Friday, July 31, 2009

Tisha B'Av conflict & the Beit Hamikdash

I fasted yesterday, as most Orthodox Jews do, to commemorate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Honestly, I find it tough to fast when I don't really care about the fact that we no longer have the Temple. I do not have a yearning for public sacrifices and private ones meant for forgiveness/repentance. Nor do I yearn for the days when a Sanhedrin (Jewish court) rules the country.

I was thinking about something that related to this. There is a concept in Judaism called "Ein somchin al haneis - Don't depend on miracles". Basically, it is used to tell us to take that first step & make the effort and then God will help out to go to the next level. In general, it is a nice concept and I think it is also apropos for parenting.

So why don't more right wing OJ/chareidim apply this to the State of Israel? While they obviously want a "Torah true" government run according to halacha (which we clearly do not have now), isn't what we have better than having no country at all? Let them view this as the beginning of something that can bring us to the point were God can take over? If we as Jews are supposedly mourning for the destruction of the Temple and the loss of Jewish sovereignty I would think they would recognize this step.

10 comments:

G*3 said...

Ask better: Why don't we take active steps towards rebuilding the Bais Hamikdash? The biggest problem is that the Al Aksa Mosque is in the way, bu that aside, with modern building techniques we should be able to have a new Temple up and running in under a year.

The reason we don't even try to rebuild the Bais Hamikdash, and why so many right-wing Orthodox don't accept the State of Israel, is becasue the coming of Moshiach is completely divorced from anything practcial. Moshiach is supposed to arrive to the sound of a shofar heard around the world, and the Bayis Shlishi will desend on the Har Habayis on a bed of flames while the nations of the world publicly acknowladge the superiority of the Jews.

Anything short of this dramatic scene is simply unacceptable.

Anonymous said...

Why did you fast? Why didn't you secretly eat and drink? I thought you were "privately" irreligious.

Rich said...

G*3 - good point, we can't do anything to ruin the show.

Anon - I was around the family all day so i really couldn't I slept real late and then just did some stuff around the house to kill the rest of the day. I did take a little drink of water when I went to the bathroom, but that hardly does anything in this heat.

Shalmo said...

If we look back to history. The rabbis willingly signed the temple area for the Caliph Umer to biuld the Al-Aqsa mosque. From memory, it was the christians who turned that area into a trash dump to eliminate any semblance of Jewish identity from the religion. After which when Umer gained control of the region, he cleared away the mess and biult the mosque in its place.

Is it fair for muslims today to lose their holy spot when Jewish authorities, God knows how long ago, signed away that area to them?

Anonymous said...

Most have no idea of the reality of the Beit Hamikdash and its spiritual purpose or for that matter the purpose of the mitzvot. Corporeal buildings or performance in this era is not the point.
-From Rav Michael Laitman Blog: According to Rabash,Baruch shalom HaLevi Ashlag,(orthodox Jew) the chosen people are those who can shift from the externality to the internality, and one’s heart will change with the help of one’s actions.(Student's response) At the same time, you always remind us that the external commandments are no more than external signs, which have no connection with the soul’s correction.
Laitman: When Rabash speaks of “external observance,” he does not mean the physical observance, but the intention “for one’s own sake.” And “inner observance” signifies the intention “for the Creator’s sake.”
As for the physical actions, the Creator said: “I don’t care how you slaughter cattle; the commandments were given for man’s correction.” In other words, the entire connection between actions and commandments lies in one’s intentions, and not in the actions themselves. If a person knew that his actions have no results, he would be extremely grateful to Kabbalah for giving him the correct guidance in life!
The entire opposition between religion and Kabbalah comes down to their assessment of the importance of actions and intentions: What is more important, the actions or the intentions? Indeed, Kabbalah does not deny the importance of the actions (traditions) in forming and managing social boundaries. But religion also has to accept what is written, that actions without intentions are dead and don’t correct a person. The intentions can only be changed through the correct study of Kabbalah.
One has to start by admitting that he is not perfect – therein lies the stumbling block! It’s because religion’s primary goal is to grant man a sense of pride and perfection for observing the prescriptions. He thinks that by doing this, he serves the Creator and the whole world, and everyone is indebted to him.
Kabbalah, on the other hand, shows a person just how phony and imperfect he really is. He sees this in the Creator’s Light, which descends upon him during the study. A person then feels unhappy with the results of his study, but if he is able to rise above this sensation and elevate the truth above the anguish, he progresses. And if he is unable to do this, he veers off the path.

PS ---sounds like you're progressing...We won't go backwards,Judaism will "grow up" along with everyone else--it has to. I observe external commandments but I draw the line at worshipping my or anyone else's actions.--Anon

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Martin W. Barnes said...

The Jewish sense of humour is coming to the fore!

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