The Yanuka Rav Shlomo Yehuda-הגאון הינוקא - מה היה בט' באב - תיאור מיוחד על הנעשה The Yanuka

3:19 And when those seven years were completed and the time of my marriage to my husband arrived, my father advised to exchange me for my sister. The matter was very hard on me, because the plan became known to me; I told Yaakov and gave him a sign by which he would tell me from my sister Leah, so that my father would not be able to exchange me. And afterwards I consoled myself and bore it and had mercy, so that she would not go out to disgrace, and in the evening they exchanged Yaakov to come to me, in my place, and I gave my sister all the signs that I had given, so that he would think she was Rachel.

3:52 And not only that, but I entered under the bed, and he would speak and she was silent, and I answered him on every matter, so that he would not recognize my sister, and I did a kindness with her. And I was not jealous of her and I did not put her out to disgrace. And I, who am flesh and blood, dust and ashes, was not jealous of my rival and did not put her to shame and disgrace. And You, a King, living and enduring, merciful and full of compassion, why were You jealous of idol worship, which has nothing real in it?

4:21 And You exiled my children, and [unclear] by the sword, and enemies did to them as they wished. Immediately the mercies of Hashem, blessed be He, were stirred, and He said, For your sake, Rachel, I will return the Jewish people to their place. As it is written, 'So says Hashem, a voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping,' 'Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, for they are not.' And it is written, 'So says Hashem, restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is reward for your work,' and it is written, 'And there is hope for your future, the word of Hashem, and children shall return to their border.'

4:59 Rabbi Yochanan said, 'Give honor to Hashem your G-d before it grows dark.' When was this verse fulfilled for them? When will that verse be fulfilled when Chizkiyahu passed away and [unclear] of Chizkiyahu? This is what is written, 'And Chizkiyahu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David, and they did him honor at his death.' What honor did they do him?

5:23 Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Simon, Rabbi Chanin and the Rabbanan. Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Simon said, a beis va'ad - this is a place where Sages would gather - and they would learn above the grave of Chizkiyahu, and when they went there they would say to him, We have learned, give us the Torah. Rabbi Chanin said, They placed a Torah scroll above the grave of Chizkiyahu and said, This one who lies in the coffin has fulfilled what is written in this one.

5:49 And the Rabbanan said, They spread out for him [unclear] and laid out for him splendid carpets from the door of their houses to the grave of the sons of David the king. And why all this? so that their feet would not go bare, their feet would not get dirty, And even so, they got dirty. Yirmiyahu said to them, If at the time that you spread carpets from the door of your houses to the graves of the sons of David, how your feet stumbled on the mountains of dusk, when the Jewish people went out into exile, how much more so.

6:20 If here you worried so much about the sons of David, to put carpets for them, to put rugs for them so that they would walk to the grave, what will be in the exile, when they walk on thorns and thistles? And that is exactly what happened. That the Jewish people went into exile, the ten journeys by which the Shechinah went into exile were fulfilled, and these are the ten journeys. The Shechinah traveled from cherub to cherub - there were two cherubs - she traveled from one cherub to the second cherub.

6:46 That is exactly when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, that is what happened. And then from the cherub she traveled to the threshold of the house of the Beis HaMikdash. From the threshold of the house she traveled to the cherubs, from the cherubs to the eastern gate, from the eastern gate she traveled to the courtyard. Each time she went a little, because each time she thought that there they would be redeemed and Hashem, blessed be He, would have mercy, so she would immediately return to her place, she did not depart right away from the Beis HaMikdash in Jerusalem.

7:13 In a moment you will see further that she also remained another three and a half years on the Mount of Olives, and waited for the Jewish people to do teshuvah and she would return to dwell in Jerusalem. Only after three and a half years, when she saw that they were not doing teshuvah, she ascended and flew up on high. But the whole time she did not depart right away, she departed a little at a time. So she went from the eastern gate to the courtyard, from the courtyard she went to the roof, from the roof she went to the altar, from the altar she went to the wall, from the wall she went to the city, and from the city to the Mount of Olives.

