E-Shiur Text For Tisha b'Av

1) Zechariah 8:19

‘Thus said the LORD of Hosts: The fast of
the fourth month (17 Tamuz), the fast of the fifth month (9 Av), the
fast of the seventh month (3 Tishre [Gedaliah]), and the fast of the tenth
month (10 Tevet), shall become occasions of joy and gladness, happy festivals
for the House of Judah.’

Zechariah lived in the
century following the destruction of the First Temple
(586 BCE). Which two fasts in the Jewish calendar does he not
mention (see Lev. 16:29 and Esther 4:16)? Why not?

2) Mishna
Taanit 4:6

There were five events that happened to our
ancestors on the seventeenth of Tammuz and five on the ninth of Av…On the ninth of Av

i) It was decreed that our ancestors should not enter the land (see
Numbers 14:28-35), ii) The Temple
was destroyed the first time iii) and the second
time (70 CE), iv) Betar was captured, v) And the city was ploughed up (iv and v refer to the Bar Kochba revolt, around 135 CE).

How many of these
events are from the Bible?

What were the
Rabbis telling us by putting these items together on this date?

3) T. B. Yoma 9b

Why was the first
Sanctuary destroyed? Because of three things which prevailed there: idolatry, incest/adultery,
and bloodshed…

But why was the second Sanctuary destroyed, seeing that in its time they occupied themselves
with Torah, the [observance of] mitsvot, and the practice of lovingkindness?
Because therein prevailed hatred without cause. That teaches you that
groundless hatred is considered as grave as the three sins of idolatry, incest/adultery,
and bloodshed together.

According to this
source, what was the nature of Jewish society in First Temple
times?

Do you note anything special about the sins mentioned? See TB Sanhedrin
74a – Rabbi Yonatan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon son of Yehozadak
what they discussed and voted on in Nitza’s attic, in Lod: “For all the
transgressions in the Torah,
if a person is told “transgress or be killed”, he should transgress
and not be killed, with the exception of idolatry,
incest/adultery and bloodshed.”

How does the text
compare Jewish society in Second Temple times (to that of First Temple
times)?

Does “the punishment
fit the crime?”

How do you think the
Talmud is explaining the cause of the Second Temple’s
destruction?

4) TB Gittin 55b

The destruction of
Jerusalem came
through a Kamza and a Bar Kamza in this way. A certain man had a friend Kamza
and an enemy Bar Kamza. He once made a party and said to his servant, Go and
bring Kamza. The servant went and brought Bar Kamza.
When the man [the host]
found him there he said, “See, you tell tales about me; what are you doing
here? Get out.” Said the other (Bar Kamza): “Since I am here, let me stay, and
I will pay you for whatever I eat and drink.” He (the host) said No. “Then let me give you half the cost of the party.”
No, said the other.

“Then let me pay for the whole party.” He still said, No,
and he took him by the hand and threw him out.

Said the other (Bar Kamza), “Since
the Rabbis were sitting there and did not stop him, this shows that they agreed
with him. I will go and inform against then, to the (Roman) Government.”

Read the story
carefully.

Who are the parties who
contributed to the result?

What was the
fault of each?

What was “the straw that
broke the camel’s back”?

5) TB Baba Metzia 30b

“That they shall do” – this means
[acts] beyond the requirements of the law.’ For R. Johanan said: Jerusalem was destroyed
only because they gave judgments therein in accordance with the law of the
Torah.

Were they to have judged in accordance with untrained
arbitrators? But say thus: because they based their judgments upon the
law of the Torah, and did not go beyond the requirements of the law.

What do you think it means
“not to go beyond the requirements of the law”?

What is problematic about basing judgments
strictly on the letter of the law?

Is this an attribute
that can be applied to people as well as courts?

What are the positive
and negative contributions of such people to the society (or family or
organization)?

6) TB Shabbat 119b

Abaye said: Jerusalem
was destroyed only because they [its inhabitants] desecrated the Sabbath there

R. Abbahu said: Jerusalem
was destroyed only because they stopped the reading of the Shema morning
and evening

R. Hamnuna said: Jerusalem
was destroyed only because they neglected [the education of] school children;

‘Ulla said: Jerusalem
was destroyed only because they had no shame (of sin) one before the other

R. Isaac said: Jerusalem
was destroyed only because the small and the great were made treated the same way

R. Amram son of R. Simeon b. Abba said in R. Simeon b. Abba’s name in
R. Hanina’s name: Jerusalem
was destroyed only because they did not rebuke each other

Rab Judah said: Jerusalem was destroyed
only because they held scholars in contempt there

Raba said: Jerusalem
was destroyed only because there were no longer men of integrity there:

What do you think
about this list?

Do you think the
rabbis intended this literally?

What
else might they have been trying to say, about the mitsva or behavior
mentioned?

7) Would you say that
Jewish society today has sins/faults which threaten its existence?

If so, what are they?

The Midrash in Jerusalem Talmud Brachot 2:4 tells a strange story of an Arab
who explains to a Jew that the shrieking of the Jew’s ox was a sign that the
Temple was destroyed and that its second shrieking a sign that the Messiah,
named Menachem, was born in the area of Bethlehem. The Jew sold the ox and
bought cloths to sell as diapers, in an attempt to find the mother and child. He
went from town to town selling his wares till he encountered a mother who would
not buy for her baby because “he was born on day the Temple was destroyed,” which she takes
as a curse. The seller convinces her to buy, even though she has no money,
saying that “on the date it was destroyed the Temple will be rebuilt.” He offers to come by to collect at a later
date. When he returns and asks about the child, she says that the day they
spoke previously a “stormy wind” occurred and swept the baby away and
she has not seen him since. The Midrash continues, with a Rabbi Bon rejecting
that story as proof, “when we have explicit verses,” and quotes two
adjacent phrases from Isaiah: “and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty
one” (10:34, referring to the Temple) and “And a shoot shall come
forth from the stock of Jesse” (11:1, referring to the Messiah).

How do you like/explain each of the ways the idea is presented that the
birth of the Messiah is tied to the Churban?

The sequence of events is the same in each case. What comes first? When
does the second event happen in each – past or future? Is it significant?

Thank you to all who contributed this year.

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