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On Tisha Be’Av we read the words of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was treated badly by the Jewish people for telling them the truth about their sins.
Says the Book of Jeremiah:
When the army of the Chaldeans raised the siege of Jerusalem on account of the army of Pharaoh, Jeremiah was going to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to share in some property there among the people. When he got to the Benjamin Gate, there was a guard officer there named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah; and he arrested the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!” Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I’m not defecting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. The officials were furious with Jeremiah; they beat him and put him into prison, in the house of the scribe Jonathan—for it had been made into a jail. Thus Jeremiah came to the pit and the cells, and Jeremiah remained there a long time. Then King Zedekiah sent for him, and the king questioned him secretly in his palace. He asked, “Is there any word from the LORD?” “There is!” Jeremiah answered, and he continued, “You will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon” (37:11-17).
Jeremiah rebuked the people harshly. But there are other ways of rebuking. Here is a story about Rav Mottel Katz, zt’l, the Rosh Yeshiva of Telz:
Rav Yissocher Frand tells the story that back in the 1940’s, Rav Mottel Katz was approached by the students of the yeshiva and asked if that night they could change the time for maariv. There was a boxing match the students wanted to listen to on the rdio and they didn’t want to miss out on account of maariv. The Rosh Yeshiva –to say the least --was not an American who enjoyed the sport of boxing. He was a person who lived and breathed Torah. He could have reacted by rebuking his students that the very fact that they asked the question demonstrated how much more they needed to study in order to improve themselves spiritually. But he didn’t take that approach. Instead, the Rosh Yeshiva in his great wisdom, but his tongue, and allowed the time of maariv to be changed for that one night. Sometimes if we want to inspire a repentance of love, then we need to teach with love.
Spotlight will return next week...
With Tisha B'Av on the horizon, we're going to focus this week on countering the Sinas Chinam, or baseless hatred, that was the Rabbis' explanation for what caused the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash, with Ahavas Chinam, or baseless love. A more literal translation might be Free Love... Anywhoo, we're going to play Trash or Kindness with the kids. We'll act out different scenarios and then ask the kids if the behavior showed loving kindness, or if instead it belongs in the trash.
Yoni Friedman.
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