Tisha B'Av articles

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There are articles about Tisha B'Av that might help your fast day be more meaningful.

מטות - מסעי

Since we had some success with me just throwing out a question last time, I’ll try that again this week. For some of these I have some ideas, and for some I will be trying to figure it out along with you. For all of them, I would love to hear your thoughts, and will share some of the responses here on the blog.

• Hashem commands the people to avenge the Midyanim, and destroy them. Besides the larger (too large for now) issue of warfare in the torah, the verb “nekom” automatically brings to mind the prohibition of “Lo tikom” – that we are forbidden to take revenge. In fact, we know that Hashem describes himself as a “Kel kana v’nokem” – a God of vengeance. And that we are implored to follow n His ways (v’halachta b’drachav”). How can we align God’s vengeance, as well as our mandated vengeance when properly commanded, with the general prohibition against nekama?
  
• On the issue of the 2½ tribes who stay on the other side of the Jordan , see this http://www.vbm-torah.org/parsha.58/42mm.htm article by Rabbi Nati Helfgott (which I haven’t yet read, but building off of an older Tradition article that I enjoyed).
  
• I once had a conversation with someone about the Midrash that the mother of the Kohen Gadol would go to the arei miklat with milk and cookies (so to speak) to try to keep the captives from praying that her son die. (Of course, the accidental killers in the cities of refuge were obligated to stay there until the death of the Kohen Gadol.) He thought that the message was how easily we are distracted by trivial desires away from what is truly important. These people were imprisoned in the cities, away from their homes, and their quest to escape would be undercut by some snacks.
  While I think this is an important message, I took something different from the Midrash. It is easier to only daven for your own self-interest when the person who might suffer from the fulfillment of your request is only abstract (I want to get into college, not I want her place in college). By visiting the refugees, the Kohen Gadol’s mother humanized him. I understand that you are inconvenienced, the man whose demise you are wishing for is real, with a mother who loves him. That makes it far more difficult to trivialize his potential death. We see this all the time whether it be in holocaust studies or modern PR for any number of causes.
  What do you take from the Midrash?
  
• The Gemara in Bava Batra (119b) states that the b’not Tzelafchad were “Chachmaniyot, Darshaniyot and Tzidkaniyot.” Chachmaniyot because they waited to approach Moshe until he was learning the subject of inheritance. Darshaniyot because they made the following argument: If we (daughters) count, give us a nachala, if not, let our mother do Yibum. Tzidkaniyot because they only married people who were worthy. Then it says that none of them married until they were over forty. What is this all about? I'll tell you that my theory is built off of a Gemara earlier in the same perek that says that someone who marries a woman should examine her brothers, because the sons are like the mothers' brothers. What do you think?
  
  
  
  
  
  

More on Donkeys

From another recent alum, Gabrielle Hiller:

Rabbi Besser mentioned that because the word describing the donkey in the Bilaam story is aton and not chamor, there might not be a pattern at all. However, it's possible that there is and just like the Torah says 'VaYikar' when Hashem talks to Bilaam and 'VaYikra' when He talks to Moshe, showing us (according to Rashi) that Bilaam is on a completely different level than Moshe, so too the Torah wants to teach us the same lesson whenever a donkey comes up, but Hashem wanted to differentiate between Bnei Yisrael and Bilaam. Interestingly enough, every time a donkey was mentioned, it was connected to bringing people to a higher spiritual level (which is even more interesting if a chamor is supposed to represent materialism- the Torah is taking what is often considered bad and using it for good). Redeeming a first born donkey is clear- you're forced to realize that whatever you have is from Hashem and therefore you have to give some sort of thanks. When Moshe said he never even took a donkey from Bnei Yisrael, his point was that he has remained a good leader- he remains on a high level of spirtiuality and listens to Hashem. He has not become a leader who no longer cares about his people and is only concerned with riches and other materialistic things. Finally, the donkey in the Bilaam story is responsible for helping Bilaam to see the angel that tells him that he must listen to whatever Hashem says to him.This fits with the vayikar/vayikra idea that puts our focus on levels of spirtituality and also makes sense with Aviva's idea that Bnei Yisrael were so focused on physical things. If a chamor, which is seen as the height of materialism, can change and be used for good, Bnei Yisrael should learn that they too can and should work to place more focus on the spiritual rather than the physical.

Can someone with a tattoo be buried in a Jewish cemetary?

Question submitted by Chana Ben-Zechariah: I have heard that someone who has a tattoo is not allowed to be buried in a Jewish cemetary. Is that true? If the problem is damaging your body, what about people who smoke? Does it matter if the person did teshuva?

