Tonight we began commemorating, the 9th of the Month of Av, commonly referred to as Tisha B’av, the saddest day in the Jewish Calendar. On this day, for thousands of years, Jews have mourned the destruction of both the first and second temples in Jerusalem. Over the centuries, it became the Jewish national day of mourning, where we recount and mourn calamities such as the 10 spies who prevented the Israelites from entering the Promised land, the destruction of Medieval Jewish communities such as Worms, Speyer and Meinz, the burning of the Talmud in France and the Holocaust as well.
When I came back from Synagogue tonight where we sat on the floor and read Lamentations, my wife remarked to me “I really feel Tisha B’av this year.” In essence, she was saying that the events of the last 4 weeks from the kidnappings of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali to the war in the South, the morally depraved murder of young Muhammed, and the loss of our soldiers in the battles, has brought the sadness of Tisha B’av to an acute point of emotional and religious actualization.
Although we often offer different perspectives to our children, to each other and to others, it is rare that my wife and diverge around Jewish Custom, feeling or practice. Therefore, her comment stung me. Why? Because I did not have the same feeling.
Why? I asked myself, are my feelings less acute this year than in years past? For as long as I can remember, I mourned deeply on Tisha B’av, understanding that the corruption of society at the end of the Second Temple period and the divisiveness in Jewish society during that period led to 2000 years of exile, the crusades, the Holocaust and other tragedies. I feel the weight of those Jewish tragedies every year. So why did I not connect with my wife’s pointed and sensitive comment?
Upon reflection, I think that the last few weeks have brought both a sense of unity and a sense of purpose to the Jewish people that I have not felt in a long time. I think that the unity that the just war against Hamas has brought to our people is, in some respects, the beginning of a healing the rupture of destruction 2000 years ago. The unity with which Israelis condemned the murder of Muhammed was a moment of national moral clarity. Moreover, I see a burning desire to continue what started during the war and try to build solidarity to build a just and great society in Israel. We want to continue building an economy that brings everyone into the 21st century and raises their standard of living. We want to build a society that innovates for the rest of the world and solves global problems. And over the last 6 weeks, we have discovered that when we act together, as one, we can both find a moral compass and do amazing things.
So on this Tisha B’av who is right? The complex truth is that we need both perspectives. My wife is always right so we will mourn the calamities that have befallen our people over thousands of years, and thereby continually create a shared history and narrative. We will acutely feel the pain of those who lost their lives over the last 6 weeks and in setting up the State of Israel. However, I hope that we will also use this Tisha B’av as a springboard for creating a just, righteous, fair and great society that will be a light unto the nations. I pray today that we will leverage what we built in military technologies to build innovative solutions that solve hunger, disease and educational gaps all over the world. Together we can do it. Together, we will do it.
Zion will be redeemed with justice and its returnees with giving
בברכתציוןבמשפטתפדהושביהבצדקה