Today — ‘Av is here, should we all beware’ . . . destruction or opportunity? i.e. was this a destruction — or was it an opportunity?
And as for that so-called message of destruction and lamentation:
“the lady doth protest too much, me thinks”
Hamlet, Act III, Scene II
Note: This phrase is used in everyday speech to indicate the doubt of someone’s sincerity, especially regarding the truth, accompanied by a strong denial.
What could this possibly mean? Let’s take this step by step:
- The month called Av, referred to in the Bible as the “Fifth Month,” i.e. counting from the month of: Nisan, <- which is the first month for counting inthe springtime.”
- along those lines: There is a Biblical reference in the Book of Numbers/ BaMidbar, ch 33: vs 38:
“And Aharon the Priest went up to Hor Hahar at the command of Gd, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Jewish People had left Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month.” - This is where we find the death of Aharon in this week’s section (Parsha) / it does have the appearance of ‘foreshadowing’ the month of AV (which begins today).
- The religious significance of this foreshadowing is an eventual end of Priestly-services (i.e. the priests descended from this ^ Aaron) at a future time — a time in which the Temple(s) (as the place in which Aaron’s children would serve), would come to an end — or maybe a brand new beginning’.
Thus we might say: this is not simply destruction, but rather: an “implosion” that, by its very nature, gives way to innovation and very likely, a new way forward.
Could it be a rebuilding, or even more, a new way forward?
* tune in to find out . . .
