Jewish history is punctuated with profound tragedies — the destruction of the First and Second Temples, forced deportations, expulsions from various countries, pogroms, massacres, the Holocaust, and more recently, the Hamas attack on Oct. 7th, 2024. The sheer scope of the violence and suffering can be overwhelming. But today’s daf reminds us that we cannot let these tragedies overwhelm our lives.
The sages taught: When the Temple was destroyed a second time, there was an increase in ascetics among the Jews, who do not eat meat and do not drink wine.
Rabbi Yehoshua joined them. He said to them: My children, for what reason do you not eat meat and do you not drink wine? They said to him: Shall we eat meat, from which are sacrificed upon the altar, and now has ceased? Shall we drink wine, which is poured upon the altar, and now has ceased?
In the wake of the Romans’ destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, some number of Jews took on the practice of not eating that which was sacrificed and offered to God on the altar. This ritualized rejection kept the memory of the Temple alive, while demonstrating that our lives are not as rich, nor as spiritually and physically nourished, as they were when the Temple stood. (It was also consistent with a rise in ascetic practices across Jewish groups in the first century).
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He (Rabbi Yehoshua) said to them: If so, we will not eat bread, since the meal-offerings have ceased. They replied: It is possible (to subsist) with produce. He said to them: We will not eat (of the seven species from which the first fruits were brought), since the first fruits have ceased. They replied: It is possible (to subsist) with other produce. He said to them: We will not drink water, since the water libation has ceased. They were silent.
Rabbi Yehoshua pushes the group to follow their reasoning to its logical extremes. And while we all probably know someone who successfully adheres to a vegetarian, gluten-free, or some other kind of specialized diet, all human beings need water to survive. The Temple’s destruction cannot lead to an extreme mourning that makes human continuity impossible. But then how to give space to the devastation and death that the Jewish world experienced when the Romans set fire to the Temple, killed thousands of Jews, and enslaved and deported tens of thousands more?
Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: My children, come, and I will tell you. To not mourn at all is impossible, as the decree was already issued. But to mourn excessively is impossible, as the sages do not issue a decree upon the public unless a majority of the public is able to abide by it, as it is written: “You are cursed with the curse, yet you rob Me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:9).
We must create space for mourning, but that mourning cannot be extreme. Extremist behavior is by its nature sectarian — it segments out some portion of the population who choose to live that way, and sets them against everyone else in their religious community who cannot take on such an extreme lifestyle. Rabbi Yehoshua reads the prophet Malachi as insisting that this kind of behavior is an affront to God and to the unity of the Jewish community. So then what should we do in memory of the Temple?
Rather, this is what the sages said: A person may plaster his house with plaster, but leave a small amount in it.
And how much (is a small amount)? Rav Yosef said: One cubit by one cubit. Rav Hisda said: This should be opposite the entrance.
In the face of so many tragedies, Rabbi Yehoshua and the later rabbis of the Talmud insist that we must leave a small portion of the surface of our house un-plastered, unfinished. With the Temple destroyed, we can never be 100 percent settled, our spaces can never be 100 percent protected — with plaster, but perhaps also with the power of the Temple as the physical expression of the relationship between God and the Jewish people. And this unfinished and unprotected portion must be in a prominent location in the house, so we are asked to reckon with this part of our history regularly.
But at the same time, the Talmud insists we must continue to eat and drink, to maintain both our physical and mental health and our communal identity. Because we are not just the product of a history of sadness. Our history is also filled with moments of peace and growth, with righteous gentiles and the power of everyday relationships. And our present and our future are what we make of them.
Read all of Bava Batra 60 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on August 24, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
