All You Have to Do Is Listen

There is an old saying which praises the individual who can tell his neighbor, “Go to hell” and make him feel happy to be on his way. Of course, this talent of subtle diplomacy has always been a rarity as can be seen from Rabbi Akiva’s statement, “I swear that in this generation there is no one who knows how to rebuke.”
More difficult to find however is the person who can accept reproach and correction. Even the Israelites at the time of Moses, who are usually seen as spiritual role models, could not bear the brunt of a direct moral attack on their failings. Thus Moses was forced to disguise his reprimand in veiled, indirect references.
But is it wise to numb the ear? Does moral asphyxia result when one refuses to listen? And can one turn a deaf ear forever? Pay close attention to this Yalkut (Midrash) on Jeremiah.
Listen to the words of prophecy, before you are forced to listen to the words of rebuke.
Listen to the words of rebuke, before you are forced to listen to the sound of punishment.
Listen to the sound of punishment, before you are forced to listen to the sound of war.
Listen in the Holy Land,  before you are forced to listen outside the Holy Land.
Listen while you are alive, before you are forced to listen from the dead.
Listen with your ears, before you are forced to listen with your bodies.
Listen with your bodies, before you are forced to listen with your bones.
So hear the word of G-d.
From this we see that if one does not heed the warnings of the spirit, the rebuke descends to the physical dimension where we are forced to pay attention. That is why when Moses asked that heaven and earth bear witness to his blessing and admonishment, he invoked heaven first. Since the Jews at that time were closer to heavenly values, a spiritual witness was sufficient to bring them to repentance. However, as the generations succeeded one another and moral refinement gradually coarsened the threats had to be restructured to impress the spiritually insensitive recipient.
Current society has become so amoral that we seem impervious to all warnings, omens, and alarms. News doesn’t shock us; it entertains us, providing dinner parties with meaningless conversation.
This is one of the real reasons we commemorate Tisha B’Av. We break from eating and most of our daily activities, even learning Torah is prohibited most of that day. What is left to do? Listen. In fact, listen carefully to the words of Jeremiah as you read the Eicha or as you recite the tragic episodes found in Kinus.
Listen now or listen later, but sooner or later we will have to listen.