Special DEVARIM Edition - The Nine Days Before Tisha BeAv
The Gemara tells us that one of the reasons why the Bet HaMikdash was destroyed was based on a pasuk from the Nevi’im that says the land was destroyed because, ‘They Left My Torah’. And the Gemara asks what does it mean; ‘They Left My Torah’? It wasn’t that they weren’t learning. They were in fact learning Torah at the time. But it was because they did not make the blessings of the Torah. Every morning we make Berachot HaTorah, when we say ‘Asher Bachar Banu’, etc. In that generation of the destruction, they learnt, but they did not make those mornings blessings of Birkat HaTorah.
Chachamim ask the obvious question. We see from other Gemariyot that the reason why the Bet HaMikdash was destroyed was because they committed the three cardinal sins. There was murder, there was Avodah Zara, and there was immorality. So how do we square these 2 Gemariyot? Was it because of the three cardinal sins, or was it because they did not make Birkat Torah?
Furthermore, the Gemara writes that the study of Torah protects a person from sin. Additionally, according to some opinions it even protects a person after he is finished learning. The Gemara’s language is [listen to the audio clip for the exact quote] that ‘it protects and saves a person’. So if they were learning Torah in that generation, then how did they even come to those 3 cardinal sins? Torah is supposed to protect you. Torah is supposed to weaken the Yetzer Hara. It’s a paradox. You can’t learn Torah and then commit those sins.
The explanation is based on HOW they studied Torah. They studied Torah as a subject. They studied Torah for the intellectualism of it. They studied in order to sharpen their brains. Torah is very interesting. Torah is very challenging. A person opens up a Gemara and you have question, and you have an answer, and you have a rebuttal, and a refutation. It’s very enjoyable to study. But you have to remember when you are studying that it is a Mitzvah, and it’s the word of G-d, and if you disregard that, then Chas VeShalom, Torah becomes secularized. And that is, what it means that they did not make a Beracha on the Torah. To them Torah was like mathematics. To them Torah was like any other subject. We don’t make a Beracha when sit down to learn science, or before we read literature. They figured, why go and make a special Beracha before studying Torah? They believed in learning Torah for the education of it. And because of that, the protection of Torah was taken away from them.
So really, the destruction came about due to a series of transgressions. First, they did not make Birkat Torah, and then because of that, the Torah did not protect them, which ultimately led to committing the 3 cardinal sins.
That’s a great lesson for us during these 9 days before Tisha BeAv, the days before we remember the destruction. We have to fix this sin of the previous generations. We have to not only study Torah, but we have to remember that Torah has to be studied with purity and holiness. We have to remember that it is a Mitzvah and we have to treat it with the proper respect.
In these 9 days, we should be a little more careful when we make Birkat HaTorah in the morning. We should have a little more Kavanah (concentration of intent) to repair what our ancestors did in that time, learn from them, and respect the Torah in the right manner.
