06 Jul Parshas Pinchas

BEIN HAMETZARIM

We have reached the Three Weeks, the days that we mourn the churban. As we mourn the churban, we shouldn’t forget to simultaneously aspire for Moshiach.

The Gemara says, “When a person is brought [in heaven] to judgment he is asked, ‘Did you deal honestly in business? Did you have set times for Torah study? Did you have children? Did you await the salvation? Were you mifalpel (study deeply) the Torah?…” (Shabbos 31). One of the primary questions asked is whether we waited for His salvation. Similarly, the Rambam teaches that one must wait for the ge’ulah. He writes, “The king Moshiach will come and reestablish Dovid HaMelech’s kingdom, build the Beis HaMikdash, and gather the dispersed of Israel. All mishpatim (judicial laws) will return as they were beforehand. There will be korbanos; we will observe shmita and yovel… Anyone who doesn’t believe in Moshiach or who isn’t awaiting his coming, not only doesn’t he believe in the Nevi’im, he also doesn’t believe in the Torah and in Moshe Rabbeinu” (Hilchos Melachim 11:1). Therefore, during the Three Weeks (and throughout the year) we should have a mixture of mourning and yearning; mourning the destruction, and yearning for the better future.

Someone once asked the Apter Rav zy”a advice regarding his business. The Rebbe gave him wise counsel. Then the rebbe emitted a deep moan, and with a broken heart said, “A great tragedy happened today.” “What happened?” the man asked, concerned.

“We didn’t bring the korban tamid sacrifice today…” and then the Apter Rav cried copiously for Yerusahlayim and for the Beis HaMikdash. Someone came to the Kotzker Rebbe zy”a, complaining that his son-in-law had become a Kotzker chossid. He told the rebbe that his daughter was very upset about this (not to mention that so was he, the father-in-law). He cried, “Whoever has a heart can understand me. How could it not burst from pain because of my daughter’s sorrow?” The rebbe replied, “If one indeed has a heart, how could it not burst from pain because of the churban Beis HaMikdash.”

During the Three Weeks, a tzaddik visited the Sfas Emes of Gur zy”a. “What brings you here?” the Sfas Emes asked, since he knew that this tzaddik lived far away. “My family’s tradition is to travel during the Three Weeks,” the tzaddik explained. “Hashem is, kivayachol, in galus, so we go into galus too.” “The main thing is to remember that we aren’t home,” the Sfas Emes replied.

The Sfas Emes rarely traveled, but he continually reminded himself that he isn’t home. We aren’t where we ought to be.

Reb Yaakov Emdin zt’l (Siddur Beis Yaakov, Tisha b’Av 6:16) teaches that all tzaros that happen in exile occur because we don’t mourn the Churban. He writes, “If our only sin would be that we aren’t mourning for Yerushalayim, it would be sufficient to prolong our galus. In my opinion, this is the primary cause for all the terrible destructions – beyond perception – that befalls us in galus. We are pursued, we don’t have peace… It is all because the mourning has left our hearts.” 3 The Magan Avraham (551:45) writes, “The Arizal taught that one should mourn during these days [of Bein HaMetzarim] after midday, and cry for around a half-hour.”

In the Chasam Sofer’s yeshiva, in the afternoons during the Three Weeks, they would publicly read the Tikun Chatzos and mourn the churban. Generally, the tzaddik, Reb Fishel Sofer zy’a was the chazzan. He cried bitterly, and the community would cry along with him.

Once, when Reb Fishel wasn’t in yeshiva, a young bachur, with a sweet voice, was chosen to lead Tikun Chatzos. This bachur didn’t say it in a crying voice, like Reb Fishel. He sang it joyously. It appeared more like a yom tov tefillah than lamentations. When he finished, the Chasam Sofer said, “We have to check out this bachur whether he belongs to Shabtai Tzvi’s sr’y group. Because how can one discuss the churban of the Beis HaMikdash with so much ease and comfort?”