Each week we discuss one familiar halakhic practice and try to show its beauty and meaning. The columns are based on the commentary "Meaning in Mitzvot" on the Kitzur Shulchan Arukh, which is serialized on Yeshivat Har Etzion's "Virtual Beit Midrash", www.vbm-torah.org. Subscribers are currently learning about Shabbat. On Thursday (July 20th) we will observe the fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz, ushering in the three week period of sorrow known as "Bein hametzarim", which extends until the fast of Tisha beAv. Sorrows were multiplied for the Jewish people on each of these days, but each fast primarily marks one national tragedy in the time of the desert and one in the time of the Temple: The seventeenth of Tammuz commemorates the sin of the golden calf in the desert and the breaching of the wall of Yerushalaim in both the first and second Temples. The ninth of Av corresponds to the sin of the spies in the desert and the actual destruction of both Temples. What thematic connection exists between the desert tragedy and the corresponding Temple misfortune in each case? The mission of the Jewish people is to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Shemot 19:6). We are to be priests, but to still be involved in life, still be a kingdom. We are to be holy, but still be people, not angels. We are to relate to the world, but through holiness. Of course this mission can be ideally fulfilled only as a nation living according to the Torah in Eretz Yisrael. The sin of the golden calf breached the wall of this mission. Those who made the calf were still interested in continuing with their task; indeed, the wanted the calf to "go before them" (Shemot 32:1), to lead the way. However, they distorted their mission terribly, and only through the punishment of the offenders and Moshe's prayer to HaShem was it possible for the rest of the generation of the desert to continue on their way to creating a "kingdom of priests" in the Land of IsraelLand of Israel. From that time on, the morale of the Jews in the desert was compromised. Even though they were able to overcome the sin of the golden calf and reestablish their closeness to HaShem, the "breaching of the wall" made them vulnerable to various demoralizing experiences which threatened their resolve. (Perhaps the turning point was the death of Nadav and Avihu, when the entire house of Israel wept over the burning - Vayikra 10:6. See Zohar Shemini, III:37b.) Eventually, the sin of the spies destroyed this mission entirely. The people seemingly lost all interest in going on with their mission. They sought a leader not to "go before them" but rather to return to the bondage of Egypt! (Bamidbar 14:3.) The entire generation of Jews who were supposed to fulfill this mission died in the desert instead, and only the following generation would carry it out. A further connection: Our Sages say that the first Temple was destroyed because of the three severe transgressions which existed in that generation: idolatry, licentiousness, and bloodshed. This corresponds to those who sinned with the golden calf, who according to tradition committed these same three sins (Rashi Shemot 32:6). But in the second Temple, the Jews basically kept the commandments; rather, the Temple was destroyed because of gratuitous hatred - an attitude as opposed to an act. (Yoma 9b.) This corresponds to the sin of the spies. In that episode the people seemingly committed no sin at all, but their despair was worse than a sin because it undermined our entire national mission.
Rabbi Asher Meir is in the process of writing a monumental companion to Kitzur Shulchan Aruch which beautifully presents the meanings in our mitzvot and halacha. Rabbi Meir - who had given a series on Business Halacha at the Center, and has taught a series on the Meaning in Mitzvot. We hope to have him back at the Center some time in the future.
CLARIFICATION (from last week's column): While it is no doubt true that there are hundreds of forbidden species of fish, the point I wanted to make last week is that there are hundreds of permissible species, unlike the case with animals where relatively few species are kosher. Thus we perceive a greater berur - selection of holiness - in eating kosher meat than in eating kosher fish.
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