasem uplifted his nation which he brought us to the clarity of who and what we really really are you know the test of the heart is a test that we're constantly working on dramatically sometimes we feel it in a showah where there's no place to run there's no choice and that's what R desler says so powerfully this is like no test in history we're not given a choice no one's saying bow down or don't bow down no one's saying believe or don't believe the only test is what do you believe when the only question now is how are you going to die that's a very drastic test and I would suggest that so many millions passed it but we have that test now also the test is how do we work on our hearts to perfect them and to purify our hearts and what do I mean by that the heart is so deep our meos are so inside of ourselves yet I do believe there's a way I think it's incumbent upon us to number one just make a little bit of effort to look at another Jew and understand we know so little about that person if we knew that person's tests nisso problems we would certainly judge and think much favorably and perhaps we could use a device that marash Shiva pit used to say he used to say in the mid of the midst of not taking Revenge loor don't take revenge so difficult sometimes when someone harms us we just so badly want to want to to to get back so he used to say imagine the following imagine in your heart you want to take revenge or you want to hold a grudge and all of a sudden you get a phone call and you're told guess what you're now now $1 billion do richer than the moment before you won the lottery he said that person that you were so angry with with that person would be the person you're not dancing with because why the small thing in your life doesn't compare with the greatness of that which you just experienced and he used to say if we could focus on the fact that the creator of all reality Theon if we could focus on the truth that hasem loves us so much and his love for each and every one of us every human being and how much more so every member of Kel if we could imagine how much he loves us a billion dollars pales in comparison to the wealth that we all possess so why sweat the small stuff why look at things which really are meaningless when the goodness so outweighs my friends this should be the last it should be a time we're told by kazal that the fourth Gus of Edom is the last Gus this is it this the end but only we have one one thing left to do we have to get inside of our own Hearts our own selves and find a little bit more way to perfect it and in of today's Tish the of all the work that so many here do and the care that so many people have for k it should the end the the last