The longest day
July 31st, 2009 | Tikkun Daily
This article has been edited by the addition of various links and graphics not found in the original.
When I gave my testimony on behalf of Hassan Diab (see the Update at the bottom of this article) the Crown prosecutor asked why a rabbi would pay chaplaincy visits to a Muslim who is known to be entirely secular.
“The secular have spiritual needs also,” I replied.
“I didn’t say they didn’t,” she replied. Actually, that’s precisely what she said. But why quibble?
Jews pray at the Western Wall in Ottoman times
Yesterday was July 30. It was also Tesha B’Av, the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av, which is one of two major fasts in the Jewish calendar. Tesha B’Av is the longest fast day because it occurs in midsummer, when the days are yet still quite long.
Tesha B’Av occurs three weeks before the New Moon of Elul, at which point we begin a 40 day period of introspection that culminates on Yom Kippur (YK).
YK is usually thought of to be the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. This is not so: Shabbat (the Sabbath) is the holiest day, and it occurs weekly from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset plus one hour.
The shofar is a symbol of both Yom Kippur & Rosh Hashana
YK is, however, the single holiest day. It is a day of fasting, introspection, and prayer.
Rabbi Yosef Dov-Ber Soloveitchik (most-often called “the Rav”), of righteous and blessed memory, often called Yom Kippur by its formal name: Yom Ha’ki’purim. In doing so, the Rav followed the opinion of the Gaon of Vilna, an 18th century tzadiq (holy man) who led the religious Jewish community of Lithuania-Poland.
The "Vilna Gaon", Rabbi Eli'ahu of Vilna
The Gaon’s insight is that the major holy day of Yom Kippur and the minor holy day of Purim are linked.
Purim is distinct from every other holy day because it commemorates events that took place in Persia. It is distinct also because the holy day liturgy, which is the biblical Book of Esther, does not once mention G!d in any way. In this sense, Purim is very much a physical holy day.
Most holy days have spiritual and physical halves: a part of the day is in synagogue, a part of the day feasting at home or with friends. YK is unique because it is entirely spiritual. Purim is unique because it is entirely physical.
When we see YK as a day like Purim (the literal meaning of Yom Ha’ki’purim) we link the spiritual with the physical. The website of Aish Hatorah has an interesting perspective on the Gaon’s insight.
We don’t retreat from life, we elevate it.
Do we elevate the hardships we encounter and seek spiritual meaning? Or do we allow ourselves to be overcome by the physical responses of grief, depression, and anxiety?
* * *
Update on Hassan Diab
The Jewish Courts for Social Justice has unanimously decided to refute the press release issued by Bnai Brith Canada. This will be our first official statement of any kind.
Rania Tfaily, Hassan Diab’s wife, was present at a meeting at which the President of Carleton University failed to show. She was expected, so her failure to appear sent a message.
Hassan has discovered he has a great deal of faculty support. Whether or not this translates into reinstatement is not yet clear.
