Haftaras Devarim: Will Hashem Hate Our Tishah b’Av?

Some years I write a Tishah b'Av article and feel like I'm not adding anything - just showcasing the words of the prophets. Maybe that's a good thing. This is one of those articles.

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MetaAI’s response to the prompt “a piece of paper on fire that says ‘Tishah b’Av’”

Haftaras Devarim: Will Hashem Hate Our Tishah b’Av?

Hashem despises our moadim (holidays). At least, that’s the message He conveyed through Yeshayahu to the Jews in the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem in the harsh haftarah we read for Shabbos Chazon:

Hear the word of Hashem, O chiefs of Sedom; give ear to the teaching of our God, O people of Amorah: “Why do I need your numerous sacrifices?” says Hashem. “I am fed up with burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fatlings; the blood of bulls, sheep, and goats I do not desire. When you come to appear before Me, who asked this of you, to trample My courtyards? Bring your worthless minchah offerings no longer; they are an incense of abomination to Me. [As for] the Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos, and your calling of convocations – I cannot endure mendacity with solemn assembly. My very Being detests your roshei chodashim (new moons) and your moadim; they have become a burden upon Me, one I am weary of bearing. When you spread your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even if you were to increase prayer, I will not listen; your hands are filled with blood.” (Yeshayahu 1:10-15)

Abravanel, in his introductory questions to this chapter (#5), raises a question on these verses:

“My very Being detests your roshei chodashim and your moadim; they have become a burden upon Me” – but the Torah commanded regarding the moadim and roshei chodashim, saying, "These are the moadim of Hashem, holy convocations"! How could He say that His very Being detests them? If it is due to their many sins, would it not have been more appropriate to say He hates their evil deeds, rather than the moadim and roshei chodashim themselves?

Abravanel offers two answers to this question, but I prefer the explanation provided by Sforno (Vayikra 23:2):

The intention [of the moadim] is that along with the day’s celebration, in which “Israel rejoices in its Maker” (Tehilim 149:2), part of their involvement should be in iskei kodesh (holy matters), as our Sages said (Beitzah 15b), “chetzyo la’Shem chetzyo lachem (half for Hashem and half for you).” By doing this, the shechinah (divine presence) will certainly rest upon Israel … He [therefore] said, “Those holidays which you proclaim as mikraei kodesh (holy convocations),” meaning gatherings of the people for iskei kodesh, since the gathering of people is called a “convocation,” like in the verse “Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos, the calling of convocations” (Yeshayahu 1:13) … “These are My holidays” [means] they are the holidays that I desire. However, if you do not proclaim them as mikraei kodesh but allow them to become mikraei chol (secular convocations), involving mundane matters and human pleasures, they will not be “My moadim,” but rather “your moadim” that My very Being detests.

The moadim were given to us for sasson v’simchah (gladness and rejoicing), but this simchah must not consist entirely of physical and psychological indulgence. Such a celebration would transform these mikraei kodesh into mikraei chol. Rather, our moed celebration must be devoted in equal proportion to “iskei kodesh.” One might think this refers to our involvement in Torah study, tefilah, tzedakah, chesed, and other things that God desires. Halachically, this is certainly true (see Rambam Hilchos Shevisas Yom Tov 6:17 and Aruch ha’Shulchan Orach Chayim 529:1-2). However, Sforno’s student, R’ Elia di Nola (ibid.), clarifies what Sforno meant by “iskei kodesh”:

The term “convocation” means the calling and assembling of the people, meaning that they will all gather with the wise and understanding individuals who teach knowledge and fear of Hashem on these Yomim Tovim, for not everyone is wise, but they should go to the study halls to listen and learn, and in this way, the entire people will merit reward. Therefore, it says “These are the moadim of Hashem which you shall proclaim as holy convocations” – meaning that you gather to learn – “these are My holidays.” And if you spend all these days solely in rejoicing and eating, they are not “My holidays” but “your holidays,” and regarding them, Yeshayahu said, “My very Being detests your roshei chodashim and your moadim.”

The ultimate purpose of the moadim is the same as the ultimate purpose of the Torah regimen as a whole: yedias Hashem (knowledge of God). The moadim that Hashem calls “Mine” (with a capital M) are those devoted to yedias Hashem, whereas “your” moadim, devoted exclusively to personal gratification without any involvement in yedias Hashem, He detests with His very Being.

If this conception of the moadim is the basis of Yeshayahu’s comments, one would expect him to reference it in some explicit fashion. In fact, he does, as seen in the opening rebuke of the haftarah and the sefer:

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for Hashem has spoken. Children I have reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows its owner and the donkey his master's trough, [but] Israel does not know; My people does not understand. (Yeshayahu 1:2-3)

This theme—Israel’s lack of yedias Hashem as their chief sin—recurs throughout Yeshayahu’s prophecies of rebuke: “Therefore, My people have been exiled because of lack of knowledge” (ibid. 5:13), “They do not know nor do they understand, for their eyes are coated from seeing and their minds from comprehending” (ibid. 44:18), “His watchmen are all blind without knowledge” (ibid. 56:10), and elsewhere.

But what does “yedias Hashem” mean in this context? On the most basic level, this refers to knowledge of Who Hashem is, as in, “You shall know today and take it to heart that Hashem is the God, in the heaven above and on the earth below, there is no other” (Devarim 4:39) and “Know the God of your father, and serve Him” (I Divrei ha’Yamim 28:9), and as we are commanded in the mitzvah of “I am Hashem, your God” (Shemos 20:2 and Devarim 5:6, as explained by Rambam in Sefer ha’Mitzvos Aseh #1 and Hilchos Yesodei ha’Torah 1:1-5).

