
Breaking down walls
Destruction is typically viewed in a negative and harmful manner, but there can also be a destruction that leads to harmony and peace.
Building is mostly seen in a positive manner, but there is also a building that leads to hatred and harm.
The 3 weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av is a period that has seen much destruction and harm befall the Jewish people throughout history, and as such traditional Jews show a number of signs of mourning during this time, such as not shaving or taking haircuts, not listening to music, and during the last more intense 9 days, refraining from eating meat, drinking wine, and even taking hot showers and wearing freshly laundered clothes.
This sad period of Jewish history begins on the 17th Tammuz. The Torah records 5 tragic events that occurred on this day, one of which saw the walls of Jerusalem being breached by an aggressive invading Roman army. Once the walls were broken down 3 weeks of massacre and murder took place, ending in the burning and utter destruction of the beit hamikdash, followed almost immediately by 2000 years of painful exile.
This breaking of walls is the bad kind.
Perhaps in reaction to this breaking of walls, an interesting but equally tragic reaction was seen when the Jewish people finally returned physically as a nation to their land that they had been banished from 2000 years earlier. People started building walls. But the walls they built were not positive. The walls they built hurt, walls divide. People built walls between Jews and Arabs, people built walls between Ashkenazi and sefardi Jews, others put up walls between religious and non religious people. As a reaction to the original breaking of the walls by the Romans, people built up walls as a counter measure. But these walls only exacerbated and intensified the hatred of the past. How sad that we did not know how to fix these broken walls.
It is known in the Jewish tradition that everything that happens in this physical world is only a mirror of what is taking place in the spiritual realm. What happens in the heavens ripples down to the earth and takes effect in a myriad of ways. But also more powerfully for us meager human beings, how we behave on earth ripples up to the heavens making far reaching affects in the higher worlds.
The Torah says that the destruction of the second bet hamikdash occured due to the baseless hatred that permeated the society of the time. During that period there were many splintered groups all with their own nuances and beliefs in how to serve Hashem, how to run society. Too few had respect for those groups that were different to their own. Too much politics, lack of respect and tolerance, too many walls, are what broke the walls of Jerusalem.
The way society treated each other, with baseless hatred of "the other", caused ripples in the heavens, that sent back down to earth the invading Roman army. The Romans were just the physical effect of a spiritual malaise of hatred.
The way to fix the broken walls is not to build them. The way to fix the broken walls of Jerusalem is to fix the baseless hatred that was the real cause of the destruction in the first place. When the bet hamikdash was burnt it was an empty house that burnt. The spirit of love, harmony, and peace, that should have filled, and, spread out from Hashems's house, had long ago left already, as a result of the nation's behaviour towards each other.
The way to fix the walls is to break them down once more.
Today Aaron referenced in the standup a Ted talk by rabbi Jonathan Sacks. In his talk the rabbi states that when people do not have a strong identity they reject and hate the other. The way to embrace and tolerate the other, is to understand who we are as individuals and collectively as a society.
I am told there are many Israelis in all places of the country that have grown up in such a divisive environment, that they have no vision of how to break down those walls. I am not blaming or judging anyone, perhaps it is because of the stronger passion and belief that people have here, perhaps due to strongly held ideologies, right or wrong. Growing up in England it is rare to see people with fire in their bellies like we find here in Israel, but as a result many of us coming from outside Israel have seen a vision of a tolerant and harmonious society.
It is my sincere hope that we, together, will be able to build the walls of Jerusalem again, by breaking them down. We together will not accept the status quo here. We will passionately learn about who we are, and as a result we will be able to accept thosewho are different without fear. I prayer that we, together, will be able to do our part to turn these days of sadness to days of joy and celebration.
Shabbat Shalom
