9th of Av- Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?- A Life Lesson II

The Answer. We can answer the questions we discussed in the previous essay can be based on the words of Rabbenu Yona. He was one of the early commentators of the Talmud who lived around the year 1200CE. He explains the following.

Explanation from G_D. The Talmud tells us that the sages did not know why the Temple was destroyed, since it appeared that there was no wrong doing deserving a destruction as harsh as that which occurred, until G-d Himself explained. As the verse says in Jeremiah 9:12 "And G-d says for the fact that they forsook My Torah etc."

Why didn't anyone realize this?. This though raises a question. If they forsook the Torah, that should have been noticeable, and the sages should have understood that that's what caused the destruction. Rather it was true that from the outsider's perspective there was nothing wrong. Therefore the sages did not see any obvious reason for the destruction. People were constantly learning. Only G-d, who can see into the hearts of men, was able to discern, though, that they did not make the blessing before they learned. Still the question remains: How big a sin is it not to say the blessing?

Secular studies require no blessing.. G-d saw that they did not have the reverence for the Torah to place Torah study on a level requiring a blessing. Regarding secular subjects there is no holiness in them to require a blessing. They are areas of knowledge that a person studies to acquire the knowledge of the subject he is studying in order to use that information for his benefit.It may be in a practical area such as medicine or construction and the like, where the person who is studying wants to use it to apply in practice. He may also have in mind the salary he can collect with it and also the honor that will bestowed upon him for his knowledge. There are other studies in secular knowledge where the one who aquires it is doing so for his enjoyment or some other reason.

Torah is not a secular subject. In all these cases there is nothing special on a spiritual plane that sets these studies apart to say that they are uplifting the person and should require a blessing. The sin of our nation at the time of the destruction, we are being taught, is that they were treating the Torah as a secular subject. It was an area of knowledge that they even applied and practiced, but it was nothing different in their eyes than if they were studying a secular subject and applying it. Therefore, they felt no need to say a blessing on the Torah.

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