The three-week period that begins on Tammuz 17 and ends on Tishah b'Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, is a time of mourning for the Jewish People.
The 17th day of Tammuz, which this year falls on July 19th, is a day of fasting that begins before sunrise and ends after dark. Nine of Av, this year on August 9, it is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and people fast the entire day. Except Yom Kippur, Tisha b'Av It is the only day in the Jewish year on which we are required to fast from dusk one day until dusk the next. But while Yom Kippur is a solemn but happy day – as it is the day of forgiveness, in which we fast to elevate ourselves spiritually – the 9th day of Av It is a day of sadness and mourning, in which we mourn the destruction of the two Holy Temples, both of which occurred on that ominous date.
It is no coincidence that both the first and second Holy Temples fell on that date. The Talmud teaches that happy occasions tend to occur on auspicious dates and unhappy ones on inauspicious dates. For example, the Jewish People were forgiven by G‑d for the sin of the golden calf on the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. This day became a precedent for Divine forgiveness and was instituted by the Creator as Yom Kippur – the Day of Forgiveness and Atonement – for all subsequent generations.
But the reverse is also true. Unfortunate events that occurred on certain dates marked them as adverse days for future generations. The 17th of Tamuz it was one of those. The Talmud lists several tragic events that occurred on that date. The first of them, the precedent that would mark this date as an unfortunate day, was the sin of the golden calf, which occurred in the Sinai Desert, just 40 days after Gd had revealed Himself to the entire Jewish People and proclaimed the Ten Commandments, which attest to His absolute unity and uniqueness and which strictly prohibit idolatry.
The episode of the sin of the golden calf is one of the most controversial accounts in the Torah. Through the ages, Sages and scholars have tried to explain what led people to commit such a serious sin. Especially intriguing is the timing of its occurrence: it took place shortly after the Children of Israel had experienced the greatest Divine Revelation of all time. An in-depth and complete analysis of the episode is beyond the scope of this essay, but what we can say is that the Jewish People made several mistakes, which led them to create the golden calf.
The first of these was a simple miscalculation, but it had catastrophic consequences. After the Divine Revelation on Mount Sinai, Moses ascended to receive the Torah. He told the people that he would return in 40 days. They expected him back on the 16th of Tamuz, as they counted the day of their ascent as the first of the 40. When the 16th day arrives without their leader having returned, they assume that he was dead. They do not realize that he would return when 40 full days were completed, that is, on the 17th day of Tamuz. Thinking, then, that Moshé had died, the people ask themselves: Now that our shepherd is gone – the man who linked us to G-d, and who served as His spokesman, communicating His Will to us – who will replace him? it? Who will serve as the interface between G-d and us?
They then decide that it would be a calf made of gold. Why a calf, specifically? Because when G-d revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, the people, who had the greatest prophetic vision of all time – which even surpassed that of the prophet Ezekiel – contemplated the sublime and mystical vision of Merkava, the Divine Celestial Chariot, and thought he could perceive, among others, the features of a bull. As the Jewish People saw the image of a bull being projected by the Divine Chariot, they judged that this image would be the appropriate means to serve as their connection with G-d. For many Jews, the golden calf would therefore serve not as a substitute for G-d, but for Moses.
However, there were also those who understood the golden calf as a “substitute” for G-d. A few thousand Egyptians who had left their land along with the Jews interpreted Moses' supposed death differently, but it also led them to convince the Jews to raise a calf. When Moshé does not come down from the mountain on the expected day, the Egyptians speculate that perhaps there was another explanation for the plagues that had struck their country. Who knows, they thought, it was not the G-d of the Jews who had overcome nature and saved them, but simply one force of nature had superimposed itself on another?
The Egyptians had a special cult of worship of the ram, whose symbol in the Zodiac is Aries, and which is associated with the month of Nissan, the month in which the Jewish Exodus occurred. The next symbol in the Zodiac is Taurus. The Egyptians reasoned that perhaps the Jews had been saved in the month of Nissan because Taurus had beaten Aries. His theory was so “rational” and convincing that some Jews accepted it and, for this reason, the idol they built was a calf, a bull's calf. It is worth noting that in Psalms, 106:20, the golden calf is specifically called a “bull”.
