Tisha B'Av 5785

(33) Isaac was seized with very violent trembling. He said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me? Moreover, I ate of it before you came, and I blessed him; now he must remain blessed!”

(2) “Isaac was overcome with great trembling” – Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina said: “Great” – more than the trembling that he trembled atop the altar.

(3) You shall not go in the ways of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws.

(1) He prohibited approaching one of these forbidden sexual relations - even without intercourse - such as [with] hugging and kissing, and similar such licentious acts. And that is His saying about its prohibition, "Each and every man - to any of his close kin - you shall not approach to uncover nakedness" (Leviticus 18:6) - as if to say, do not make any approach that leads to uncovering nakedness (sexual intercourse)...


And the prohibition about these illusions was already repeated with His saying, "that you shall not do any of the abominable customs" (Leviticus 18:30). However His saying, "After the practice of the Land of Egypt in which you have lived, you shall not do; and the practice of the Land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you, you shall not do," is not only prohibiting the abominable customs - but indeed also prohibiting the actual abominations that He explained after this. And that which He brings two general negative statements about all of the prohibited sexual relations - is because when He prohibited not doing like the practice of the Land of Egypt and the practice of the Land of Canaan, this includes the lewdness, [but it also includes] the work of the land, the shepherding of animals and the settlement of the land as well. So He came back to explain that the actions that He prohibited [originally] were such and such sexual prohibitions that one should not uncover - and it is as He explained at the end of the [section], when He said, "For all of these abominations were done by the people of the land" (Leviticus 18:27). And the language of the [Sifra] (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Section 8:8) is, "Perhaps they should not build houses or plant vineyards like them. [Hence] we learn to say, 'and in their statutes (chukoteichem) you shall not walk' - only those statutes (chukim) which were instituted (chakukim) for them and for their forefathers." And there, they said, "What did they do? A man would wed a man, and a woman, a woman; and a woman would wed two men." Behold it has been made clear that these two negative commandments - being, "After the practice of the Land of Egypt [...] and the practice of the Land of Canaan [...] you shall not do" - are general commandments, being the prohibition of all of the sexual prohibitions (hence they not counted in the tally of the commandments). And afterwards, He repeated the prohibition of each sexual prohibition individually...

(20) They exchanged their glory for the image of a bull that feeds on grass.

(29) This residual pollutant returned to infect Israel as soon as they had made the golden calf. Whatever negative influences were found in the serpent were present also in the golden calf. This applies to the overall influence of the serpent or the golden calf respectively, and to some specific manifestations. To illustrate: Our sages say that most of mankind is guilty of robbery whereas a minority is guilty of sexual aberrations. All of mankind is guilty of אבק לשון הרע, different shades of slander. The truth of this statement is demonstrated when we look at what happened during the episode of the golden calf. The slander became manifest when the perpetrators described the golden calf as "these are your gods, O Israel" (32,4). The sin of sexual excesses is alluded to in 32,6 where the Torah tells us: ויקומו לצחק, "they rose to dance" (the implication is an erotic one, compare Rashi). Regarding the sin of robbery, the Talmud tells us in Berachot 35 that anyone who enjoys the pleasures of this world without first reciting a benediction acknowledging and thanking G–d as the Provider of these pleasures is considered as having robbed both G–d and Israel (alternate version: father and mother). We also have a verse in Proverbs 28,24, which describes a person who robs father and mother -while claiming that such action is no sin- as a companion to a destroyer. The Talmud goes on to describe G–d as our "father," and the כנסת ישראל, "the spiritual concept of the people of Israel," as the mother. As a practical example of such a destroyer the Talmud cites king Jerobam who destroyed the affinity of the people of Israel with their Heavenly Father by placing golden calves on the way to Jerusalem, preventing the pilgrims from making the pilgrimage to the Temple without first making an obeisance to these calves. We therefore see that the construction of the golden calf was an act of robbery vis-a-vis G–d. It robbed Israel of the abundance that G–d used to shower upon them. Expressed differently; The שפע, abundance from on high, was withheld because of פשע, sin. Our failure to acknowledge G–d's gifts would make us guilty of a similar sin. As a result of such considerations Moses explained to the Levites who were charged with carrying out the executions of the idol worshippers that by killing the guilty they were actually the cause of G–d bestowing His blessing on them (32,29). We therefore notice that the three sins we mentioned were all part of the episode of the golden calf. We find an allusion to this in the text in the very letters of the word עגל as acronyms for the three types of sin, i.e. עריות, גזל, לשון הרע. When our sages stated that there is no sin for which the penalty does not include some part of the punishment for the sin of the golden calf (Sanhedrin 102), they simply meant that since every sinner belongs to the ones guilty of either the sins most people are guilty of, or to the ones a minority are guilty of, such a person has once again become guilty of part of the sin committed by the Jews during the episode of the golden calf. We find the same in the story of the encounter between the serpent and man in גן עדן. Adam and Eve took fruit which did not belong to them; they were guilty of robbery. Eve was guilty of a sexual offence because the serpent mated with her. The serpent was guilty of slander and seduction, a sin which is irreversible.

(7)The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me:I will change their dignity to dishonor.

(15) It has been "put to rest" is the joy of our hearts; Our dancing is turned into mourning.

(3) fair-crested, joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, summit of Zaphon, city of the great king.

“My love [rayati]”—what is rayati? Rabbi Yonatan said: My benefactor; it is they who provide for Me two daily continual offerings. That is what is written: “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning” (Numbers 28:4), as Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: Israel would sacrifice two continual offerings each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The one in the morning was sacrificed for transgressions that were performed at night, and the one in the afternoon was sacrificed for transgressions that were performed during the day. There was, then, no person in Jerusalem who would remain overnight with iniquity ascribed to him, as it is stated: “Righteousness would dwell there” (Isaiah 1:21).

(10) Our skin glows like an oven, With the fever of famine.

Burning hunger. As in, “and a burning זִלְעָפוֹת wind,” an expression of burning.

(2) נכמרו means WAS ENKINDLED, BECAME HOT — In Mishnaic Hebrew we have (Bava Metzia 74a) “upon (כומר) a mass of heated olives”; in Aramaic (Pesachim 58a) “because of the (מכמר) drying up (through heat of the weather) of the meat”. And in Biblical Hebrew we have (Lamentations 5:10) “Our skin is hot (נכמרו) as though by an oven” — i.e. it became hot and full of wrinkles “because of the burning heat of the famine”, for it is the nature of any skin to wrinkle and shrink together when it becomes hot.

(10)“Our skin burns like an oven due to fear of famine” (Lamentations 5:10). “Our skin burns like an oven.” Two amora’im, one said: Like those sun-withered dates; and one said: Like an oven that was not sufficiently heated.

(12)“Those killed by sword were better off than those killed by hunger, for those would bleed, ruptured from the produce of the field” (Lamentations 4:9).


“Those killed by sword were better off.” During the destruction of the first Temple, they would die from the scent of the thistles.


However, during the latter destruction, there were no thistles. What would they do to them? They would bring goats and would roast them to the west of the city. The scent would infuse them and they would die, to realize what is stated: “For those would bleed, ruptured from the produce of the field.”