To Sum It All Up
This is being written in the waning hours of Tish'a b'Av, while certain feelings are still strong and have not yet been dulled by bagels & lox and fresh orange juice.

Yesterday (i.e. Shabbat Chazon, Erev 9Av) a guy came over to me in shul and asked me how come there was no Pirkei Avot but we are allowed to eat meat? "Do you mean that learning is more enjoyable than meat & wine?"

The answer has many layers. First, it is true that Torah learning is restricted on Erev Tish'a b'Av after halachic noon - even on Shabbat (there are differing opinions on this), but not meat and wine. Secondly, there are technical reasons why Torah learning is restricted on Shabbat and eating is not. But most importantly (for this tidbit) is the simple answer to the original question. YES, Torah learning is (should be) more enjoyable than a good steak or a fine glass of Zinfandel. But even this is not the point. The point is TORAH. Not surprisingly, it says it all.

The Sin of the Spies and the people's reaction to it – it boils down to not listening to G-d's Word, nor to the people who attempt to transmit that word to us. G-d said that we were to go into the Land and not be afraid. That is what Moshe, our greatest teacher taught. That is what Yehoshua and Kalev echoed. That is what the people rejected.

Whatever the Gemara lists among the causes of the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash, all the terrible sins against G-d, it all adds up to Torah. The Torah is everything that G-d wants from us. Everything that we are supposed to do. All that we may not do. All it takes is our unswerving, enthusiastic commitment to Torah – to learn and to teach, to preserve and to do.

(Looking over these words, they sound so... "it goes without saying". But then maybe they are not said enough. Maybe they shouldn't go without saying.)

And the second Beit HaMikdash... Sin'at Chinam, Lashon HaRa... where to you think these things are opposed? A workshop on tolerance between diverse types of Jews is as much a shiur from the Torah as is a class on the Laws of Shabbat. True, we talk about the three pillars upon which the world stands, or three concepts upon which the world exists – but Avoda, service of G-d, and G'milut Chasadim, acts of interpersonal kindness, and Truth, Justice, and Peace are all in the Torah.