בית יעקב הכולל ר"ח אב

אשרי אדם שמע לי לשקד על דלתתי יום יום (משלי ח׳ ל׳יד) איתא דברים רבה) פ״ז ס״ב (.אשריו לאדם בשעה ששמעותיו לי

The בית יעקב begins to explain the Avodah of the month of אב "Fortunate is the man who listens to me that he constantly dwells at My door every day."  (Mishlei 30:14) The Midrash explains this to mean the fortune of a man is when he wants what he hears to be for  the sake of Heaven.

 י להנה בחודש הזה  הראיה נתמעטה כי השי׳׳ת מנהג עולמו בלבוש שיוכלו לומר אלהיהם  של אלו עזב אותם. אבל לאדם השומע היטב יראה כי השי״ת מביט בהשגחה פרטיות רק לטובת ישראל. והנה לפי דעת האדם יתראה כי בראיה יש כח מפורש יותר מבשמיעה. אבל באמת בשמיעה יש יותר כח. כי הראיה אינה טפלת רק על גוון חוץ כפי שנראה מבחוץ. אבל השמיעה הוא שהאדם שומע מעומק כל דבל

The בית יעקב  explains what it means to want to hear Hashem. In this month of אב the power of the sense of sight is diminished, as Hashem is running the word in a way that people can say that “The G-d of the Jews has left them,” due to the tragedies which have befallen the Jewish people during this month. But to a person who listens well will see that Hashem looks out for each and every Jew (hashgacha pratis) Now, you might think that seeing is more descriptive than hearing, as our abilities are more impaired when we can’t see. The truth is that hearing is more powerful.  This is because when you see, you are only seeing the surface, the color on the outside. However, when a person truly hears, they penetrate to the depths of what is being said.

. והנה השם השולט בזה החודש הוא ״הסכת "ישמע ״ישראל ״היום (כי תבוא כ״ז ט) והנה הסכת הוא שהאדם יסתיר עצמו ויצמצם עצמו בחושיו לבלי יביט לעניני בעולם הזה.

Based on this concept the בית יעקב will now explain the צרוף of this month which is its spiritual essence. What is a צרוף ? There are 12 combinations of Hashem’s 4 letter name (that starts with   יand ץ.) His name can be rearranged in these 12 different ways and the Sefoim explain that each combination, describes how Hashem forms each month and their spiritual character. The name for the month of אב is  הסכת ושמע ישראל היום (הו-י-ה) which means “concentrate and listen, today, Oh Israel.” It comes from a Pasuk  (in Devarim 27:9)  הסכת means for a person to ignore the flow of information from his other senses, not to look at things of this world, and therefore listen deeply.

 

 ואז יראה מפורש כי היום הזה נהייח לעם קדוש. וזה יוכל לשמוע האדם בחודש הזה ביותר. כי החודש הזה מוכן לכך. והן אמת כי שניהם יצרכו לאדם שישמע בעומק ונם יראה ויבין על הלבוש מפורש איך השי״ת עוסק עמו

Theבית יעקב  completes the pasuk in Ki Savo, “then you will see, that  today you have become a holy nation.” In this month, a person can hear how Hashem loves and takes case of the Jewish people. This is a month that whose spiritual essence is the opportunity to listen carefully for Hashem.  A person needs to hear in depth and to see, and then he’ll understand how explicit it is that Hashem is with us always, even though the month of Av has been a difficult one for the Jewish people.

 

. ואיזה גדול יותר או השמיעה או הראיה בזה נכלל כל המחלוקת שבש״ס

So which is greater seeing or hearing? The בית יעקב  says that it is this discussion which is the basis for every dispute in the Shas. Each topic of dispute has an outer aspect (characterized by sight)  and a inner aspect (characterized by hearing) and the different sides in such a dispute are disagreeing whether to take it from the outer side or the inner side.

. ועל ידי זה היה האריז״ל מדקדק ומחמיר בעניני׳ בין המצרים ותשעה ימים שבאב. והוא כדי שלא יעורר קטרוג.

For this reason the Arizal was very stringent regarding the laws of the 9 days of Av and the Bein Hametzarim so as not to incur any criticism against himself in the Heavenly court. What was the criticism? Taking the listening instead of the hearing? What’s wrong with that?