7:47 From cherub to cherub, as it is written, 'And the glory of Hashem rose from above the cherub.' From the cherub to the threshold of the house, as it is written, 'And the glory of the G-d of Israel rose from upon the cherub, on which it was, to the threshold of the house.' From the threshold of the house to the cherubs, as it is written, 'And the glory of Hashem went out from upon the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim.' Scripture did not need to say, Scripture did not need to teach us but we would have understood this, from what is written, 'and he came,' But You said 'and he went out' - what is 'and he went out'?

8:15 It does not say 'came.' Abbahu said, A parable of a king who was going out of his palace, in anger, he went out of his palace in anger, this is the parable of a king who went out of his palace in anger, and as he was leaving he would return and embrace, he would go and kiss the walls of his palace before he parted from it, and over the pillars of his palace he weeps and says, Farewell, my palace, Farewell, my royal house, farewell, my precious house, From now on, bless them, that they have peace.

8:47 Behold, Hashem, blessed be He, when the Shechinah was departing, there was great weeping, heard from one end of the world to the other. And the Shechinah would go and kiss all the walls of the Beis HaMikdash, and the cherubs, and the altar. So she went from place to place and parted from place to place until she ascended on high. She did not depart like that all at once. And so when the Shechinah was leaving the Beis HaMikdash she would return and embrace and kiss the walls of the Beis HaMikdash and the pillars of the Beis HaMikdash, and weep and say, Farewell, my holy house, Farewell, my royal house, farewell, my precious house, farewell, my holy house.

9:23 Farewell, cherubs at the eastern gate, as it is written, 'And the cherubim lifted up their wings.' From the eastern gate to the courtyard, as it is written, 'And the courtyard was filled with the radiance of the glory of Hashem.' From the courtyard to the roof, as it is written, 'It is better to dwell on the corner of a roof.' From the roof to the altar, as it is written, 'I saw Hashem standing upon the altar.' From the altar to the wall, as it is written, 'Behold, Hashem was standing on a wall of anach.' Another explanation, what is 'anach'? This is the Sanhedrin.

9:48 The Sanhedrin of seventy-one. It is handed down by number, 'anach,' as it says, like the count of this: Anach: aleph is one, nun is fifty, kaf is twenty, together seventy-one. 'And Hashem said, Behold, I am setting anach' Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Simon said, from the wall to the city, as it is written, 'The voice of Hashem calls to the city.' From the city to the Mount of Olives, as it is written, 'And the glory of Hashem went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain which is east of the city.' This is that verse said in Yechezkel; then Rabbi Yonatan learns from it, you will see that the intention is that for three years the Shechinah was sitting and standing on the Mount of Olives, waiting for them to do teshuvah. Behold, as he writes

10:29 Rabbi Yonatan said, Three and a half years the Shechinah sat on the Mount of Olives, thinking that perhaps the Jewish people would do teshuvah, and they did not. And a heavenly voice proclaimed, saying, 'Return, wayward children,' 'Return to Me and I will return to you.' Since they did not do teshuvah, she said, I will go, I will return to My place. About that time it says, 'Give to Hashem your G-d honor, before it grows dark,' before it grows dark for you from words of Torah, before it grows dark for you from words of prophecy, and before your feet stumble on the mountains of dusk, where you hoped for light, before you go out into this long exile and have to walk barefoot on thorns and thistles.

11:13 Babylon, and he set it for the shadow of death in Media, and made it gloom in Greece, and if you will not hear it, in Edom, 'my soul will weep in secret places because of pride.' These are all the exiles that the Jewish people will go through. For the Jewish people not only went out from our land but also went into such a long exile, which is all the journeys and adventures, also the exile of the Jewish people in Spain, where they went out and the Inquisition, and the Holocaust - all these things are kinds of the exiles that passed over the Jewish people, they are kinds of the destruction, and they are the things that, at the time the Shechinah departed and the curse came down, accompany us until we are redeemed, with the help of Hashem, blessed be He, may He redeem us.

11:55 What does Scripture teach, 'because of pride'? These are non-Jews who pride themselves and say, 'Where is their G-d, the rock in whom they took refuge?' Where is their Creator, whom they wanted so much? Where? Another explanation, because of the ministering angels, who pride themselves and say, 'What is man that You remember him?' 'And my eye will surely weep and run down with tears, because Hashem's flock was taken captive.' You find that before the Jewish people went into exile they were made into flocks upon flocks.

