וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: כׇּל וְאֵינוֹ מִתְאַבֵּל עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם — אֵינוֹ רוֹאֶה בְּשִׂמְחָתָהּ
the Sages say: Whoever does not mourn for Jerusalem will not see her future joy – BT Ta’anit 30b
Shalom beloved learning companions,
Today is Asarah b’Tevet, the 10th day of the month of Tevet. This day is observed as a “minor” fast day (meaning only sunrise to sunset, not 24 hours like Yom Kippur or Tisha B’Av) because it marks the day in our ancient history when the destruction of Jerusalem began – that is, the day when the Babylonian Empire’s army first attacked. Thus HaShem instructs the prophet:
בֶּן־אָדָ֗ם (כתוב) [כְּתׇב־]לְךָ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם הַיּ֔וֹם אֶת־עֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה סָמַ֤ךְ מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֙ אֶל־יְר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה
O mortal, record this date, this exact day; for this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 24.2)
Because of the association of this date with mass destruction, and the chaos of so much death that individual souls were lost to memory, this date, Asarah – the tenth [day] – b’Tevet -of the month of Tevet – was in modern times declared to be the official day of remembering all those who died without the dignity and attention we seek for every human being. It is the day of Kaddish Klali, the “general Kaddish”, a time to recite the mourners’ Kaddish for all for whom there is no one left to recite, and for those whose names are lost as well.
This minor fast day has a major significance for us in our own day, sadly; the reality of the human tragedy happening among our people and our cousins, Israelis and Palestinians, includes the fact that the deaths are too great to count and to number as individual human beings. This is a dismembering – the opposite of remembering – that tears at the heart of communities such as ours, Jewish and Arab (whether Muslim or Christian).
Last night our houseless community (those suffering and service providers alike) came together for the annual Longest Night vigil to mark the losses suffered this year: we read aloud the names of one hundred and forty of the more than three hundred souls who died in suffering and abandonment on our cold and inhospitable streets in the past year.
While there is not much, if anything, that we can do to act against this flood tide of destruction and pain, there is – there always is – a spiritual response available to us, because our Jewish ethical tradition teaches us that it always comes down to not what happens, but how we respond. We can choose to act to mark and hold even the souls we cannot count in our hearts on this Asarah b’Tevet – if you would find it meaningful to join in the Kaddish Klali as the Jewish community is observing it this year, follow the instructions in the details below this letter.*
In this week’s parashat hashavua we can learn a lot about the challenge of facing hurt and fear, and acting to hold on to what will otherwise unravel in our community. In parashat VaYigash we read that Jacob has just been told that his favorite son Joseph, for whom he has mourned for many years, is not dead. What does it even mean to have one’s sense of truth unmoored in this way? So many years of carrying the weight of grief!
For all the problematic ethics of Jacob’s life, in this moment he teaches well (perhaps the text is signaling this by referring to him by his more exalted name of Israel):
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רַ֛ב עוֹד־יוֹסֵ֥ף בְּנִ֖י חָ֑י אֵֽלְכָ֥ה וְאֶרְאֶ֖נּוּ בְּטֶ֥רֶם אָמֽוּת׃
“Enough!” said Israel. “My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die.” (Gen. 45.28)
In other words, move toward life as best you can, despite being surrounded and beaten down by so much death. Focus on life and human connection. Keep that tiny flame of meaning alive in your heart, and join it with others similarly determined.
There is ample evidence that our ancestors observed this fast with great intent – yet not, as we might assume, as a gesture of sadness for all that was lost. Rather, in Jewish tradition, fasting is an act of demonstrating one’s sincerity in repentance in the light of all that is lost, despite the grief.
Let the true meaning of this fast day be for us a day of reflection upon how we may have let death and despair overcome us, and repent of it, and recommit to making room for life and joy where the small flame still burns. Keep lighting those candles in your heart – and everywhere else.
שנשמע בסורות טובות
نرجو أن تأتي إلينا أخبار سارة
May we hear good tidings,
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Ariel
אַחֵינוּכָּלבֵּיתיִשְׂרָאֵלהַנְּתוּנִיםבַּצָּרָהוּבַשִּׁבְיָההָעוֹמְדִיםבֵּיןבַּיָּםוּבֵיןבַּיַּבָּשָׁההַמָּקוֹםיְרַחֵםעֲלֵיהֶםוְיוֹצִיאֵםמִצָּרָהלִרְוָחָהוּמֵאֲפֵלָהלְאוֹרָהוּמִשִּׁעְבּוּדלִגְאֻלָּה הָשָׁתָאבַּעֲגָלָאוּבִזְמַןקָרִיב
וְאִמְרוּאָמֵן
Our siblings of the house of Israel who are given over to suffering and captivity
Whether at sea or on land HaMakom be compassion upon them and bring them out from darkness to light from bondage to redemption now, quickly and soon in our day and let us say
Amen
_____________________________________
*This little-known post-Holocaust observance was initiated by the first Israeli Chief Rabbinate in 1949 on behalf all those whose remains could not be recovered, and/or who had no survivors to mourn them personally.
This year, the Day of General Kaddish offers an opportunity to honor and mourn the thousands of innocent civilians whose bodies remain unidentified / unrecovered through the attacks of October 7th and the subsequent weeks of war. Whether the dead are Jewish or not, accompanying them — the named and the unnamed, Israelis and Palestinians and Asian migrant workers and African agricultural students and asylum seekers and beyond — is an ethical imperative that reflects millennia of Jewish teachings.*
To sign up for a single hour of vigil / sh’mirah on the Day of General Kaddish (between 5pm this Thursday and 4pm this Friday), please write to ShareTheVigil@gmail.com (copied above) ASAP for the list of still-available hours. **
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 