Many teachings surrounding Tisha B’Av and destruction of the Temples focus on “baseless hatred” — sinat chinam [שנאת חנם] — as a cause. Some focus on rifts between Jews; others take a wider view of community harm. But many threads of such Jewish teachings ask us to use The Nine Days, the period between Rosh Chodesh Av and Tisha B’Av, to reflect on what needs repairing in our various communities.
We might consider these the Nine Days of Curiosity. And one place to pursue such curiosity is the career of Rabbi Akiva mentioned in part 1 (“Summer Breather, Toward Fall“). We can reflect on the “plague of disrespect” that affected 12,000 pairs of his students (B. Yebamot 62b) and consider what this legend teaches.
We might ask, for example: How could anyone miss such a widespread problem under their care? Were the students masking their true feelings? Was there a wider culture of disrespect at work? How were Akiva and the students affected by the difficult political climate in which they were trying to function?
We might also ask: Who among the students saw that there was a problem? Did they approach the teacher? Did they seek out other students? Whose responsibility is a communal problem, small or widespread?
These are just a few questions to spark curiosity for the month of Av.
Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov
"A Song Every Day" 