Community Magazine August 2019

16 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE One of the surprising features of Tishah B’Av, the annual day of mourning for the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash and our banishment into exile, is that we omit the solemn “ tahanunim ” prayer from our service, just as we do on joyous occasions. The reason given in the halachic sources is astonishing – they explain that Tishah B’Av, despite being a day of mourning, is referred to as a “ mo’ed ” – a “festival”! And therefore, we omit the section of the prayer service that is omitted on joyous holidays. A festival? Tishah B’Av?!? Tishah B’Av – the day when we sit on the floor and read in a mournful tone the Book of Echah and the Kinnot , describing the horrors of the destruction of Jerusalem, the day when we abstain from food, drink, and basic comforts such as wearing shoes in order to lament the calamities that have befallen our nation – is a “festival”?!? The 21 Days The explanation of this concept may be found in a remarkable passage in one of the classic Hassidic works – the Ohev Yisrael , written by Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apta, one of the great early luminaries of the Hassidic movement. Commenting on Parashat Pinhas, the Rebbe of Apta raises the question of why this parashah is almost always read at the beginning of the “Three Weeks,” the period when we refrain from joyous activities in preparation for Tisha B’Av. Undoubtedly, he writes, there must be some connection between this parashah and the period of the Three Weeks. To explain the connection, the Ohev Yisrael advances a fascinating theory. The latter part of Parashat Pinhas, he observes, discusses the various occasions when a special mussaf sacrifice was offered in the Bet Hamikdash . The daily tamid sacrifice was offered every day of the year, but on special occasions, additional sacrifices – called the “ mussaf ” offerings – were brought. The Ohev Yisrael enumerates the 21 days that featured mussaf sacrifices, in the order in which they are mentioned in Parashat Pinhas: 1) Shabbat; 2) Rosh Hodesh; 3-9) the sevendays of Pesach; 10) Shavuot; 11-12) the two days of Rosh Hashanah; 13) Yom Kippur; 14-20) the seven days of Sukkot; 21) Shemini Atzeret/Simhat Torah. Words of Rabbi Eli J. Mansour “… the 21 days of the Three Weeks will, in the future, be celebrated as “inestimably great, awesome holidays.” And Tishah B’Av will be the most joyous day of them all. ” לעילוי נשמתם של משה בן עליזה, יצחק הלל בן עליזה, והנרייט לאה בת עליזה, דוד בן גילה, רבקה בת גילה, יהושע בן גילה, משה בן גילה, שרה בת גילה, יעקב בן גילה, ואליאנה בת גילה. ולרפואה שלמה ליוסף בן אהובה מסעודה, שילת אהובה בת עליזה, ודניאל בן עליזה. The Significance of 21 21