12:22 There were flocks of kehunah, flocks of leviyah, flocks of Yisrael. Once they went into exile, they became one flock. This was already in their time, when they hoped for a half-comfort, that perhaps the Jewish people would go into exile, and then unite in the exile, but we have already seen what was done among the people, how much we need to ask Hashem, blessed be He, that we truly be [unclear] a flock of Hashem, at least let us be one flock, a flock in the plural, at least that they be united.

12:52 Rabbi Pinchas says, Rabbi Pinchas said, Rabbi Elazar said, The Holy One, blessed be He, does not bring calamity upon the Jewish people until He first warns them. This is what is written, and the Holy One, blessed be He, has no others to bring upon us. The verse says, 'And if until these,' if still these, does He have others besides these, Heaven forbid, no?

13:17 'And I will continue to chastise you sevenfold for your sins.' You transgressed before Me seven transgressions, come and take upon yourselves seven calamities. You transgressed before Me seven transgressions, behold, Yirmiyahu laments over you with dirges, which are seven alphabets, seven times dirges in the order of the alphabet in Eichah, which goes according to the alphabet. You find that before the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt, they sat by themselves and the Shechinah by herself, and once they were redeemed they all became as one piece, one harmony, and once they went into exile, the Shechinah again was by herself and the Jewish people by themselves, This is what is written, 'But the rebellious dwell in a parched land,' and 'How she sits alone.'

14:04 Now, at that time they think that Nevuchadnetzar destroyed the Beis HaMikdash, Nevuchadnetzar only received permission to do it, but he could not lay a hand on the house of Hashem, but Hashem, blessed be He, sent by Himself 'For with fire You kindled it, and with fire You will in the future rebuild it' - we see that Hashem, blessed be He, Himself burned the Beis HaMikdash. When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Nevuchadnetzar, Go up and destroy My Temple, go destroy the Beis HaMikdash.

14:34 Nevuchadnetzar said, [unclear], I do not want to destroy it. He says, Hashem, blessed be He, when He suppresses His mercy, and then He will bring calamity, I do not want that. In the end the Holy One, blessed be He, will do as He does to my grandfather, to all the wicked, Pharaoh, Sancheriv, all of them, all the wicked in all the generations, Hashem, in the end punishes them for all that they did. So Nevuchadnetzar knew that in the end he too would be punished for it.

15:07 What did he do? He came and sat at Daphne of Antioch, he went to Antioch, sat there, and sent Nevuzaradan, took Nevuzaradan, his chief of the butchers, He said to him, Go after them in Jerusalem, but what did he do? He said, Go, stay there, as if he did not intend to conquer it, to destroy them - how would you stay there? In fact, the staying there three and a half years, that is what developed.

15:33 He thought to make something like a pretense, as if he was not destroying Jerusalem. It is not I, it is Nevuzaradan, he is there. He did not come at all to destroy, for behold he is staying there for a few years. Every day he would circle Jerusalem and could not conquer it. He would measure it, He circled Jerusalem, he began, he was not succeeding in conquering. He asked to return. The Holy One, blessed be He, put it into his heart and he began to measure it.

16:01 He began to measure the wall, each time to know how high it is, how thick, so that he would know where to enter. So each time he would measure the wall, and he would see that he was off in the measurement. From day to day he saw that the measurement, the number, kept changing, until he understood that each time it sank two handbreadths into the ground. Each time it sank another handbreadth, and another handbreadth. He did not understand how this was, how it was sinking now; presumably this is, there is some miracle here, something heavenly.

16:35 Until all of it sank. Once all of it had sunk, they entered Jerusalem, and about that hour it says, "The kings of the earth did not believe, nor all the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem." Since they sinned, they were exiled, and once they were exiled, Yirmiyahu began to lament over them, "Alas, she sits alone." This was from the terrible exile that began, and this matter goes on standing until today, as we wait for Hashem, blessed be He, to redeem us from it.