The sin of the golden calf was, therefore, the result of several factors: a miscalculation and lack of patience, misinterpretation of an impactful mystical experience, and convincing arguments from idolaters, who believed in the forces of nature and astrological signs, but not in ' He who created them and controls everything. These justifications for the sin of the golden calf do not completely excuse it: in fact, the Jews committed a terrible act of idolatry. And this sin was so serious that when Moses returned to the Jewish camp on August 17, Tamuz and sees, with his own eyes, the people worship the golden calf, he breaks the Tablets of the Ten Commandments that G-d Himself had shaped. Furthermore, the sin of the golden calf almost results in G-d's annihilation of the Jewish People. Moshé had to pray, with all fervor, for 120 days, and invoke the merits of the three Patriarchs so that the people would be spared. Despite Divine forgiveness, which was granted in Yom Kippur – the day that Moses returned with a second pair of Tablets containing the Ten Commandments – the sin of the golden calf marked the 17th of Tamuz like an unfortunate day on our calendar. Throughout Jewish history, ancient and contemporary, on this date several tragic events occurred for all of our people.
Tisha b'Av and the ten spies
the 17th of Tamuz It is a day of fasting that marks the beginning of three weeks of mourning, but the saddest day in the Jewish calendar is the last day of this unfortunate period: Tisha b'Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Menachem Avenue. What event marked this day as the most ominous on our calendar? It was an incident that also occurred while our people were in the wilderness of Sinai, just a year after the sin of the golden calf.
This episode is reported in the portion Shelach of the Torah, in the fourth book, Numbers – in Hebrew, bamid bar. The Jewish People were about to enter the Promised Land when its members had an idea and suggested it to Moshé: that a reconnaissance mission be carried out in the Land of Israel – an exploratory military survey to collect information about it – so that they could conquer more easily. Moshé consults the Eternal about the idea and G-d tells him, for the first time in the prophet's life, that he should act according to his intuition.
Moshé summons twelve leaders of the people, one from each tribe, and sends them to spy on the Promised Land. (See Morashá n0 37). There were several reasons for him to pursue the idea of the reconnaissance mission. First, the spies would familiarize themselves with the Land of Israel: this would be the first step towards conquering it. Second, Moshé believed that after seeing the Earth, the spies would be even more enthusiastic about conquering and living on it, and would inspire others with their vibration. Third, the mission had a deeper, spiritual reason: he had sent twelve men, one from each tribe, because the Earth would be divided into 12 parts, one for each tribe. The spies were supposed to roam the entire Earth to possess it spiritually for their respective tribes: this was a prelude to the physical possession of the Earth.
For this important mission, Moshé chooses the 12 Meraglim, spies in Hebrew – the cream of the Jewish People. They return 40 days later. Ten of them stand in front of the entire people and do exactly the opposite of what their leader expected. Instead of praising the Land, instead of demonstrating enthusiasm and confidence in their ability to conquer it, they defame the Promised Land and give a nefarious report. “It is a land that swallows its inhabitants”, they tell the people. “Giants populate it; it is massively fortified. We felt like grasshoppers before its inhabitants and, in fact, that is how they saw us. It's too much for us. We will never be able to conquer it.” Only two out of the 12 Meraglim – Yehoshua bin Nun (See article page 12) and Calev ben Yefuné – were completely contrary to the report. But who did the Jews choose to believe? Mostly in the ten spies. A real collective commotion ensued. Crying and wailing everywhere, expressing the desire to return to Egypt. When G-d hears the people crying, in total lack of faith in the Creator and in His promise to take them to the Promised Land, He issues the following decree: “Tonight they cry for no reason. I promise that in the future, I will give them good reasons to cry.” The night in which the spies defamed the Earth before the Jewish People and in which there was total loss of control and collective crying was the 9th of Av, Tisha b'Av.
The Divine reaction to the entire episode of the spies and the reaction of the people is very intense and serious. The Almighty executes the spies and threatens to annihilate the Jewish People. Just as in the incident of the golden calf, Moses intercedes with G-d on behalf of his people. G‑d is compassionate and spares His people from destruction, but He decrees something that He had not decreed after the sin of the golden calf. With the exception of Yehoshua and Caleb, that generation of Jews, who wept upon hearing the account of the ten Meraglim, would die in the desert. They had reacted uncontrollably because they were afraid to enter the Land, and therefore their wish would be granted: none of them would be allowed to set foot in Israel. Only his descendants, the next generation of Jews, would enter the Promised Land, led by Yehoshua bin Nun, Moshe's faithful servant.