However, the neviim (prophets) make it clear that intellectual, theoretical, and abstract knowledge is only the first step. The clearest expression of this idea comes from Yirmiyahu ha’Navi in my favorite pair of verses in all of Nach:

Thus says Hashem: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the wealthy man glory in his wealth, but let him who glories glory in this: comprehending and knowing Me, that I am Hashem, Who does chesed (kindness), mishpat (justice), and tzedakah (righteousness) on earth, for in these I delight,” says Hashem. (Yirmiyahu 9:22-23)

Our effort to “comprehend and know Hashem” must extend to the knowledge that He “does chesed, mishpat, and tzedakah on earth,” and that “in these does He delight.” In other words, our yedias Hashem must culminate in our emulation of His ways, driving us to engage in chezed, mishpat, and tzedakah.

If someone challenges the claim that yedias Hashem must culminate in emulation of His ways, Yirmiyahu states this concept of yedias Hashem even more explicitly: “‘He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Isn't this knowing Me?’ says Hashem” (ibid. 22:16). Radak (ibid.) comments on this verse simply by referencing Yirmiyahu 9:22-23. Likewise, on "Hear the word of Hashem, O Children of Israel, for Hashem has a charge against the inhabitants of the Land, for there is no truth, no kindness, and no knowledge of God in the Land" (Hoshea 4:1), Radak explains that “no knowledge of God in the Land” means “‘to do justice and righteousness’ … alternatively, to analytically seek knowledge of God” (ibid.). In other words, yedias Hashem has a theoretical and a practical dimension, and one without the other is incomplete.

Now that we’ve answered Abravanel’s question and understand the criteria by which Hashem desires or hates our moadim, let us turn to the upcoming moed: Tishah b’Av. Although Tishah b’Av is not one of the moadim listed in Parashas Emor, it is referred to as a moed in Megilas Eichah (1:15) and halachically regarded as having a moed character insofar as the recitation of tachanunim is concerned (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 559:4).

Unlike the moadim in the Torah, on which there is a mitzvah of simchah (rejoicing) and oneg (enjoyment), Tishah b’Av is a day of fasting and mourning. One might think it is not subject to the same pitfall of being treated as “your moed” instead of “My moed.” Unfortunately, this is not the case. Tishah b’Av can easily become a day on which we merely fast, go to shul, recite kinnos (dirges), and wait for the day to end. This way of relating to the moed of Tishah b’Av is certainly not what Hashem desires. This is most plainly stated in the haftarah of Yom ha’Kippurim:

Call out vociferously! Do not restrain [yourself]! Raise your voice like a shofar and tell My people their offense, and the House of Jacob its sin. They pretend to seek Me every day and desire to know My ways, like a nation that acts righteously and has not forsaken the justice of its God; they inquire of Me about the laws of justice as if they desire the nearness of God, [asking,] "Why did we fast and You did not see? Why did we afflict our souls and You did not know?" Behold—on your fast day you seek out personal gain and extort all your debts. Because you fast for grievance and strife, to strike each other with a wicked fist; you do not fast as befits this day, to make your voice heard on high. Can such be the fast I choose, a day when man merely afflicts himself? Can it be merely bowing one's head like a bulrush and spreading sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast and a day of favor to Hashem? Surely, this is the fast I choose: To break open the shackles of wickedness, to undo the bonds of injustice, and to let the oppressed go free, and annul all perversion [of justice]. Surely you should break your bread for the hungry, and bring the moaning poor [to your home]; when you see a naked person, clothe him; and do not hide yourself from your kin. Then your light will burst out like the dawn and your healing will speedily sprout; your righteous deed will precede you and the glory of Hashem will gather you in. Then you will call and Hashem will respond; you will cry out and He will say, "Here I am!" If you remove from your midst perversion [of justice], finger-pointing, and evil speech, and offer your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul; then your light will shine [even] in the darkness, and your deepest gloom will be like the noon. (Yeshayahu 58:1-10)

For our fast to be one that Hashem chooses and to which He responds, we must genuinely “seek Him every day and desire to know His ways” so that we may emulate them.

One might think that the prohibition against Torah study on Tishah b’Av would preclude the seeking of theoretical yedias Hashem advocated by Sforno. On the contrary—this restriction provides us with a unique opportunity to gain knowledge of how Hashem operates. Rambam (Hilchos Taaniyos 5:11) writes: “It is prohibited to read Torah, Neviim, or Kesuvim on Tishah b’Av, and Mishnah, halachos, Talmud, and Aggadah. One may only read Iyov, kinnos, and the bad portions of Yirmiyahu.” We can understand why kinnos and the bad portions of Yirmiyahu are permitted, as these sections concern the destruction of Jerusalem and the Mikdash and directly aid in our mourning and teshuvah. But why is Sefer Iyov permitted? It has nothing to do with the events of Tishah b’Av!

The Baal ha’Kuntress (Issur Talmud Torah b’Tishah b’Av) answers that at the heart of the national sins that led to the Churban (Destruction) was a flawed view of hashgachas Hashem (Divine providence). Therefore, our teshuvah necessarily involves a rectification of our erroneous understanding. Sefer Iyov is the only book in Tanach that explicitly examines erroneous views of hashgachah to arrive at a correct understanding. Rambam lists Sefer Iyov first, deviating from the order of permitted learning material stated in the Gemara, to underscore the fact that that our curriculum on Tishah b’Av is focused on studying hashgachah: Iyov primarily for theoretical knowledge, and kinnos and Yirmiyahu for both the theoretical and practical, with an emphasis on teshuvah.

This Tishah b’Av, may we all do our part to engage in iskei kodesh this, seeking yedias Hashem that culminates in chesed, mishpat, and tzedakah, and may our national teshuvah bring about the ultimate redemption whereby, Tishah b’Av and all the other fast days will be “gladness and rejoicing and moadim tovim” (Zechariah 8:19).

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