Each year on Tisha B’Av we commemorate and mourn the destruction of our two batei mikdash, together with their associated torment and exiles. Certainly, these events were both tragic and traumatic and left indelible scars on the collective psyche of Bnei Yisroel, both at the time of their occurrence as well as for many subsequent centuries.
Yet, despite this pain and agony, it is still possible to identify several proverbial silver linings, positive outcomes which these events have engendered. One such benefit has been the concretization of our belief in Hashem as the guiding hand of Jewish history.
It is well-known that every power of yesteryear, such as Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome, has long disappeared from the historical landscape. Yet, the Jews have survived, and have often thrived. When you consider that the Jewish people have averaged to no more than a mere 1% of the entire world population, the question of our enduring survival becomes even more perplexing.
Compounding the issue is the set of circumstances that our nation has endured. In all human history, seldom has an entire nation been exiled out of its country. Multiple exiles are practically unheard of. No nation has ever survived exile with its national identity intact. Based on the “rules” of history the Jewish people should have been destroyed many times over or, at the very least, absorbed into other nations.
How is it that we have managed to defy this trend? What is it that ensures our ability to continue this incredible odyssey? Of course, the primary answer is that our survival is in no way contingent upon our physical and numerical strength. Had it been so, we surely would have vanished from the world long ago. Rather, we survive for the simple reason that Hashem has willed it so in order that we can continue in the lofty covenant established with our ancestors.
Thus, even while (the Jewish people) are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or destroy them … I am the Lord their God; I will remember them because of the covenant I made with their ancestors whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, in the sight of the nations, so that I might be their God. (Vayikra 26:44-45)
But that is not to say that we have not also played a significant role in ensuring our own survival. Of note are the efforts of the great Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, a member of the beit din of the Sanhedrin at the time of the great revolt against Rome (in 66 CE, which eventually resulted in churban bayit sheni). To salvage at least some remnants of Jewish life in Eretz Yisroel, Rabban Yochanan risked his own life to leave Yerushalayim and meet with the Roman general Vespasian.
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai managed to gain the good graces of Vespasian and was granted three requests. The sage asked for three things, all relating to Torah and the Jews’ spiritual preservation. “Give me Yavneh and its wise men, the family chain of Rabban Gamliel, and physicians to heal Rabbi Tzadok.” All three of his requests were summarily granted. (Gittin, 56a)
At first glance, one is left to wonder whether Rabban Yochanan’s requests truly addressed the needs of the people. In fact, some of his own colleagues criticized him, stating that the Beit Hamikdash, perhaps even the entire city, could have been spared had the appeal only been made. Seen from the vantage point of historical hindsight, however, we can see that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, in asking for Yavneh, comprehended that for the sake of survival, the Jewish people would be better served with a viable Torah center even more than its own capital.
“Give me Yavneh and its wise men!” Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai stood before the Roman emperor and asked of him, not the preservation of the state, because it was no longer a state of the Torah, and not the preservation of the Beit Hamikdash, because Herod’s name was associated with it—but the preservation of the oral law of the Torah, which depended on Yavneh and its sages. He knew that if there were a people of the Torah, there would be a land of the Torah and in the future — a state of the Torah. With “Yavneh and its wise men” he saved everything (Rabbi Eliyahu E. Dessler).
In a physical sense, the Romans emerged from this war as the victors, capturing Yerushalayim and destroying its Beit Hamikdash. History, however, would show that the Jews won the greater ideological struggle, keeping themselves and their Torah alive long after the fall of the empire and its pagan values. When the Beit Hamikdash and the political entity that it represented disappeared, the spirit of Judaism, represented by Yavneh, stepped in and filled the void.
We are an ‘Eternal Nation’ (Yeshayahu 44:7). Our survival has been directly linked to our covenant with Hashem and our commitment to Him and His Torah. As long as we follow the Torah, we are guaranteed survival. It is the quality of Jewish living that carries the day, not our numerical strength. In the words of the Talmud, “The People that is tired out by intensive Torah study will not be delivered into the hands of her oppressor.” (Sanhedrin 94b)
Naphtali Hoff, PsyD, is an executive coach and president of Impactful Coaching and Consulting (impactfulcoaching.com). He can be reached at (212) 470.6139 or at [email protected]. Register for his Aug. 8 training on “Overcoming Call Reluctance” at bit.ly/callreluctancewebinar.
