As we know, tomorrow is the fast of Asara B’Tevet/ the Tenth of Tevet, which commemorates the fact that the Jewish city of Yerushalayim was laid to siege, which was the beginnings of the road toward the Churban/Destruction.
It’s brought down in the Navi Yehezkiel to fast on this day.
This day requires contemplation and Teshuva. The Rambam writes that the main point of this fast day is not just to fast, but to do Teshuva. The types of Teshuva that need to be done regarding the Bet HaMikdash are actually Bitachon and Ahavat Yisrael/Love for your fellow Jew, which is why today’s lesson is a merging of those two daily topics.
The Gaon of Vilna, and other commentaries, state that a lack of Ahavat Yisrael stems from a lack of Bitachon.
If a person really believed that his fellow man could do nothing to hurt or harm him, and understood that it was totally insignificant and inconsequential, there would be no room for hate or jealousy, or any negative character traits.
All of those negative traits come from a lack of Emunah and Bitachon, from believing that we are in control, that someone else has the ability to take something away from us, and that if we try harder or push more, we will get more. This fundamental lacking is what caused the destruction of the Bet HaMikdash.
The Kli Yakar says beautifully,
How can it be, that on one hand we have a fundamental of Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha/ Love your friends like you love yourself whereas on the other hand, there is another fundamental, which is Sadik B’Emunato Ehyeh/ A Sadik lives with his Emunah
(Habakkuk came and out the whole Torah on that one pillar)?
Which is the fundamental pillar of the Torah? Is it Loving your fellow Jew or having Emunah?
He answers that very often, when we analyze the pasuk Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha, we don’t consider the end of the pasuk, which is, Ani Hashem.
The pasuk ends with Ani Hashem to teach us that the only way that you can have full love for your fellow man is if you have Emunah in Hashem. Therefore, he explains that both of these pillars are in that pasuk. Love your friend like you love yourself, and that will come from “Ani Hashem-“from your belief in God.
That is the connecting factor between these two powerful concepts. They are both the pillars of our Torah. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Bet HaLevi wrote essays on both of these topics, and put them together in his manuscripts on Bitachon and Ahavat Yisrael. They are linked and connected. You can’t have Ahavat Yisrael without Emunah and Bitachon in Hashem.
The opposite is true as well. If you don’t have Ahavat Yisrael, you can’t have Emunah and Bitachon, because the trait of Emunah and Bitachon, the connection to Hashem, comes through the vessel of the Jewish people. It’s a constant back and forth.
The more Ahavat Yisrael one has, the more Emunah and Bitachon and vise versa.
So B’ezrat Hashem, as tomorrow is Asara B’Tevet, we will take this day to contemplate and ask of ourselves where our level of Ahavat Yisrael is holding, and where our level of Bitachon is holding. Each can be revealing of the other. If your Bitachon is not strong, you may have issues with Ahavat Yisrael, and the opposite.
It is no coincidence that we always read the Parasha of Yosef and the brothers at this time of year. Parashat Vayigash is always before Asara B’Tevet, and Vayechi always follows Asara B’Tevet.
The Haftarah of the Parasha tells the story of Yehezkiel the Navi, who was, as we mentioned, the prophet that announced the fast day of Asara B’Tevet. This fast was devised during the time of the first Bet HaMikdash. Hashem said, “ Son of man, write down for yourself, this very day, “that very day was the 10th of Tevet .
Yehezkiel was told to take one piece of wood and write “Yehuda,” on it, and take another piece of wood and write, “Yosef,” on it. Then he was told to hold those pieces of wood together and miraculously they would join. Those two pieces of wood symbolize the Jewish people. Right now, they are two groups, the group of Yehuda and the group of Yisrael. We are waiting for the day when the two groups will totally unite which will happen when Mashiach comes. That is what we are waiting for:
Atah Echad VShemcha Echad
God is One, and His name is One
And we are waiting for another factor:
Mi K’Amecha Yisrael, Goy Echad b’Aretz
Who is like the Jewish people, one nation in the world.
When we are one nation in the world, then God is the One God in the world.
That is why, as we said, these two concepts of Emunah and Bitachon and Ahavat Yisrael are intertwined. We need to work on both of them in order to bring the building of the Bet HaMikdash, speedily in our days,
Amen.