17:09 Rav Acha said, Three things Nebuchadnezzar commanded Nebuzaradan. They were children, Nebuchadnezzar and Yirmiyahu were together. There was a very great friendship between them. And he joked with him, said to him, like a kind of prophecy. He said to him, if I become king and I conquer Jerusalem, what will you give me? So he said. They played with each other. So he said to him, you I will save, Yirmiyahu.

17:34 Yirmiyahu already then knew that he had a very great madness, and he understood that it was like a prophecy. Therefore Yirmiyahu - this is another version, a tradition - why Yirmiyahu was a lamenter, and why he was from the attribute of judgment, and why he spoke so much hardship and bitterness and prophecies of wrath about the Jewish people, because already from when he was still small with Nebuchadnezzar, he already knew that the Beis HaMikdash was destined to be destroyed, already from when he was a child.

18:06 He understood that in these things there was a kind of hint and sign from Heaven. Who is the little child who would speak? Another little child's friend says to him, I will grow up, I will destroy the Temple. He said to him, three things Nebuchadnezzar commanded Nebuzaradan about Yirmiyahu: "Take him and set your eyes upon him." Upon him and not upon his nation. That is to say, watch over him and not over his nation. "And do nothing to him." Do not do anything to him, but with his nation do as you wish.

18:34 "For as he speaks to you, so do with him," and not with his nation. And Yirmiyahu would come upon a group of young men placed in collars. They had collars of metal that gripped their necks, with iron chains. And he would put his head in together with them, and go with them together into exile. And Nebuzaradan would come and remove him from them, take him and bring him out from among them, so that he would not suffer along with them.

18:59 And then he would go back to another place, run away from there, go to another place, see a group of elders, with these and iron chains. He would put his neck in together with them. Nebuzaradan would come, take him, release him, say to him, move, you are not in this exile. He removes him from them. Nebuzaradan said to him, if it is good in your eyes, come and I will set my eyes on you, let us watch over you, and he did not accept it.

19:23 As it says, until [unclear] from the mouth of the Almighty - where was Yirmiyahu's prophecy that the Jewish people would return to their place? Rabbi Yaakov and Rabbi Abba and [unclear] some say, Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Yochanan, one said "He who scattered Israel will gather him," and another said, "There is hope for your future, says Hashem, and the children shall return to their border." All this Yirmiyahu would do because he did not want to be comforted. He said to him, you saved me. But you are not saving me from before you, because this is my people and I cannot leave them.

19:51 I want the Jewish people to return to their border, to return to the Beis HaMikdash. As long as they have not returned to the Beis HaMikdash, I cannot be comforted, I cannot leave them, I cannot part from them. This is the reason I cling to them, I cannot leave them. And then on his return, when he had taken him away from there, he would find severed fingers, many, full of small fingers thrown in the mountains, and he would gather them and hug them, embrace them, kiss them and put them into his tallis and say to them, my children, did I not warn you so much and say to you, "Give honor to Hashem your G-d before it grows dark and before your feet stumble on the mountains of twilight."

20:31 This was exactly in the period when the Jewish people sat securely, and thought that their Beis HaMikdash would not be destroyed. They had peace of mind, each man under his vine, under his fig tree, Mochin d'gadlus. They did not think at all, who speaks evil to us, who prophesies prophecies of wrath to us? Did they not understand that they needed to return to Hashem? Did they not understand that one must get up and take action and guard the honor of Hashem, the honor of the Torah, and do His will [unclear] and listen to the Sages and the prophets who prophesied to them what to do, especially since Yirmiyahu prophesies about them each time and warns them, and warns them again and again, and they do not listen.

21:07 And then Yirmiyahu said, about that hour it says, "Over the mountains I will raise weeping and wailing, and over the pastures of the wilderness a lament, over those pleasant and praised ones I will weep and wail, over the pleasant dwellings of Yaakov that were [unclear] to jealousy, and did not hear any [unclear], for they did not listen to any words of Torah, nor to any words of prophecy, but to everything that provoked, that provoked Him to jealousy with idol worship. This is what it says, "They provoked Him with strangers," therefore "From the birds of the sky to the animals, they wandered, they went."