Comparing the two sins
Of the two episodes described above, which of the two could be said to be the more serious sin: committing idolatry by fashioning and worshiping a golden calf or defaming the Land of Israel and demonstrating a lack of faith in G-d? Most people would judge it to be the former, since idolatry is a cardinal sin in Judaism; it is the rejection of the entire Torah and is one of the few sins that a Jew must avoid at all costs, even at the cost of his life. On the other hand, the spies incident doesn't even seem like a sin. Were it not for the Divine reaction and His decree that the people would remain in the desert, we might not even attribute any transgression to the ten Meraglim. After all, they were sent to spy on Earth and when they returned, they simply reported what they saw. They didn't lie or exaggerate. The Earth was, in fact, inhabited by giants; it was massively fortified and would require, as it did, under the leadership of Yehoshua, intense battles and miracles, before it could be conquered.
The sin of the spies lay in the way they made their report. They had been sent by Moshé – not by the Jewish People; therefore, they should have submitted their report only to him, in private. If they had concerns or fears, they should have brought them to their leader. But instead, they presented their report before the entire Jewish People, causing that mass uproar. Regarding the Jews, their sin, which cost them entry into the Promised Land, was that, in a single moment, the psyche of an entire people was changed. They forgot the redemption in Egypt, the Ten Plagues, the parting of the sea, the Revelation on Mount Sinai and the Divine promises that they were God's Chosen People and that He would lead them safely to the Promised Land. Upon hearing the report of the ten spies, they expressed the mentality of slaves: fear, apprehension, and the feeling that we Jews are small and weak, and that the world is big and strong. His faith in the Almighty had disappeared, despite all His signs, miracles and revelations.
If the degree of punishment is a sign of the intensity of a sin, then the episode of the spies was more serious than that of the golden calf. As we saw above and this deserves repeating, the Jews were banned from entering the Earth after the sin of the spies, not the golden calf. But even more significant is the date of the sin of the spies – Tisha b'Av – which became the most ominous day in the Jewish calendar. On the 17th of Tamuz we fast during the day; in Tisha b'Av, we do it night and day. Throughout Jewish History, sad events have occurred on the date of 17th Tamuz, but it was on the 9th of Av that the most tragic events in the history of our people have occurred. Among these, the fall of the two Temples, which resulted in the Diaspora and its countless painful episodes – the long history of persecution and discrimination, humiliating decrees and expulsions, the pogroms, the Inquisition and, above all, the Holocaust.
There is a question that hangs in the air: why did the sin of the spies, more than that of the golden calf, have greater and more far-reaching consequences in Jewish History?
Leadership failures
The word Torah derives from the word time, which means instruction. Everything contained in the Torah is a lesson for all Jews and for all generations. The holy book does not describe the transgressions of our ancestors to slander them, but to teach us a lesson. In this article, too, our purpose is not to point out errors and failures in our ancestors – those who had the merit of hearing the Voice of G-d and receiving the Torah – but, rather, to learn from their mistakes. To emphasize this point, it is appropriate to relate the following story.
Once a Jew went to Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, the famous Rebbe of Kotzk, who was known for his devotion to the truth. “Rebbe,” asked the Jew, “I don’t understand why we value the chumash. This work is full of accounts of sins: the sin of the golden calf, the sin of spies, and many other sins.” And the Rebbe answered him: “My dear Jew. From the sins and transgressions of that time a Torah was compiled. I fear that from your virtues and mitzvos, a Torah will not be compiled.”
G-d wrote in his Torah accounts that are not always complimentary to our ancestors because His intention was to teach lessons to all generations of the Jewish People. The episode of the sin of the golden calf, for example, contains countless lessons within it. It teaches us that we do not need objects or human beings to connect with G-d. It's true, a being like Moshé is important; we lack spiritual leaders and teachers. But in the absence of these, we do not look for intermediaries. G-d is everywhere and He has given us the means to connect with Him, which are His Torah and His Commandments, prayers and acts of kindness. Another lesson: we do not need to pursue mystical experiences that lead to spiritual confusion and detachment from the Torah, as this often results in the practice of idolatry or an inauthentic form of Judaism. And, finally, we must not allow ourselves to be influenced by rational and convincing arguments coming from those who deny the existence and uniqueness of G-d.