 

 כי מבואר בשם הרב רבינו דוב ז״ל כי באלו הימים יכול האדם למצוא את השי׳׳ת ולדבר עמו יותר מכל השנה. כמו שהמלך בעת שהוא בביתו צריך השתדלות רבה טרם יגיע אליו. אבל כשימצאנו בדרך יכול לדבר עמו כל מה שחפץ ואין צריך כל כך השתדלות ויראה. ולכן לאדם המרגיש זאת צריך להחמיר על עצמו לבלתי יעורר קטרוג דלא איכפת ליה בצרות ישראל. ומסתפק במה שהוא מכבר רואה יותר מפורש

 

Lets understand what the complaint against the Arizal could  be? The Maggid of Mezritch explained that it is in these days that it is possible to meet Hashem and speak with Him. Let’s understand with a parable. Normally, it is difficult to see a king, to enter in to the palace and speak to him requires a great amount of preparation and exertion even to get in. However, when the king is away from home, it is much easier to get an audience with him and speak with him about whatever you need. So too, during the days of  Bein Hametzarim, a person can meet Hashem on the road, here in exile with us.  We normally process the world through seeing, but during the month of  אב the true way to process it is through hearing. This “hearing” Hashem can bring an unbelieveable closeness, as it is the power to meet Hashem where we can’t see Him.

A person who feels closeness also needs to show stringency on himself so not to elicit a complaint against himself, that he doesn’t care about the suffering of the Jewish people, due to the unbelievable closeness that he experiences. To demonstrate happiness, which comes as a result of this closeness, it would seem that the pain of the Jewish people during the exile does not bother him. Therefore, he satiates himself with the clarity of Hashem’s closeness that he sees clearly even though the world does not.  Therefore, while these days are the most trying at the same time there is the most closeness.

וזה איתא בספר יצירה (פ״ה מ״ח)  . המליך אות ט׳ בשמיעה וקשר לו כתר וצרפן זה בזה. וצר בהם ארי ה בעולם ואב בשנה וכוליא שמאלה בנפש זכר ונקבה. ועל זה רומז אות ס׳ דמבואר בזה״ק(תרומה קנ״ב א׳). כי במקום שאות ט׳ נראה אין שם מיתה. וזה רומז על שלא פסק אהבה השי״ת. ונם אריה מורה בכל דבר על כח האמצעי. כדאיתא בגמרא זבחים (נ״ט ב)  והאראיל שתים עשרה כו׳. מלמד שמאמצע הוא מודד:

 Now we can understand the teaching of the Sefer Yetzirah, “that Hashem made the letter ט rule in the month of אב and attached a crown to its head and combined them. He drew the lion in the world, אב in the months and the kidneys in the person” The Zohar says that the ט   means the place of the source of life, where there is no death. This tells us that Hashem’s love for us never stops, despite the fact that we think he’s far away, we have to listen, he never stopped loving us and giving us life. The sefer yetzira’s teaching that in this month Hashem drew the lion in the world, the בית יעקב explains it in terms of the power of the middle? What is the power of the middle? What does this have to do with a lion?  The בית יעקב וunderstands this from the fact that the מערכה, which is the fire on the מזבח was described by Yechezkel as a lion. Yechezkel measured this מערכה and found it to be 12 amos. The Gemara in Zevachim explains that this length can only be understood if we assume that we are measuring from the middle of the מערכה. We measure the world through the middle this means that all of the corners of the מערכה were 12 amos from the middle. When we measure from the middle we are measuring from the inside. The בית יעקה  explains that this lion in the world, means to measure from the middle, such that everything is equally distant from the middle.  Like the lion of the Mizbeach, there is never any increase in distance from Hashem, even in אב when we learn to listen.

 

Practical Advice

We know the famous tradition from The Groisser Maggid about Hashem’s closness during the three weeks. So why do we need the minhagim of Aveilus? Both levels of reality are true, there are tzaros for the Jewish people, and Hashem never leaves us. Therefore there are two important Avodos, of feeling the pain of exile and at the same time listening for Hashem in the darkness. During the month of אב when we are keeping the Minhagim Aveius, it is specifically then when we need to listen for Hashem and can meet the King on the road. When we meet Him there in our pain, we can draw close to Him. Whenever a person is having a difficult time in their life, Hashem meets them there. However, for the person to negate the difficulty is foolish, but they need to understand that it is specifically at such at time when they can develop a relationship with Hashem “while they are on the road.”