The Churban — Introduction to the Series

The Lived Mishnah · A Zeman Nakat Project

הַחֻרְבָּן

Introduction to the Series

A Mishnayos Series

אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם

If I forget you, Yerushalayim. We will encounter the Churban — the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash — through the prism of the Mishnah itself.

As men of law

Not a chapter of history —
but new and altered halachos.

It reaches us in the way we mourn, the way we eat, perhaps the way we daven — even the way a chosson and kallah celebrate the happiest day of their lives.

The series, in four movements

The Day and Its MourningDescribing · the churban & the fast days

Cosmic Change and DeclineWitnessing · the world after the loss

III

Mitzvos Bound to the MikdashNoting cessation · what fell, what stands

Jewish Practice in Light of the DestructionLiving onward · halacha keeps living

On every Mishnah

Color-coded textevery phrase by its function

Title & topicwhat each Mishnah is about

Read-along audioclick the text to hear it

Bartenurathe classic mefaresh, on the page

Mishnah Insightsgoing deeper than the shiur

Asei Lecha Ravmeet the Tannaim

She'elas Chachama question to sit with

Olamo shel Mishnahhow they lived then

Summary chartthe rulings at a glance

Series Insighthow each Mishnah ties to the next

Im yirtzeh Hashem

One Mishnah at a time.

…to bring to life the richness and the vastness of the role the Beis HaMikdash played in our lives — and will, im yirtzeh Hashem, once again play.

Listen with Rabbi Ephraim Diamond

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Introduction

Read the transcript

Hello chevra and thank you for joining as we begin learning together. Im eshkachech Yerushalayim, if I forget you, Jerusalem.

This Mishnayos series is a little different from a regular Mishna shiur. In this series, we're going to encounter the chorban, the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash through the prism of the Mishna itself.

Think about it. Few of the Tannaim ever lived to see the Beis HaMikdash standing, and yet, its memory loomed large and its rituals captured their imagination.

Large portions of the Mishnayos are dedicated to describing what happened in the Beis Hamikdash, how we interacted with the Beis Hamikdash, essentially how life revolved around the Beis Hamikdash. But alas, the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, and so when it fell, how did the Chachamim respond?

As men of law, the destruction comes through to us not as a chapter of history, but in new and altered halachos. It's in the way we mourn the Beis Hamikdash and otherwise, the way we eat, perhaps the way we daven, and even the way a chosson and a kallah will celebrate the happiest day of their lives.

This series gathers Mishnayos from across the shisha sidrei Mishna and arranges them in four movements. The movements themselves will help us understand how the Chachamim perceived the loss of the Beis Hamikdash.

Part one is going to describe the chorban and the fast days associated with the chorban including Tisha B'av, including the destruction and the laws of the fast days that carry with it the meaning and the feelings of mourning of the Beis Hamikdash. The second part will be about what I call the cosmic changes, how Chazal saw the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash ripple throughout the natural world itself.

The third part is going to focus on the mitzvos that were tied up with the Beis Hamikdash, which of them ceased when it was destroyed and fell, and which of them still stand. Finally, the fourth part of our series will talk about the destruction and how it acted as an inflection point for our ongoing practices.

It helped reshape halacha as a marker of time, as a way to preserve an echo of the Beis Hamikdash, and further, to anticipate its rebuilding. To help guide you through this series, you will note that every Mishna comes color-coded, helping to break out the different aspects and parts of a Mishna.

In fact, each Mishna also will have a title, a kind of topic, so that you can easily identify that which we will be discussing. In addition, every Mishna has a recording of me reading and teaching the Mishna, which you can read along and follow along, and if you click on anywhere in the Mishna, it will take you to that part of the recording.

In addition, I've also provided the Bartenura, one of the most famous meforshim on the Mishna, so you can see the Bartenura on every Mishna that on the page itself, on the page, and also you'll notice that for each Mishna there are some Mishna insights. Some of those insights will expand on things that we may have touched on in the recording.

Other features include an asei lecha rav, introducing you to the Tannaim that we will be discussing in the Mishna, She'elas Chacham will be occasional questions that are we can that emerge from the Mishna and to have you think about them as as you learn the Mishna. Also, Olamo shel Mishna.

Very often the Mishna is describing life as it was being lived back in the times of the Mishna, so occasional we will have explanations of how they lived and how they perceived the physical realities around them. Each Mishna will also have a chart summarizing the Mishna and the rulings that emerge from the Mishna.

And finally, as part of the series on the chorban, there will also be a series insight that will try to tie each of the Mishnayos to each other as we progress through the series as well. I hope and pray that this series of Mishnayos related to the chorban will help bring to life the richness and the vastness and the role that the Beis Hamikdash played in our lives and will im yirtzeh Hashem once again play in our lives, one Mishna at a time.

So again, im eshkachech Yerushalayim, let's not forget and let's begin learning.

← The Churban Part I · The Day and Its Mourning →

The Churban · Series Introduction · reveals cued to the recording