when remaining passive is not a choice

I went to a minyan on 9 Av that invites community members to do a little intro and explanation of each of the kinos before it is recited by the tzibur. I knew that the individual who was going to introduce the kinah that speaks of the horrible starvation in Yerushalayim אִם תֺּאכַלְנָה נָשִׁים פִּרְיָם עוֹלְלֵי טִפּוּחִים אַלְלַי לִי has very different hashkafos that I do, but I was still shocked that he or anyone would use this as the opportunity to speak of our obligation to worry about our being the cause of starvation in Gaza. Whether there is in fact starvation is itself subject to debate, but I certainly am not going to worry about the Gazan people any more than their leaders, who obviously think it more important to continue to hold I hostage than to release them and disarm, do. When I see that young Jews overwhelmingly support Mamdani for mayor of NY, I am discouraged, but I figure they are misguided, unaffiliated folks who are tinok she'nishba in secular culture. But when I hear people in an orthodox shul speaking about our need to be concerned about our causing starvation in Gaza and no one gets up and walks out, instead there is shtika k'hodaah, it is frightening. To be fair, I am confident that the vast majority of people at that shul do NOT agree with this individuals sentiments, but sof kol sof, they gave him a platform and very politely listened to what I think are words of poison.

We read in our parsha

וְצַו אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְחַזְּקֵהוּ וְאַמְּצֵהוּ כִּי הוּא יַעֲבֹר לִפְנֵי הָעָם הַזֶּה וְהוּא יַנְחִיל אוֹתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה.

וַנֵּשֶׁב בַּגָּיְא מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר.

עַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע אֶל הַחֻקִּים וְאֶל הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ וּבָאתֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר ה׳ אֱלֹקי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם נֹתֵן לָכֶם.

What is the connection between וַנֵּשֶׁב בַּגָּיְא and the previous or following pasuk? As Ohr haChaim puts it:

צריך לדעת כונת הכתוב מה בא להודיע במאמר זה, ומה קשר יש לו לא עם מה שלפניו ולא עם מה שלאחריו

The GR"A in Aderes Aliyahu connects it all the way to the beginning of the parsha. Moshe was saying that his tefilos, with all his tzidkus, were not answered, but Bn"Y as a people, despite all their failings, despite ַנֵּשֶׁב בַּגָּיְא מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר engaging in the most disgusting avodah zarah, are still guaranteed to go to Eretz Yisrael, לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ וּבָאתֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ.  Very uplifting.

The Alshich has a different pshat. Had Bn"Y been worthy, that the zechus of Yehoshua alone would have been enough to guarantee them victory in the conquest of E Yisrael. כִּי הוּא יַעֲבֹר...וְהוּא יַנְחִיל אוֹתָם. That is no longer the case because of the sin of worshipping Baal Pe'or. But, says the Alshich, weren't those who worshipped Pe'or already punished? Wasn't there a plague that wiped out those who sinned? The next pasuk answers that question: וַנֵּשֶׁב בַּגָּיְא מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר. Pinchas jumped up with his spear and took care of business, but what were the rest of you doing? You were sitting there, you were passive, you didn't do anything. True, you were not the one's who worshipped Baal Pe'or, but you stood by idly while others did. Yehoshua's zechuyos are not enough anymore. עַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע אֶל הַחֻקִּים וְאֶל הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם You all have to do your part, each individual being careful about his shemiras ha'mitzvos. You have to get up and take action and do something meaningful.  

A person cannot sit back and say, "I don't hold that political view, so what do I care what others say?" or "My children are married to the best families, to bnei Torah, to bais Yaakov girls, so I'm not responsible for the 70% intermarriage rate in America," or "I send my kids to the best yeshiva, so what can I do if my neighbor sends his kids to public school?" These are of course different issues that call for different types of reactions and different strategies to address, but the common denominator is that we cannot just be וַנֵּשֶׁב בַּגָּיְא מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר The Baal Peor is right across from you, staring you in the face, and all you can do is sit passively while this is going on? I am not saying to sit on Twitter  24x6 debating the Israel bashers, or to engage in disruptive or harmful  behavior. That's not healthy or positive either. But do something. Don't sit passively and let others dictate the narrative or the outcome.

So what should we be doing? This shiur of R' Meir Lichtenstein discussing how his grandfather, the Rav, approched kinos, is worth watching in tis entirely, but I want to highlight just one snippit. B'kitzur, RML contends that the Rav used kinos as a springboard to think about and discuss some of the big questions, e.g. How do we relate to Am Yisrael, to Eretz Yisrael? What is our mission? The Rav would spend hours and hours on kinos, giving full shiurim on individual lines of the text. (Parenthetically, RML mentions that his father did not approach kinos that way.) Today, many American Rabbis follow in the Rav's footsteps, and there are programs you can watch online that can fill your entire day of 9 Av. Here is RML's reaction:

I will just add my own editorial 2 cents.  Sometimes feel that every dollar spent on more and bigger institutions that perpetuate J  life in galus is another dollar that is throwing good money after bad.  You are investing in beautifying the lifeboat so you can stay in it longer and be more comfortable there instead of encouraging people to row faster for land. לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ  is not the end of the pasuk above.  It's   לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ וּבָאתֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ.  Let's not forget the end goal.  Let's not let 9 AV get away from us without at least thinking about what the end goal is.