When we think of Tisha B’Av many images enter our mind – this year sadly more than in the past. Tisha B’Av is the day we mourn our historic tragedies and try to find meaning and eventually comfort through the kinnot and, in recent years, the many wonderful programs that fill the day[1]. One topic that seems to have little place on this day is economics.
Just as on Shabbat we refrain from discussing economic matters, so too they would seem to be out of place on Tisha B’Av. While the halacha allows one to work of Tisha B’Av, our Sages recommended against it, going so far as to say one will not see any blessings from their efforts[2] (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 554: 24).Yet failing to look at Tisha B’Av from an economic point of view means we miss a very important aspect of the day.
All of our fast days are meant to inspire us to do better, to improve, to repent. And instead of focusing on more minor areas – something people tend to do it being easier than facing the bigger more difficult areas – we must focus on the major areas of Judaism. While not often framed this way it hard to argue against the proposition that our attitude and actions regarding money is the fundamental value of Judaism.
There are more mitzvot regarding our material possession than any other area – over 130 of the 613 mitzvot relate to economics. We have written often – including the devar Torah for this past Shabbat – how it is our handling of money that is the key determinant as to whether we sanctify or desecrate the name of G-d. It is not by chance after spending four chapters discussing metaphysics the Rambam begins his legal code, “The entire house of Israel is commanded to sanctify the name of G-d”. That our Sages saw our financial dealings as the marker of whether one actually believes in G-d is evident from their claim that the very first question G-d will ask us upon our departure from this world is, “did your monetary dealing demonstrate faith in G-d?" (Shabbat 31a).
Our material blessings are a gift from G-d, meant to be enjoyed but also meant to be shared with others. “We are obligated to be careful with regard to the mitzvah of charity more than any other positive commandments, for charity is [the] identifying mark of a righteous person, a descendant of Avraham, our patriarch…The throne of Israel will not be established, nor will the true faith stand except through charity, as [Yishayahu 54:14] is stated: "You shall be established through righteousness.’ And Israel will be redeemed solely through charity, as [Yishayahu 1:27] states: "Zion will be redeemed through judgment and those who return to her through charity" (Rambam, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:1)
This is an amazing law. G-d choose Avraham because He knew he would be charitable; we are a nation because of the mitzva of tzedakah, and redemption – something very much on our mind on Tisha B’Av - is dependent on tzedakah. Tzedakah is a reflection of the love we have for others – something to think about as we contemplate the dangers of sinat chinam.
The mitzva of tzedakah is recorded in the book of Devarim (Chapter 15), the book that has Moshe preparing the people to enter the Land of Israel. Moreover, the mitzva is actually recorded in the specific context of the laws of shmitta[3]. This provides an additional insight into the teaching of the rabbis that the 70 years of exile following the destruction of the first Temple correspond to the 70 shmittot the Jewish people did not properly observe[4]. Our stay in the Land is dependent on the proper fulfilment of the mitzva of tzedakah.
Over and over again our prophets lament the corruption, the refusal to help i.e. give money, to the needy and the cowering to the wealthy a theme picked up in a number of the kinnot we recite on Tisha B’Av.
The connection between money and Tisha B’Av can be traced to Biblical times. “And there was quarrelling between the herders of Avram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle. The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the Land.” (Breisheet 13:8)
Our Sages, quoted by Rashi, explain that Lot’s shepherds were grazing their cattle in other people’s fields, arguing that since G-d promised the land to Avram and he has no children Lot will be his heir and hence it is his right to graze in fields. The Torah thus informs us that ‘The Canaanites and the Perizzites abode then in the land', and Abram was not yet entitled to possession.
This is a meaningful Midrashic explanation highlighting the prohibition of theft. Yet there is an additional, even more basic, reading of the verse. It is because there was a quarrel between the herdsman of Abram and Lot that the Cannitnes and Prizzites were in the land. When we quarrel amongst ourselves, others take over our land. Hence the rabbinic link between sina'at chinam, needless controversy, and exile.
“Then Judah said to his brothers, “mah betza, What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood?” (Breisheet 37:26). Rashi quotes Targum Onkelos that betza refers to monetary profit. For Yehuda the sale of Yosef was a business transaction to be consummated if the cost benefit analysis indicated such. Hence the first exile of the Jewish people.
Over and over again in sefer Devarim Moshe warns the people of the potential dangers of economic success – a great blessing and reward for following the mitzvot – leading one astray[5].
The Rashbam (Vayikra 23:43) explains that we are commanded to sit in sukkot – specifically at the time of the harvest – lest we think that “my own power and strength of my hands did this for me” (Devarim 8:17) and forget that G-d is the source of our blessing. For every very “successful” businessperson there are many people just as smart who work just as hard but do not achieve the same level of success. There are so many factors beyond our control that determine our success – factors that are dependent on G-d. We must leave our home and go into a temporary exile one week a year but if we forget this message, we risk a much more permanent exile. Either we recall the message of Sukkot or zman simchateinu, the time of our joy risks becoming the time of our despair.
We are most familiar with [one of the] explanations of the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 9b) that the Temple was destroyed because of sina'at chinam. Fascinatingly, the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma 1:20) adds a few introductory words: The Temple was destroyed, posit our Sages in Jerusalem, “because they loved money and hated one another sina'at chinam”.
Our Sages well understood that most of our disputes with others are over money. The love of money, seeing it as an end and not a means, is a sure way to lead to sina’at chinam. Tisha B’av has much to do with economics.
[1] In an ironic twist, my sense is that more learning happens on Tisha B’Av than any other day of the year. The range of learning topics may be a technical violation of the halacha – but one I would argue is most appropriate. Perhaps it marks the beginning of the process of converting Tisha B’Av form a day of mourning to a day of joy as promised by our prophets. May the many hours of learning greatly hasten that process.
[2] It seems that the rabbis permitted work because one who did not work might mean not eat. And even if it was not quite so dire taking a day off in the middle of the week could have very serious economic implications – something, thankfully, most rare for us today.
[3] The Torah warns us not to refrain from giving a loan to someone lest we fear they will not pay it back before the end of the shmitta year and hence the loan would be cancelled.
[4] What makes this idea even more powerful is the fact that it is in sefer Vayikra that the Torah details how the Land must lie fallow during the shmitta year, something that is not even mentioned in Devarim. This despite the fact this law applies in the Land of Israel only and hence would fit with the theme of the book. In Devarim the only focus is on the cancellation of loans, a law of shmitta that applies even outside the Land of Israel.
[5] For one example see Devarim chapter 8, our Torah reading for next Shabbat.
