[Avodah] tisha ba-av and aveilut

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, July 6, 2007 5:50 am, Eli Turkel wrote:
: I find this statement confusing. The gemara explictly calls tisha
: ba-av aveilut yeshana and aveilut de-rabim....

The question AIUI is whether aveilus is defined as a lack of simchah
or as a show of kavod (which I guess would be better termed "kibud"
than "kavod").

My source of confusion in understanding RMF's position is
"mishenichnas Av mima'atim besimchah" (Taanis 29a). Seems pretty
open-and-shut. And this is in opposition to "mishenichnas Adar".

I wrote about aveilus as the existential "but" that comes with trying
to come to terms with tragedy in contrast to the simchah of
understanding one's cheileq. Takes detours through R' Aqiva's laughter
and Rav Saadia Gaon on simchah and laughgter. See
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/idealism.shtml>.

>From the idea as I developed it (admittedly far from a primary
source), simchah and aveilus are perforce in contrast.

...
: Thus, IMHO other fast days are a mixture of avelut over the bet
: hamikdash and teshuva while tisha ba-av stresses the avelut=sadness
: part. Various comentaries talk about the need for crying and sadness
: on tisha ba-av. At the other extreme Yom Kippur symbolizes teshuva
: and not sadness.

This is certainly true, since YK with the avodah is the happiest day
of the year.

However, I thought RYBS has aveilus switch to teshuvah at noon on 9
beAv. Before the BHMQ was set aflame, r"l, our aveilus reaches a
crechendo. Once it is burning... "Mizmor le'Asaf: E-lokim, ba'u goyim
be'nachalasekha, tim'u es heichal qodshekha!"

The medrash asks, "mizmor"? How is this topic appropriate for a style
of song associated with joy? And the medrash answers that the fact
that His anger was taken out on eitz va'even shows that He wants us to
survive and awaits our return.

And so, in the interval during which the Romans actually threw the
stones over the wall and lit the wood pillars of the bayis, aveilus
actually wains and teshuvah moves to the fore.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

PS: At the dig just south of the kotel, there is a pile of stones
actually thrown by Romans onto the road outside har habayis.

Last time I was there, I had fled an air raid siren in Tzefat in the
morning just a few hours before, in a state where emotions were
running stronger than thoughts. I saw the stones, connecting the pain
I had seen up north with millenia of Galus, and I unthinkingly just
responded to the need to touch them. Crying out a silent "Ad masai!"
to the Eibishter along with my Tehillim. But be"H I will soon be
returning, and hopefully will be more inclined to level thinking.

Now for the Avodah question: Is it mutar to touch the stones that are
no longer on har habayis?

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter