A “Grave” Situation

This period of “the nine days,” should be one of introspection and examination as to what were the factors that contributed to the destruction of our two holy Temples.

Clearly, one of the factors was Avoda Zara, or, idol worship. The Rambam lists fifty-one out of the 613 Mitzvot as falling under the category of Avoda Zara. This proves that this grievous sin, can take on different forms, from witchcraft and sorcery, to worshipping graven images.

Although we might be more sophisticated today, and not be enticed by most of these forms of idol worship, we still might be guilty of this transgression in a more subtle way.

It was pointed out that the Torah described the death of Moshe Rabbeinu in great detail. We are told that nobody knew the exact burial place of the greatest man whoever lived.

The explanation that I heard from my childhood was that Hashem did not want this burial site to be one that was worshipped, as a substitute to worshipping G-d. Not knowing Moshe’s burial place, would prevent this from happening.

It has become much more of a “thing” in recent years to visit the graves of the righteous. I don’t recall such an obsession in my youth. Today, people even go to certain graves to find a mate.

This practice should be examined to be certain that it does not fall under the category of Avoda Zara. It must be clarified that the nature of the prayers made at such a grave site.

We are not praying to the individual buried there. We are asking that the soul of this saintly person will make a request on our behalf in Heaven, to grant us what we need. He is acting as an intermediary between us and Hashem, and nothing more.

This is probably a good time to bring this up. Our prayers are desperately needed in these difficult times. But this desperation must keep us focused on the fact that it is Hashem alone that brings salvation, no matter how “grave” the situation might be.