Transcript
Automatic transcript; may contain mistakes, especially in Hebrew.
The final kina of Eli Tzion has three unique things. The first is that in general when we say kinos, we're supposed to be sitting. Of course, the person has a difficult time sitting, it's okay to stand. But in general we're meant to be in the posture of a mourner, the posture of an avil. And for this last kina, the minig is to stand. The second is the anonymity of the author of this Kinnah. We don't know who wrote it. It's one of the most beautiful Kinnos that we have. An exceptional Kinnah in terms of content and how moving it is. But also we have a very beautiful niggun that we sing this Kinnah to. The third thing is when we look at the content, the content seems to be very powerful in terms of the two mishalim, the two parables that are brought. The first is a mother who's in the throes of labor.
And the second, which is particularly gut wrenching, is a young bride who's lost the husband of her youth. Everyone knows the Gemara at the end of Makos. Yer V'kiva and his colleagues are walking in the Makah maimikdash. They see the Chirba and Abbais. They're crying and Yer V'kiva is laughing. And they ask Yer V'kiva, why are you crying? He's like, why are you laughing? He says to them, why are you crying? He says, we're crying because it's the place of the Chirba and Bias. And he says, okay. He asks, why are you laughing? Now that one novua came true, there will be a real chorban here that we're going to see. Nothing here, mamish, nothing will grow. We're seeing a fox or a jackal, whatever it was, come out of the Makamemikdash. So now I know the other novua will come true. And ultimately the maisamikdash will be rebuilt.
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Akiva nicham tanu Akiva nicham tanu Akiva you have consoled us, Akiva you have consoled us What's this double language of Akiva you have consoled us? There's a challenge that we face. Every one of us faces it in our own way. Do we choose to live in reality? Or do we choose to be optimists? When you speak to someone who chooses to live in reality. They always, not because they mean to, but in a certain way they always make fun of optimists. He's not paying attention to what's really going on. So what are we supposed to be? Are we supposed to be people that pay attention to what's actually happening? Are we supposed to be looking into the future and saying what could possibly be? I think as I look at my own personal family, if I was to choose to be a realist, I would be devastated. I'm so blessed in my life to come from two parents who are balichuva, two parents who chose to become observant Jews.
But unfortunately in my family, nobody on my dad's side, and very few people on my mom's side followed that same path. And so every once in a while I go to America, sometimes as a family event, and I speak to the members of my family. What are they up to? And for the most part, they're Mary and Goyu. For the most part, they're Mary and Goyu. And I don't blame them. Why shouldn't they marry Goyu? They didn't see their mother's lighting Shabbos candles. They sent out Jesus' Greetings cards not really much to hold on to. Don't really identify us Jewish. So it makes Sense. Why would they live for something? That didn't matter to their parents. I just went Now. My grandmother's unveiling. She passed away from corona. And who was there? All I'm not Jewish, they're nice people, but we're not related. So if I chose to be a realist, then I chose to look at them and say, this is what's happening. Then we have these atheists,
people that choose to be, forgive me for saying it, a little insane. People that choose to dedicate A little insane. People that choose to dedicate their lives to saying I'm going to change the course of Klal Yisrael. We're going to get 3 million Jews to learn higher. Isn't that what your father is attempting? 3 million Jews to learn higher. We're sitting here in NCSY Cola and I have the unbelievable privilege of being on a lot of the NCSY programs and meeting with a lot of the kids from all the different programs, from TJJ, from all over the country. And it's this insanely ambitious goal of trying to change Kahl Yisrael when we know that the reality looks very different. And if I'm not mistaken, I very wrote an article about this. Because there's a whole hever that says why should we donate money to support organizations like Eish and NCSY and Orsameach?
We should put our money into Yishimos and seminaries, double down on what we have. Because that's what it means to be a realist. There's a challenge that we have. Do we choose to live in the real world or do we choose to live in the world that we want to live in? The Chachamim who cried when they saw the Churbim bias, they were right to cry. When they're living in the real world and they're looking around and they're seeing destruction everywhere they turn. Rav Akiva said, Kevri, you're missing the point here. You can't look at something just for a slice, for a fraction of a moment, the thing you know what reality is. I'm not dreaming. I haven't gone insane when I'm sitting here laughing. I just understand that there's a process here. And where you see despair, I see hope. And that's why they said Akiva Nikham Tannu Akiva Nikham Tannu Because there's two consolations. There's the consolation that I ultimately will feel in that moment of redemption But there's also a consolation that right now In the pain of what we're going through Seeing all my cousins marry you all. That's part of the process
Thanks! Eventually that's also an Uchama. That's what it means. Naqenu naqenu ami yemara el kedachim G-dru elle'idu shalayim Speak tenderly to your shalayim. What does it mean? To speak tenderly. To speak tenderly doesn't mean to speak softly, it doesn't mean to speak gently. It means to communicate hope. Because without hope there's no redemption. And the whole purpose of exile is redemption. We have Rabbi Akiva in our generation. Every day, who was in our campus just a few moments ago, of a Greenland spoke, is a Rabbi Akiva. He's spending his life communicating hope to all of Klal Yisrael and all the Rebbeim that you have here, doing their best to fight against the tide of something that we can't possibly understand. The things that are coming into our community, the things that are coming into our homes, And a group of Rebbeim who are sitting here saying, no we're going to do our best to inspire Klal Yisrael.
And to be honest with you, we have a group of talmidim here that are exceptional. Because you could have chosen to make it somewhere anyway. You could have chosen to be somewhere. Maybe there wasn't as much learning. Maybe there was more ball. Maybe there were other attractions, so Hamayv and Yovan. You chose to come here to NCSY Khol. Because you're also irrational in a certain way. We were also this eternal optimist who's just holding on to hope. That's a wonderful, beautiful thing. Zayar Hakadosh says, Oruz Arul atzadek, Ulyisrael Eiv Simcha. If you look at the end letters, it spells out Akiva, sofaytavos Akiva. Oruz Arul atzadek, Ulyisrael Eiv Simcha, that's why he was able to have Simcha, because he only saw things from the end. That's why Akiva The one who was able to bring the nachama, a double nachama. Don't just see it now. See it as it will one day be. It changes the way we view the world.
And that's why in this kennel we have two michalim. The woman who is in a throat of labor experiencing immeasurable pain, and the woman who has lost the husband of her youth. A Young Bride The difference between them is the Young Bride has lost everything and there's no coming back. The woman who's in the throes of labor knows soon there's going to be a birth. And we're being told to be the woman who's in the throes of labor and not to be the woman who has lost the husband of her youth. We have to communicate hope and perhaps we can suggest that that's why this exceptionally beautiful kinnah, the final kinnah, as we start to transition, as our way, Leiboy spoke so beautifully about our transition now to the afternoon where we begin to get up a little bit from the Savelas. Perhaps that's why it's an anonymous kinnah because you can't sing somebody else's song It's a Shabbos nacham of all people, it has to be yours. Sometimes we sing other peoples' songs. It's a cow-bok song, it's a shwacki song. It's a schlomo cat song. Sometimes we sing our own song. This has to be our song. It has to be the song that we take into the second half of Tisha BHav. It has to be the song that we take into Shabbos Nacham of all people. And Bezur Hashem has to be the song that we sing when we greet Mashiach T'Kenah, Bezur Hashem later today by the Kumsans of the world.
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