Observance of the Three Weeks is more than mourning, it is an acceptance of a commitment that we want a different way of living, and that we understand the purpose of our existence to be an entirely different one than the way in which we are living presently. It is a commitment to seeking a true Jewish existence and a true human existence that requires the awareness of the need for God as an actual presence.
Think for a moment. After explaining here in detail many of the exile’s horrific effects upon the Jewish soul and value system, what would be the most debilitating consequence of the exile?
Parshat Shoftim opens with the verse:
“Judges and policeman shall be placed in all of your cities which God, your Lord, has given you – all of your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.” (Devarim 16:18)
The general themes of Parshat Shoftim are the laws of kings, judges and a central authority of justice present with the existence of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of Jewish law.
This is the most debilitating consequence of the exile – the loss of our judges and Supreme Court. If we had a Sanhedrin, disputes among the Jewish people would cease to exist. While free discussion and questioning has always been encouraged in Jewish learning (as the old expression goes, “Two Jews, three opinions”), as long as a Sanhedrin existed, all Jews followed the same law ruled upon by Sanhedrin as the bottom line. There were no separate groups or factions, observing different laws, customs, or philosophies. The Jewish people were united.
Without a central authority, disputes may begin for the “sake of heaven” and with God’s law in mind, but all too often, they end with personal, hate-filled arguments and fights. A Jewish people divided is a Jewish people that cannot achieve great accomplishments and brings upon itself terrible suffering. Our internal fighting removes Divine protection from us, which makes us vulnerable for the attack of our enemies. As the Yerushalmi Peah, Chapter 1 says (paraphrased): “Although undeserving, King Achav (an ancient Jewish king) won many wars because the people of his generation were at peace with one another. The opposite is true as well: if Jews fight among themselves, they will lose wars.”
This is what we mean in the Shemoneh Esrai prayer, 11th blessing:
“Restore our judges to the influence they once held and our advisers to the prestige they had in earlier times, and thereby remove sorrow and groans.”
All of our sorrows and groans result from discord and fighting, and our fighting comes as a result of the lack of central authority governing Jewish law and practice. This is why non-existence of the Sanhedrin is perhaps the most debilitating consequence of the exile.
We have expressed here the pains and sorrows of the exile. Let us live to see the joys and jubilation of the redemption, speedily and soon.
