Incredible Acts of Chutzpah & Kindness N°7

Avoda Zara

erev Tishe B'Av

This year, as every year, Jews will begin a contemplative fast at sundown. This fast is held on the date of Tishe b'Av תשעה באב‎ or ט׳ באב, in the Hebrew calendar.
On this day in history we bemoan the destruction of the Beth haMikdash...the holy Temple in Jerusalem. Every year we mourn the destruction for 3 weeks, and then the 9 days starting on the first day of the Month of Av. Restrictions include traveling, buying new clothes, putting on new clothes, laundering clothes, celebrations and marriages are not practiced.

However, it is NOT only the destruction of the Beth HaMikdrash which occured but the Mishna also states 5 calamaties that occured. These included:
Mishnah (Taanit 4:6),
The twelve spies sent by Moses to observe the land of Canaan returned from their mission. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, brought a positive report, while the others spoke disparagingly about the land. The majority report caused the Children of Israel to cry, panic and despair of ever entering the "Promised Land". For this, they were punished by God that their generation would not enter the land. Because of the Israelites' lack of faith, God decreed that for all generations this date would become one of crying and misfortune for their descendants, the Jewish people. (See Numbers Ch. 13–14)
The First Temple built by King Solomon and the Kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and the Judeans were sent into the Babylonian exile.
The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and commencing the Jewish exile from the Holy Land.
Bar Kokhba's revolt against Rome failed in 135 CE. Simon bar Kokhba was killed, and the city of Betar was destroyed.
Following the Roman siege of Jerusalem, the razing of Jerusalem occurred the next year. A Temple was built in its stead to an idol.

Other calamaties that occured in the following generations:

Jews were expelled from England in 1290.
The Alhambra Decree of 1492, expelling the Jews from Spain, took effect on the 7th of Av, just two days before Tisha B'Av
in 1914 Tisha B'Av was August 1, the day Germany declared war on Russia and the Swiss army mobilized. World War I caused unprecedented devastation across Europe and set the stage for World War II and the Holocaust.
On the eve of Tisha B'Av 1942, the mass deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka.

According to many rabbanoim, these tragedies boil down to One thing and ONE THING ONLY: AVODA ZARAH.

But what is 'Avoda Zara'?

Technically it is translated as idolatry. Plain and simple. But in our day what is idolatry?

Can idolatry be considered simply going into a church or a mosque or another place of worship?

Can idolatry be considered looking at photos of Catholic saints (who are not 'idolized' by Catholics)

Can idolatry be considered learning about other religions, listening to their sacred music?

Can idolatry be considered discussing with the goyim?

Can idolatry be considered learning about goyim and learning secular education?

WHAT IS IDOLATRY/AVODA ZARAH?!

If we look in the Torah, the ultimate example of Avoda Zara was the golden calf. There were also the idols between Jacob and his father-in-law Lavan and also Rochel in parasha Veyeitzei. In sum, Idolatry has been a problem for the Jews since the very beginning.

Nowadays with the capitalisme being in full-bloom with advertisements of scantily clad women adorning the streets, in the Holy Land as well as in Goy-land...with the need to buy and consume and to show off, I personally belief that Avoda Zarah can be defined as many things. False modesty and having ultra-Orthodox women show of their wigs.....from men showing off their fancy thingamajigs and giant cars that they have no need for. For having false religious zeal and making a Rebbe into a tzaddik and giving him Moshiach-status 'just because' and then putting his image (which is forbidden by Torah. You people at the Chabad centers better watch out...that could be avodah zarah!). Or could it be supporting all too blindly the secular politics of Israel or any other country?

I invite all my readers this Tishe b'Av to explore: What is avoda zarah? And how does it fit into our lives?