21:38 The Holy One, blessed be He, has a very, very great jealousy over idol worship, which is the most severe thing, that the nations of the world worship idols, and the whole world, Heaven forbid, exchange Him and do not know that He made and makes and will make all the works. Blessed is G-d, a G-d who cannot be understood, to see and not understand Him with any intellect or logic. Therefore, "from the birds of the sky to the animals, they wandered, they went."

22:03 Rabbi Yosef bar Chalafta said, for 52 years no flying bird was seen in the Land of Israel. Not one bird was seen found in the Land of Israel, for fifty-two years. What is the reason? He says, "from the birds of the sky to the animals, they wandered, they went." "Behemah" - therefore behemah equals the number fifty-two. This hints that also the animals, also the birds, and even, you will see further on in the Midrash, that even the fish went into exile with the Jewish people.

22:33 So the Midrash says, how did they go into exile with the fish? He says, depths were split open for them under the ground, and they fled with them together. This we will see further on. Rabbi Chanina and Rabbi Abahu said, seven hundred kinds of pure fish and eight hundred kinds of pure locusts, and birds without number were in the Land of Israel. And all of them went into exile with the Jewish people to Bavel. All of them. And when they returned, they returned with them, except for one fish, the shibuta fish.

23:03 Therefore about this fish there is a lot of tradition, and they do not know what this fish is. And the fish, how did they go into exile, when they cannot leave the water, they cannot. How did they get out of there? So Rav Ina answers and says, Rather, they went into exile through the depths. Through the depths they made depths for themselves, and then the depths were split open and they came through the depths.

23:28 Rabbi Zeira said, come and see how brazen the Land of Israel is, that still, when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, it kept bringing out fruit, there was nothing in the land. The Land of Israel is supposed to bring out its fruit, when the Jewish people are on their land. And therefore Rabbi Chaim Palagi writes a wonderful thing, that you will see an interesting thing also in Eretz HaChaim by Rav Seton, on the customs of the Land of Israel and on the holiness of the Land of Israel, that the Land of Israel is the only one where it is possible to plant seven species in one soil, and in any soil in the world you cannot plant seven species in one land.

24:06 Only in the Land of Israel. Up to [unclear] species one can plant in a foreign country, and up to seven species in the Land of Israel. That is to say, in the Land of Israel one can plant fig, vine, pomegranate, olive oil and honey, in the Land of Israel it can be, and outside the Land, whoever plants can plant olives, grapes, figs he cannot. It is not possible to plant up to seven species, because other soil will not receive more than seven species.

24:36 Only the Land of Israel can. So here he says, how brazen is the Land of Israel that it still makes fruit, and why does it make fruit? Rabbi Chanina, this is Rabbi Chanina and Chanina disagreed, because they fertilize it, and another [says], and some say, He said to them, because they turn it over by plowing. Because they turn over by plowing, so the fruits grow for them there, and because of this it grows, from the side of nature, and not because of something else.

25:06 Rabbi Yehuda said, for seven years sulfur and salt remained in it, and why all this? Because of "And he shall strengthen a covenant with many for one week," and they cut it up, how do they do it? They sow it in patches, patches, they sow it in parts, parts, they sow here and it burns from here, they sow here and it burns from here. It did not want to sprout, it was not possible to make it sprout, but what is said? And in the future to come, everything returns.

25:30 If you look, you can see that when walking on the roads, you see there are thorns, there are thistles, there are weeds, all kinds of things like this. And it is not possible, it does not grow, as you see thorns and thistles and dead weeds, and all this is from the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. When the Beis HaMikdash stood, everything was flourishing. Not one flower wilted. Even one flower that wilted, thorns that grew. Everything was green and grass, and Jerusalem had [unclear] and springs.

26:02 And Rav Yehuda said that Rav said there were cinnamon trees, [unclear] everything was wonderful cinnamon trees that gave off a good fragrance throughout Jerusalem. And there were good fragrances from the trees, and there was the sound of springs of water. Therefore Jerusalem, every meter, every place where they dig in the ground, they find everything full of springs of water. Everything, everything is full of water in Jerusalem. Everything, everything is full of water.

