What Is Your Custom (aka Worldview)?
This Shabbat is called Shabbat Chazon – “the Shabbat of Vision.” But what kind of vision do we carry into it? Is it the bleak vision of smoke rising from sacred stones, or the hidden glimmer of a temple yet to be rebuilt?
Throughout our long journey, as Jewish communities emerged throughout Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North Africa, and Asia, these communities developed markedly different ways of observing this Shabbat, reflecting not just ritual practice, but deeply rooted worldviews.
Essentially, this Shabbat presents a halachik and philosophical and psychological conundrum: On the one hand, it is the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av (the day of national Jewish mourning), and Jewish law rules that the mourning practices are intensified during the actual week of Tisha B’av. On the other hand, Shabbat is a day of joy, and mourning practices are forbidden on Shabbat.
In some communities, particularly among Ashkenaz and Lithuanian ones, the mood darkened. No Shabbat clothing, no lively spirit, many prayers were sung in the aching melodies of Tisha B’Av. The atmosphere echoed the heaviness of the destruction we are about to commemorate.
In other communities, particularly among Sephard, Kabbalistic, and Chassidic ones, they dressed in their finest, enjoyed lavish meals, inserted even livelier tunes into the prayers, and created an atmosphere of increased joy and hope.
These differences of customs are not merely stylistic – they speak to something essential about how Jews across time and geography understood suffering, crisis, and hope.
Perhaps we could label these two different paradigms as ‘exile-conscious’ and ‘redemption-conscious’. One is grounded in facing the pain, the other in seeing beyond it with deeper vision.
The exile-conscious communities might have been greatly influenced by the Talmudic teaching: “Any generation in which the Temple is not built, it is as if it had been destroyed in their times.” Every moment that we – and G-d – are still stuck in this exile, we relive the pain of destruction.
The redemption-conscious communities might have been greatly influenced by the Midrashic teaching: “There is no greater Jewish festival than the day the Temple was destroyed.” Within the destruction lies the seed of redemption. The collapse of the Temple and Jewish sovereignty was also the beginning of rebuilding something unimaginably greater.
So which is your custom? How will you observe this Shabbat? Perhaps, in addition to looking into your roots to explore where your ancestors came from and what was their custom, you may also want to ask yourself, “Where am I at, what is my inclination, and how do I feel I should be handling and responding to the current state of affairs in the world?”
Most modern Jews are somewhat detached from their ancestral communities. Having crossed the big sea and arrived at new countries, with perhaps several generations of rupture from religious continuity, and now being thrown into the Jewish melting pot of the 21st century, there is an opportunity – perhaps a need – to deeply explore and adopt a paradigm that helps you navigate these turbulent times.
Both of these historical worldviews are valid and holy and rich with meaning. They are different paths to reacting to crisis. Perhaps being a chassid I am biased, but I really encourage that we adopt a redemption-conscious paradigm. Today’s times and circumstances and opportunities are different. And I believe modern psychology has also confirmed the virtuousness of this model.
This Shabbat we ask, not just ‘what is my custom,’ but also ‘what does it reveal about my own vision?’ Will we wrap ourselves in the sorrow of exile, kneeling beside the ruins and weep? Or will we sing louder, dance harder, believing with trembling faith that redemption hides within the rubble?
Shabbat Chazon challenges us to ask: What do I believe about destruction and rebirth? What kind of faith do I want to embody?
As our people ache, as Israel bleeds, as headlines drip with pain, I offer my two cents: dare to hope!
Whether through tears or through joy, may your vision this Shabbat be the one that you will soon see with open eyes.
