Start by taking a deep breath and offer a blessing. Then we will dive into our studies.
(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה:
(1) Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who sanctified us with the Divine's commandments and commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah.
Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah.
- What does this mean literally?
- What values are voiced in this text?
By Efraim Palvanov
Tisha B’Av: The Untold Story of Napoleon and the Jews
Tisha b’Av is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. This holiday commemorates many historical tragedies, most significantly the destruction of both Holy Temples in Jerusalem. One of the most common stories heard on Tisha b’Av is about Napoleon walking by a Paris synagogue on this day, hearing the lamentations and loud weeping of the Jews. In the story, he asks what the Jews are crying about, and after being told about the destruction of the Temple nearly two millennia ago, apparently remarks something along the lines of: “A nation that cries and fasts for 2,000 years for their land and Temple will surely be rewarded with their Temple.”
Hearing this story immediately sets off some alarms. Firstly, Napoleon was no ignoramus, and was certainly well aware of the destruction of the Temple (after all, the Temple is featured in the “New Testament” and plays an important role in Christian history as well). More notably, Napoleon was a military man his entire life; his biography is the very definition of a tough guy. This man lived by the sword—it is highly unlikely that he would praise people for sitting and crying about something.
In fact, the myth of Napoleon and Tisha b’Av has been debunked multiple times. One of the earliest known sources of the legend is a Yiddish article from 1912, later included in the 1924 American Jewish Yearbook, and similarly appearing in a 1942 book called Napoleon in Jewish Folklore. Here, we are given a far more logical version of the story: After hearing the weeping of the Jews in a synagogue in Vilnius, Napoleon points to his sword and says, “This is how to redeem Palestine.”
- Is memory enough?
- Does memory conquer the sword (pain, trauma, etc)?
Rabbi Dostai ben Rabbi Yannai said in the name of Rabbi Meir: whoever forgets one word of their study, scripture accounts it to them as if they were mortally guilty, as it is said, “But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes” (Deuteronomy 4:9). One could [have inferred that this is the case] even when their study proved [too] hard for them, therefore scripture says, “that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live” (ibid.). Thus, one is not mortally guilty unless they deliberately removes them from their heart.
- What does it mean to deliberately remove something from your heart?
- Why is this a capital offense?
- Do you remember Sinai?
- What are our Sinais, that which we were present for and which cannot be forgotten?
And [life and death] are aspects of forgetfulness and memory, as is written (Psalms 31:13), “I have been forgotten from the heart like the dead”; and it is written (ibid. 98:3), “God remembered God's lovingkindness.” And this is what our Sages taught (Avot 3:8): Whoever forgets anything of their Torah lessons, it is as if they bear guilt for their soul, for it is said (Deuteronomy 4:9), “Only beware and watch your soul very carefully, so that you do not forget.”
- What is Rebbe Nachman’s message?
From this we can learn several things. A forgetful person should make reminders for themselves. And high fences are needed in order that one should not forget the Torah. As it is written, "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw" (Deut. 4:9). And one must be very careful not to forget the good qualities.
- How do we apply the idea of making reminders for ourselves when the things we need to remember are lived experiences, not items from the store?
And I know their excuses, that the times are difficult, etc. But, in truth, if they searched their souls they would know that the yetzer is only deceiving them. For in other things, which are only of physical benefit to their child, does not each one of them assist their child with all of their strength, even more than one is able? And sometimes, one even places their life in danger because of it, doing things which are against the din, both between a person and their neighbor and between a person and God. And one blesses themselves in their heart, saying: "All will be well with me, for I am doing charity at all times by feeding my family." But when one must support their child in Torah, to know how to serve the Divine, bringing both their child and one's self to eternal life, as we shall adduce below from the midrashim of Chazal, one says that times are hard! And this is as Scripture states (Isaiah 93:2): "And not Me did you call upon, Jacob; for you grew weary with Me, O Israel" — "with Me," specifically. As we find on this verse in the Midrash, Esther Rabbah 3: "All day one is busy working and does not become weary; one prays, and they become weary!" And, in truth, the expenditures for the Torah study of one's children are outside of the expenditures for sustenance fixed for them on Rosh Hashanah, as Chazal have said (Beitzah 16a): "All the sustenance for a person is fixed for them from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, except expenditures for Shabbath, …and expenditures for one's children's Torah studies, which, if one gives less, one is given less [by Heaven], and if one gives more, one is given more." Come and see what Chazal have said (Kiddushin 30a): "If one teaches their children's children Torah, Scripture reckons it unto them as if they had received it on Mount Sinai, viz. Devarim 4:9: 'And you shall impart them [(words of Torah)] to your children and to the children of your children," followed by (Ibid. 10): 'the day you stood before the L-rd your G-d in Chorev.'" Also, through this, one merits long life for them and their children, it being written (Ibid. 11:19): "And you shall teach them to your children," followed by (Ibid. 21): "So that your days be prolonged and the days of your children, etc."
- Why are the costs of Torah study and remembering separate from all other costs?