GOING IT ALONE IS NOT THE WAY TO GO

Av 8, 5781 / July 16-17, 2021
Parashat Devarim (Shabbat Chazon)
Torah: Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22
Third Haftarah of Rebuke: Isaiah 1:1-27

Tisha B’Av reading: Megillat Eikhah – The Book of Lamentations

This Shabbat is Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat of Vision, so-called because we read on Shabbat morning the rebuking vision of Isaiah (leading into the observance of Tisha B’Av on Saturday night and Sunday) and then the horrifying vision of the Book of Lamentations (Megillat Eikhah) on Tisha B’Av itself. Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, and numerous other calamities which have befallen the Jewish people on the same date. Please join TBH/CBM at https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim for a community program of worship, reading of Lamentations, and study on Saturday, July 17, at 8:30 pm. Have a meaningful fast.
 
This d'var torah is offered in memory of Sarah Labovitz Flom (my grandmother) and Martha Gottschalk Stern (Lynn's grandmother), whose yahrzeits fall Monday, July 19 (10 Av), and Wednesday, July 21 (12 Av), respectively. Their memories are a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Elisheva bat Minnie Leah, Feigel bat Kreina, and D'vorah bat Feigel. 

Our TBH/CBM Rabbi Jason Van Leeuwen has a timely D’var Torah which you should read at:  https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/13/shavua-tov-july-13-2021-4-av-5781-free-britney-a-tisha-bav-exhortation/  

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

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GOING IT ALONE IS NOT THE WAY TO GO

"?איכה אשא לבדי, טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם"
 
(Moses asks) “How can I bear this alone, your troubles, and your burdens, and your strife?” (Deuteronomy 1:12)
 
The first word in the verse is “eikhah” – how – and it is also the Hebrew name of the Book of Lamentations. Rabbi Yosef Yosel Horowitz (aka Der Alter of Novardok – 1847-1919) comments: “Traditionally, this verse is read to the melody of Eikhah. This teaches us that if a person refuses to assume the responsibility for communal needs and thinks that by doing so he makes things easier for himself, he will in the end find out that matters will be worse for him, and he will remain alone and isolated – How (eikhah) can one dwell alone?”
 
Rabbi Horowitz is making an additional reference here to the sad opening verse of Eikhah – “How she sits alone, the city (Jerusalem) that was full of people!”
 
Even more important to me is that he brings to mind three well-known and valuable teachings from our Tradition: 1. “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” (Hillel, Avot 1:14); 2. “Do not separate yourself from the community, and do not trust in yourself until the day of your death.” (Hillel, Avot 2:5); and, 3. “Every Jew is responsible toward each other.” (BT Shavuot 39a).
 
Judaism is a communal religion. I’m not referring simply to the requirement of a minyan for certain parts of the worship service. The truth is, no observance of Shabbat or festivals or life cycle events, joyful or sad, can be spiritually fulfilling or meaningful if conducted in the vacuum of loneliness. Even if one believes that they can go it alone, they risk increasing their isolation and despair. Additionally, they are depriving the community of the opportunity (and obligation) to take part in such observance.
 
If you are not associated with a synagogue or other Jewish community, find one that fits your needs and join. Take part in communal activities, and contribute your time and financial resources to sustaining and improving the community to the best of your ability.

 
A Hasidic story - Two people happen upon each other in the forest. Both are lost. Says one, "The way I have come is not the way out." The other replies, "Nor is the way I have come. Perhaps if we search together, we will find the way." Do they find the way? I don't know. At least they are joined in common cause, unafraid of each other, helping each other, and not stumbling blindly in the dark.
 
Do not sit alone – and do not let others sit alone. We need each other.
 
Have a meaningful fast on Tisha B’Av. Shabbat Shalom.
 
Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
TBH/CBM
Sherman Oaks, CA
".איזה הוא חכם? הלומד מכל אדם"

Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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