Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

Today’s date is mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 580:2) as an ancient fast day commemorating the destruction of Shiloh, 2,910 years ago on the 10^th of Iyar. The sons of Eli, the Kohen Gadol, made a tragic mistake in thinking that merely taking the golden ark to battle would assure the defeat of the Philistines. The Philistines themselves were sorely frightened by the news that they would soon face the deadly wrath of the God who had humbled the Egyptians. Nonetheless, they fought and routed the forces of Israel, captured the holy ark, and killed the sons of Eli, and when Eli heard the news, he too died. All this took place on this day because the sons of Eli thought that they could harness Divine power with the holy ark of the Tabernacle. They failed to realize that as a result of their own immorality, the ark was nothing but a box of wood and gold with two winged creatures on top.

Moshe delivered the same message to the Israelites who thought they could imbue a golden calf with the Divine spirit and power of the God who had just delivered them from Egypt, by smashing the tablets that were made by God Himself. In the face of their actions, the tablets bore no sanctity. Nothing physical bears inherent sanctity. Things only become holy insofar as our behavior and actions imbue them with holiness. Yirmiyahu could be so brazen as to call the Temple a den of iniquity (7:11) to his audience in Judah, just before the Babylonian destruction.

Perhaps then, the holiest thing in the universe besides God is the human soul. The Malbim, in the beginning of the second of this week’s Torah readings refers to the “souls” of the Mitzvot that are in the Torah. Just as we have a body and a soul, so too, do the Mitzvot. The body of the Mitzva is to eat the Matza, to affix a Mezuzah, and to Bench after eating. The “soul” of the Mitzva creates many beautiful structures and bridges and connections to God and to other people. This is the true direction to holiness, in God and in other people, more than in things. If the sons of Eli understood this , the 10^th of Iyar would not have been referenced as a fast day in the Shulchan Aruch.

All this being said, we can imbue our shuls with holiness through our prayers, acts of Chesed, Torah learning and community activity. For many months, much of this activity has been transferred to the home, outdoors and zoom. This is important. The attainment of holiness for the Jew is certainly not limited to the synagogue. But we are moving soon towards more activity in the shul in ways that will imbue our walls with greater and greater holiness. We are continuing much of the physical renovations of our structure towards our goal of enhanced and safe service to our community. Let us prepare for a grand return to the synagogue and rejoice in its anticipation.

Stay safe. Be healthy.  Be excellent.

Rabbi Allen Schwartz     

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Congregation Ohab Zedek

118 West 95^th Street | New York, NY  10025-6604

Phone 212.749-5150, ext 200 | Fax 212.663-3635

E-mail ras@ozny.org

Website:  www.ozny.org