Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

256
Three Weeks
Joyous Mourning?
Rav Michael Siev
T he Gemara (Ta’anit 30b) teaches: “התחמשב האורו הכוז םילשורי לע לבאתמה לכ,
anyone who mourns for Yerushalayim merits and sees its rejoicing.” The phraseology
employed here seems rather surprising: one would have expected the Gemara to say
that one who mourns for Yerushalayim will merit to see its rejoicing in the future.
How can it be that one who mourns for Yerushalayim merits to join in its happiness
even now, in the present tense? Is that not an inherent contradiction?
In order to begin to answer this question, we must start with a story that raises yet
another question. The Gemara (Bava Kamma 59a-b) relates that Rabbi Eliezer Ze’ira
was once walking in Neharda’a with black sandal laces, which was not the normal
mode of dress. He was apprehended by the Jewish authorities of the town, who
demanded to know the reason for his departure from accepted fashion norms, and he
explained that his black laces were a sign of mourning for Yerushalayim. The security
forces responded: “Are you important enough to mourn for Yerushalayim?!” Rabbi
Eliezer Ze’ira was promptly arrested until he could demonstrate that he was, indeed, a
scholar of note, whereupon he was released.
This story certainly demonstrates the severity of yuhara, of prideful demonstrations
of piety that do not truly reflect a person’s religious stature; essentially, such a person
hijacks Jewish ritual as a tool for his own social advancement. Utilizing halacha as
a tool for propping up one’s own social status is certainly a great sign of disrespect.
However, it is clear from the conversation that the Gemara records that the authorities