The Sin of the Ten Spies also teaches us several lessons. The episode makes it clear that anyone who does not value the Land of Israel is not worthy of living there. The Promised Land is the Earthly Home of ShechinAh, the Divine Presence. This Land was promised to the Patriarchs – Avraham, Itzhak and Jacob – as an eternal inheritance of the Jewish People. Those who have no love for the Earth, those who oppose the Jewish presence in its territory, regardless of whether they are Jews or not, would do them great good to study the history of spies. These ten men who defamed the Earth were promptly annihilated by G-d and the people who wept and lamented were prevented from setting foot on the sacred ground.
Anyone who believes that the Torah is the Word of G-d cannot oppose the Jewish presence throughout the Land of Israel. It is no surprise then that so many millions of Christians around the world who believe in Tanakh – which they call the Old Testament – give their full support to the State of Israel. It is also worth mentioning that the citizens of Israel refer to their country as “Haaretz” – “the Earth”, not “HaMedina", the state. It is beyond the power of any human being or any political body to change the borders of the Land of Israel. Only G-d can do it. In fact, our Sages teach that in the Messianic Era, the Land of Israel, Eretz Israel, it will spread and cover the entire world. In other words, his holiness will be spread throughout the Earth.
Both episodes – that of the golden calf and that of the spies – teach us many lessons, but the most revealing are those that originate from the comparison between them. When analyzing them together, it is clear that the Torah teaches us that spiritual confusion and sins committed against G-d are less serious than a lack of faith in Him and collective panic and lack of control. A person can be forgiven for committing a terrible sin such as idolatry; It is more difficult to forgive the total lack of trust in the Eternal and his promises.
The Jewish People worshiped and worshiped a golden calf because they felt ungoverned, without Moses; experienced a mystical event – the vision of Merkava – The Celestial Chariot – which was perhaps too strong for most of them. Sins of this kind, for which we ask forgiveness in Yom Kippur, are called “sins committed through confusion of the heart”.
But the spies episode was committed by the leadership of the Jewish People – by people more prepared than others. There are countless explanations for what they did: the generous one is that they defamed the Earth because they wanted to remain in the desert studying the Torah led by Moshé; Entering Earth meant having to fight, work and worry about everyday tasks. Another explanation, not so generous, would be that they panicked and infected the entire people with their fears. But whatever their reason for acting as they did, the end result was that they defamed Eretz Israel – Home of the Divine Presence on Earth and eternal inheritance of the Jewish People – leading the Jews to total loss of control. True leaders don't act like this, ever. A man can sin in his private life and be forgiven by G-d, but a leader, a person responsible for others – and it doesn't matter if it is a father, teacher, rabbi or the prime minister of Israel – cannot allow himself to fail. in his position of power, as his failures affect the lives of many others.
When discussing the sin of the golden calf and the sin of the ten Meraglim, an interesting parallel can be established with the reigns of the first two kings of Israel – Shaul and David. It is taught that Shaul was a purer soul than David, but that the latter was a better king. Shaul sinned as king; whereas whether King David sinned in the Bat-Sheva episode is up for debate. But even if he sinned, it was a private sin: it did not affect the Jewish People as a whole. Shaul may have had impeccable character, but David was an impeccable leader. And therefore, the monarchy of Israel was taken from the House of Shaul and handed over, in perpetuity, to the House of David. It is not surprising, therefore, that the moshiach, who will build the Third Temple in Jerusalem, is a descendant of King David. In fact, there is an opinion in the Talmud that his name will be David. We know that the two Holy Temples were destroyed in Tisha b'av – the date on which ten Jewish leaders expressed a lack of trust in G‑d and failed as leaders.
O moshiach, which will embody the leadership of King David and infuse humanity with knowledge and faith in G‑d, will reverse the damage caused by past leaders whose actions created a precedent that later led to the destruction of G‑d's Palace. us and the exile of His People.
There is a tradition that the soul of the moshiach was born on the day of Tisha b'Av when the Temple was destroyed, and which remains in Gan Eden, in Paradise, waiting to come into the world. There is also a tradition that says that he will come to this world in Tisha b'Av, so that redemption occurs on the date of destruction. May this happen very soon, in our days.
Bibliography:
Chumash Shemot - The Book of Exodus - With an Interpolated English Translation and Commentary Based on the Works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Kehot Publication Society