26:28 Everything was the noise of water, and sounds of water, and birds, and palm trees, and wonderful and rare trees, and golden trees even in the First Beis HaMikdash that there were, and so it was. And Rabbi Berechyah, in the name of Rabbi Avdimi of Haifa, a parable of a king who had a son, when the son did his father's will, he would dress him in bigdei malatin.

26:56 Bigdei malatin are expensive silk garments, he would dress him in expensive garments. and when he does not do his will, he dresses him in garments of solitude, He would put on him the clothes of a person who is exiled, who goes about banished. So the Jewish people, as long as they did the will of Hashem, blessed be He, of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is written, "And I clothed you with embroidery." Rabbi Simai said, porphyry; porphyry means royal garments. Targum Onkelos this means royal garments.

27:26 Or when they do not do the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, He dresses them in garments of solitude, these are all the clothes of the people, those who walk on the roads, that are torn. This is what is written, "Alas, she sits alone." Rav Nachman said, Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, The Holy One, blessed be He, called the ministering angels and said to them, A king of flesh and blood, when [unclear] and mourns, what is his way to do? They said to him, he hangs sackcloth on his door.

27:52 He said to them, I too, so, I too do so. This is what is written, "I clothe the heavens with blackness and I make sackcloth their covering." A king of flesh and blood, what is his way to do? They said to him, he extinguishes the lamps. He said to them, so I do, as it says, "Sun and moon darkened," "and stars withdrew their shining." These are things that hurt, it hurts to see this exile and this sorrow.

28:29 A king of flesh and blood, what is his way to do, he overturns and dismantles the beds, so I will do when it says, "[unclear] and the Ancient of Days sat." as it were, that they will be overturned. A king of flesh and blood, what is his way to do? He goes barefoot. So I will do when it says, "Hashem, in the whirlwind and the storm is His way, and clouds are the dust of His feet." All these things are to make the ear understand, yes? A king of flesh and blood, what is his way to do?

28:53 He disgraces his porphyry, he tears his garment, if he has such sorrow. So I do, as it is written. "Hashem did what He planned, He fulfilled His word." Rabbi Yaakov of Kfar Chanan explained it, "He fulfilled His word" - he disgraces his porphyry. He disgraces it. A king of flesh and blood, what is his way to do, he sits silent. So I do, as it says, "He sits alone and is silent."

29:20 So Hashem [unclear] alone, from the day the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed for us. A king of flesh and blood who is a mourner, what is his way to do, he sits and cries. So I do, as it is written, "And my Master, Hashem of Hosts, called on that day to weeping and to mourning and to [unclear]." Up to here, I hope that everyone, with Hashem's help, will take upon themselves to do Tikkun Chatzos every night, all year, until Hashem, blessed be He, redeems us and builds for us the Beis HaMikdash.

29:49 To be careful to do Tikkun Chatzos, to be alone with this day, all year, a few moments at the time of chatzos, a few minutes for this tikkun in order to truly feel what this day is. This day is not the only time in the year to mourn the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, but every single day one must cry and be pained over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. And this time is for the hour of midnight, at the time of Tikkun Chatzos that is done. This is the time to pour out one's whole heart before Hashem, blessed be He, and to ask for the holy Shechinah, and this, know, is the root and foundation, all the foundations of holiness, of influence, of connection, to the Creator, that Hashem will hear you and answer from Heaven.

30:34 This is the good thing, the most wondrous, for the repair of a person's soul. In a little while the month of Elul draws near and comes to us, the days of Selichos begin, the days of teshuvah to Hashem. Tikkun Chatzos is greater in its level than the Selichos. So if a person has the possibility, Tikkun Chatzos, let him know that it is infinitely higher in level than saying Selichos. May it be His will that we merit this, and that Hashem, blessed be He, redeem us with a complete redemption.

31:01 May we merit the building of our Beis HaMikdash and our glory, and Hashem, blessed be He, alone as our King and Head, immediately. May it be Your will before You, Hashem, our G-d and the G-d of our fathers, that the Beis HaMikdash be rebuilt speedily in our days, and give us our portion in Your Torah, to do the statutes of Your will and to serve You with a whole heart.