Today’s class has been sponsored for the Refuah Shelemah of Chaya Shefiah Shoshana bat Sarah, and for yeshuot for all Am Yisrael.
Today, the 15th of Av, is an extremely significant day in our religion, as many people know, and we will add some new insights.
The first thing to know is that the Chatam Sofer says that when we announce the month of Av, many communities say Hodesh Menachem Av- the Month of the Comfort of Av. That seems a little strange, at first, because the first half of Av is definitely not comforting.
But the Chatam Sofer explains that, in essence, there are really two 15-day months in Av. The first half is called Av, and the second half is called Menachem. We just want to put the positive part first, so we call it Menachem Av.
Starting tonight, we begin the new month of Av which is Menachem. The word Menachem comes from Nechama, which is defined as comfort, but Rashi tells us it means having a new outlook (you are comforted when you have a new outlook). So, we have to look at things differently, and that’s what happens on Menachem Av. The importance of this day, as far as changing our way of looking, goes as far as the rabbis telling us that that reason, we have Shabbat Nachamu is not only because it follows Tisha B’Av, but because of the 15th of Av. It is ushering the 15th of Av. That is really when things turn around. Av is not a good time to have a court case, because it’s not a time of good luck. But they say that on the 15th of Av, everything turns around.
We have been discussing the concept of being able to have mixed emotions, and that concept is strongly connected to the 15th of Av, as we will see.
There’s a famous Gemarah (at the end of Masechet Makkot), with two stories about Rabbi Akiva walking with his friends.
In the first story, they are out walking and hear the sound of Rome partying. Rome represented all of the forces of Western civilization denying G-d’s existence, so they all started to cry, except Rabbi Akiva, who was laughing. They asked him why he was laughing. He explained that he was laughing because the Romans, who had destroyed the Bet HaMikdash were partying, and if that’s what happens to the sinners, then imagine what will happen to us, those that listen to G-d’s will!
In the second story, they were walking together and passed by the Temple Mount, where they saw foxes running on the Temple Mount. Rabbi Akiva’s comrades began to cry, but again, he laughed. They asked him why he was laughing. He asked why they were crying. They said, “We shouldn’t cry that in a place where it’s written that if a stranger goes there, they’ll die and now there are foxes running there?”
And Rabbi Akiva told them that was why he was laughing. Because there were two prophecies: one was a prophecy of doom, and one was a prophecy of joy.
And if the prophecy of doom had come true, then the prophecy of joy would come true too.
That is the famous Gemarah. But this year I saw a new and interesting way of reading this.
When they cried, Rabbi Avika said, “That’s why I’m laughing,” seemingly because the Romans were celebrating, and because the foxes were there. But this rabbi had an interesting insight. He said that when they cried, he laughed. He laughed because they cried, as if to say, “If you are still able to cry and mourn over Bet HaMikdash, it makes me laugh. I’m laughing because the Churban still bothers you.” It says that you only continue to cry without let up, if something is not dead. There is a decree on the dead that they should be forgotten. That is why it says that Yaakov Avinu was not able to be comforted after Yosef’s death. Because Yosef was not dead. Similarly, we find that if someone is, lo Alenu, taken captive as a hostage, the family can’t be comforted, because it’s not over. They are always hoping. David HaMelech prayed for his dying son, but once the child passed away, David Hamelech picked himself. It was over. There was nothing to cry about anymore. So, the fact that we are still crying means it is not over. We are still hoping. We still want the Bet HaMikdash to come back. We have not given up hope- and that is the Nechama. That is the feeling we are supposed to have during the second half of the month.
Furthermore, in the 40th year in the desert, when the moon was full (which occurs on the 15th of the month) it became clear to the Jewish people that the decree was over. Every year, thousands of men, aged 20-60, would die on Tisha B’Av, but the last year, when no one died, they initially did not realize that the decree was over. It had started from 40 years before with the sin of the Golden Calf, but G-d actually did them a favor and decreed that only if they had two strikes against them, the sin of the Golden Calf (one year) and the sin of the Spies ( the next year) would they be punished by death. But they did not know that. It was G-d’s mercy that worked it out that way. So, after the 9th of Av, when they saw that no one had died, they thought they made a mistake with the dates, as they determined the dates by the moon. So, they went through the same process on the 10th, 11th, 12th, and all the way out to the 15th. Once they saw the full moon, however, they realized that they definitely passed the day and obviously G-d had mercy on them and rescinded the decree that last year.
It says that it was their prayers that caused the decree to be rescinded. When they felt that love of Hashem, who gave them time served, so to speak, and had taken a year off of the decree, the closeness they felt again was the Nechama.
It’s a special Nechama, a new way of looking at things, to celebrate the fact that we are able to cry, to celebrate the fact that people still have feelings for the Bet HaMikdash. As long as we are crying and feeling, it means we are hoping for, and looking forward to the Yeshua.
There’s an unverified, but well-known story told about Napoleon, on one of his conquests, he passed through a Jewish town on Tisha B’Av and saw all the people sitting on the floor, crying. Trying to be helpful, he asked what had happened. They told him their building had been destroyed. He offered to help them rebuild it. They explained that it was their temple, and it had been destroyed 1400-1500 years earlier. He was incredulous. They were still crying over a thousand years later. He told them, “You Jewish people are truly an eternal nation if you can still cry and hope, and not give up on a return to your greatness, you are truly eternal nation.” That is the Nechama of Tu B’Av.
“Akiva Nichamtanu” the rabbis told Akiva. “Akiva, you gave us a new way to look at things. What was Rabbi Akiva’s source for this?
As we spoke about on Lag B’Omer, Rabbi Akiva’s teacher was Nachum Ish Gamzu .
Nachum- same root word-comfort. Gam Zu L’Tova - this is also for the good.
There is a different way to look at things. And the goal of all our classes is to learn that there is a need to reframe- to put on different lenses and look at things differently. That is the Nechama.
Be’Ezrat Hashem, everything will turn around on the 15th of Av.