There is no source that I could find that specifically prohibits someone with a tattoo from being able to be buried in a Jewish cemetary. That being said, every Jewish burial society can theoretically choose to enact certain rules regarding who they allow to be buried in their plot. This is due to the fact that a) the Shulchan Aruch says that a person should be buried near someone similar to his/her religious observance (and it is assur to have certain types of tattoos), and b) the people who are being buried have a right to request that they be or not be buried near certain people.

Is one allowed to say Hashem's name when singing Zemirot?

Gabrielle Hiller asks: What is the root of the controversy with saying Hashem's name or not when singing zemirot on Shabbat?
This is a very practical question that comes up virtually every 7 days!
The root of the contraversy is centered around a Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin 101a which states, "If one reads a verse of Shir ha'Shirim as if it was a song (i.e. unlike the proper cantillation), or reads verses in the Beis ha'Mishteh (pub) out of place (just for fun), he brings evil to the world; The Torah girds itself in sackcloth and complains to Hash-m 'Yisrael treat me like a harp for Letzim to play'!"
Rabbi Howard Jachter has a good summary of the issues involved in his book Gray Matter, Vol. 3., page 7 (it's a short article).

Taking Medicine on a Fast Day

Ma'ayanot Alumni Gabrielle Hiller asked: What is the halachah regarding taking medicine on a fast day?

The poskim distinguish between two groups of fast days:
Group 1: Yom Kippur and Tisha B'av
Group 2: the rest of the fast days (Shiva Asar B'Tammuz, Ta'anit Esther, etc.)

Group 2 fast days: Most poskim agree that it is permissible to take medication on fast days from this group. If the medicine is a pill or bitter-tasting liquid, it should be taken without water if possible. If you need water, only a small amount should be taken. Some poskim say to add salt or other substances to the water to make it somewhat bitter.

Group 1 fast days: If the medication is for a life threatening condition, virtually all poskim agree that you are allowed to take the medication. You should consult your Rabbi to find out the specifications for how to take the medication. If the medication is something that you need to take every day but is not for a life threatening condition (i.e. antibiotics) or if you have a headache and want to take Motrin/Tylenol, you should consult your Rabbi as well.

More on Donkeys

From recent graduate Aviva Novick:

About Rabbi Besser's question about "chamor"s, based on his idea that the word "chamor" is related to the word chomer, materialism, and that donkeys represent materialism. I feel like a lot of bnei yisrael's complaints in the midbar are focused around physical things - they want more to eat than just the man, the want water, even that they are afraid to be defeated in battle and killed by the nations living in Israel. This is kind of a stretch, but even korach's complaint is materialistic in a way. By desiring power, he is allowing his material, animalistic drives to determine his actions instead of a more spiritual, God-focused way of thinking. Repeatedly, God tries to re-direct Bnei Yisrael's attention away from the material. they must look upward toward Hashem at the nachash hanichoshet to be healed, they are doomed to wander 40 years in the desert - a place with no material comforts, they use kitoret - a service that involves no animals or blood, only smell, one of the more spiritual senses, to fight a plague, and Korach gets swallowed into the earth itself, punishing his this-world-based desires. even when Hashem sends bnei yisrael meat, he sends birds which fly in the sky, and not a herd of cattle on the ground, making the Jews look toward Hashem. This all works well with Rashi's view of mei miriva. Moshe and Aharon used a physical action to bring forth water as opposed to the preferred non-physical act of talking. So, maybe donkeys are mentioned so often to emphasize that the overall problem the Jews had in the midbar was that they focused on the physical and material, and that they didn't have enough trust in Hashem. This is why they needed the man and tests like it - to help them learn to be dependent on Hashem, not the material world.
I'm not sure that this idea can be applied to any of the specific cases where donkeys are mentioned - it doesn't answer why Moshe used not taking donkeys as an example of how he had not done anything wrong to Datan and Aviram. Maybe donkeys are included in pidyon bichor laws to show Bnei Yisrael that Hashem is truly in charge of everything, not the material world and nature. even the first-born of donkeys really are Hashem's and so they must be redeemed. and perhaps Hashem uses a donkey to communicate with Bilam to rebuke/humble him - even a donkey, the epitome of materialism, could see the malach and Bilam couldn't. it might be a message to Bilam that he isn't as spiritual and all-powerful as he thinks.
This answer isn't so satisfying to me, but it's just a thought.

I should add that after posting that last week from memory, I realized that in the Bilaam story the donkey is called an Aton, not a chamor, so we may not even have a pattern at all. Thanks Aviva, & I hope others are reading & responding.