Heading into the Three Weeks in 5784
וּמִפְּנֵי חֲטָאֵינוּ גָּלִינוּ מֵאַרְצֵנוּ – because of our sins we were exiled from our homeland. (Rambam, order of prayer, 3.6)
מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ – How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel! (from this week’s parashah)
Rashi: How goodly are they even when they are in ruins, because then they are a pledge (משכון) for you, and the fact that they are in ruins is an atonement for your souls
This parashah is the source of a verse well known to every Jew who davens (prays), since it is quoted as the opening line of the song that begins our Tefilah (prayers): “How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel!” (Numbers 24.5). It’s a jarring juxtaposition to note that in a matter of days, next Tuesday, July 23, is 17 Tammuz, we will observe a twelve hour fast called Tzom Tammuz, commemorating the destruction of the first Jerusalem Temple.
On this Shabbat, as every Shabbat, we literally begin our prayers by praising our kehillot, our congregations and other sacred gatherings. But next Tuesday, we have to remember, and face, the trauma of the destruction of all those places we cherish – places of home, of safety, of belonging.
For a century and more, the establishment of the modern State of Israel has been seen by many Jews as the longed-for resurrection of those tents mentioned in our parashat hashavua. Yet in our regular religious practice, we are reminded through the prophetic texts that our existence on that land is contingent upon the ethics we practice there:
כִּ֤י אִם־הֵיטֵיב֙ תֵּיטִ֔יבוּ אֶת־דַּרְכֵיכֶ֖ם וְאֶת־מַעַלְלֵיכֶ֑ם אִם־עָשׂ֤וֹ תַֽעֲשׂוּ֙ מִשְׁפָּ֔ט בֵּ֥ין אִ֖ישׁ וּבֵ֥ין רֵעֵֽהוּ׃
Now, if you really mend your ways and your actions; if you execute justice between one party and another;
גֵּ֣ר יָת֤וֹם וְאַלְמָנָה֙ לֹ֣א תַעֲשֹׁ֔קוּ וְדָ֣ם נָקִ֔י אַֽל־תִּשְׁפְּכ֖וּ בַּמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְאַחֲרֵ֨י אֱלֹהִ֧ים אֲחֵרִ֛ים לֹ֥א תֵלְכ֖וּ לְרַ֥ע לָכֶֽם׃
if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place; if you do not follow other gods, to your own hurt—
וְשִׁכַּנְתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ בַּמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה בָּאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לַאֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם לְמִן־עוֹלָ֖ם וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
then only will I let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors for all time. (Jeremiah 7.5-7)
The heart of the present trauma that is tearing apart Jewish communities all over the U.S. emerges from precisely this ancient awareness: we do not deserve the land if we do not sanctify it with our ethical behavior. If we raise up Jerusalem above all other ethics, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Micah warn, we will lose it all – our self respect and our home.
We are about to enter the Three Weeks, a period of time that for millennia has been observed by Jews as a time of destruction apprehended and of mourning anticipated. For the next three weeks the Haftarah we chant during Shabbat morning prayers will be the ancient Jewish equivalent of doomscrolling. This period will conclude with Tisha B’Av, when we will sit on the floor to show our sorrow, and hear the haunting ancient words of Eykha, the lamentation for the destruction of Jerusalem.
These are the days of self-judgement for us Jews as a community, on all levels: as a People who stand before HaShem always, and as a kehillah that stands before each other. Another prophet, Zekharyah, asks the key question about how we will make this special time of use:
אֱמֹר֙ אֶל־כׇּל־עַ֣ם הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר כִּֽי־צַמְתֶּ֨ם וְסָפ֜וֹד בַּחֲמִישִׁ֣י וּבַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י וְזֶה֙ שִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה הֲצ֥וֹם צַמְתֻּ֖נִי אָֽנִי׃
Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months all these seventy years, did you fast for My benefit? – Zekharyah 7.5
The prophet means that only when we examine ourselves and our community from a position of self-transcendence, considering that we are to be a holy people and do our level best to follow the blameless path of Abraham and Sarah, will we fulfill the mitzvah of fasting and prayer in response to the bad times. If all we do is look to judge others, our actions are useless.
I invite you to observe the Three Weeks with me this year by joining with me in study. This should always be the Jew’s first response: I need to learn the Torah that pertains to this. Or, as Rabbi Akiba once put it, “This too is Torah and I need to learn it.” (BT Berakhot 62a) Only when we truly know what our words mean to us as Jews can we call ourselves Zionist, post-Zionist, anti-Zionist, or (the newest term) Counter-Zionist. And more: if we cannot explore this question together, what are we as a community? Let the ancient words remind us of this whenever we hear them: we have to keep our tents fair, our dwelling places good.
the Torah of Anti-Zionism, Counter-Zionism & Post-Zionism
Thursdays by Zoom at 7pm: July 25, August 1 and August 8
The Reform movement of Judaism was originally anti-Zionist. The Neturei Karta, an ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism, has always been. What Torah and Talmud teachings inform such a stance? A lot of people are using the terms anti-Zionist, counter-Zionist, and post-Zionist these days. What do they mean?
Join Rabbi Ariel to learn the Torah and Talmud texts that inform opposition to Zionism as a political ideology. We’ll explore the definitions of Zionism in light of prophetic ethical teachings, and ponder the Jewish spiritual path of those opposed to the Jewish state.
Open to all Jews and the Jew-adjacent who seek to learn. As always, this is a compassionate space. No expressions of hatred or violence (other than in the texts themselves) will be tolerated.
Register here to get the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7937914126?pwd=OEpCU0RjL0w2OXBtUnRzODZwVStLZz09
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 