A Vision of What?

 

What do you see?

This Shabbat, we read the Chazon Yishayahu, the vision of Isaiah.  What did he see?  What do we see?

The text is not very encouraging.  That is why we read it before Tisha B’Av, to make sure we get a taste of pur’anut, tragedy, in time for the fast day.  Even our religious activities are rejected if we lack the basic compassion for those in need.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev has a different take on the vision.  He explains that this Shabbat is called Shabbat Chazon because on this day every Jew is granted a vision of the future Beit HaMikdash.

He illustrates this teaching with a parable.  A father once prepared a beautiful suit of clothes for his son.  But the child neglected his father’s gift, and soon the suit was in tatters.  The father gave the child a second suit of clothes; this one, too, was ruined by the child’s carelessness.  So, the father made a third suit.  This time, however, he withholds it from his son.  Every once in a while, on special occasions, he shows the suit to the child, explaining that when the child learns to appreciate and properly care for the gift, it will be given to him.  This encourages the child to improve his behavior, until it gradually becomes second nature to him - at which time he will be worthy of his father’s gift.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak’s vision is very different than Isaiah’s.  How are we to understand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak’s positive and redemptive “vision” of Shabbat Chazon which stands in marked contrast to the vision of destruction found in the haftorah?  Which vision are we supposed to see?  

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, explains this “vision thing” in a most creative way.  (See The Chasidic Dimension, volume 4 based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXIX, pp. 11-17.)  He weaves together Jewish law, Midrash, and mysticism to provide a glimpse into what we should see.

Jewish law states (Rambam Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 1:17) that it is forbidden to demolish even a small section of the Beit HaMikdash in a destructive manner.  It is certainly forbidden to destroy the entire Beit HaMikdash. (See Rambam – Sefer Ha-Mitzvot - Negative Commandment #65.)

According to the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 30:9), God is bound, as it were, by the same commandments that He gave the Jewish people.

לפי שאין מדותיו של הקב"ה כמדת בשר ודם,מדת ב"ו מורה לאחרים לעשו' והוא אינו עושה כלום והקב"ה אינו כן אלא מה שהוא עושה הוא אומר לישראל לעשות ולשמור

God’s ways are different than those of flesh and blood.  Human beings instruct others to do something but don’t do it themselves. God is not like this. Rather, God does what He tells the Jews they must do.

Accordingly, how could God violate Jewish law and permit the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash?

Halakhah (Kesef Mishna, Beit Habechira 1:17) provides only one exception that permits destroying the Mikdash – or a shul for that matter.  One may only damage and destroy when the purpose is to rectify and repair the structure and to rebuild it in the same place.  Accordingly, the only justification for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash is in order to replace it with an even more splendid structure.  Thus we find the Midrash states (Yalkut Shimoni, Yirmiyahu #259) that the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash was conditional on God rebuilding it.  In fact, the Mordechai, a leading 13^th century rabbinic scholar, writes (beginning of the 4^th chapter of Masechet Megillah):

דההיא נתיצה בנין מיקרי

When damaging or destroying the Mikdash in a permissible fashion, the very act of destruction is, in fact, classified as building.

This leads to an astounding conclusion regarding the destruction of the Temples and the difficulties and tragedies in Jewish history which followed.  According to Rabbi Schneerson’s approach, the destruction of the second Temple is part of the construction of the third Temple.  When we pray for the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash at the end of the amida prayer three times a day, we are not praying for a process to begin at some point in the future.  We are praying for the completion of a process that has already begun.  The destruction is part of the rebuilding process.  The exile is part of the redemption. 

This idea can help us understand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak’s enigmatic description of the vision of Shabbat Chazon.  Glimpsing Isaiah’s vision of destruction is not contradictory to a vision of the third Temple.  Just as the Talmud teaches that Moshiach was born on Tisha B’Av, we can glimpse redemption even as we encounter pain, hatred, and exile before our eyes.  Shabbat Chazon is the time to catch a glimpse of the Third Temple – of the geulah even as we are very much anchored in the galut.  It is a time to realize that the destruction and hardships throughout history and today are paving the way for a glorious future.

Each of us has had a fair share of difficulty these past few months.  This year, in particular, gives us a new way to look at the Three Weeks, Nine Days, Shabbat Chazon, and Tisha B’Av.  We are immersed in the narrow straits of a terrible plague.  Nevertheless, we must still strive for a glimpse of the healing and a return to normal.  

What do we see?  It is not enough to only look at the here and now.

           

What should we also see?  In the spirit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, we should take notice of the possibilities.  Think of the positive things we see – the heroes fighting the pandemic, the chesed that is being performed, our ability to manage and thrive.

Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, the Piasetzner Rebbe, was Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto.  His sermons and teachings from that period were collected in the book Aish Kodesh.  The last entry in that book is from Shabbat Chazon 1944. In that drasha, Rav Shapira explains that Isaiah received a chazon, a vision, because the Jewish people had lost their vision.  He wrote: “We lost the vision of our true goals in life, and we lost our sight of the truth.”

 בְּאֵין חָזוֹן יִפָּרַע עָם           

             

King Solomon stated, “Without vision, the people will perish.” (Mishlei 29:18)

We cannot ignore the Temple’s destruction as we persevere through the difficulties and pain that are right in front of us.  At the same time, we have a chance to seek a glimpse of the Third Temple and for those sparks of light and redemption that exist all around us.

On Shabbat Chazon, through the vision of destruction, we can actually create a vision of the redemption. We hope it arrives soon and commit ourselves to act in ways that will make it a reality.