Tishah B'av is a day of mourning. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed; the Jewish people were sent into exile. But Tishah B'Av is also a day of inspiration. It is the secret of Jewish serenity. Let me explain. If you ask a Jew how things are going, he will typically answer, “Pretty good.” On deeper thought he will add, “Except for terrorism,” “except for intermarriage,” “except for world hunger,” or, except for a whole lot of things that we regularly block out from our consciousness because they are too big for us to deal with. Tishah B'av is a day of mourning, but it is also a day of comfort. Tishah B'av affirms that the world we live in isn’t normal. Our world isn’t the way G-d intended normal living to be. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, and was governed by righteous people, it was a beacon of light and leadership to the entire world. G-d’s blessing was upon the world. Evil was punished, righteousness rewarded. The average person could see the glory in goodness and choose more easily to be a good person. When the Temple was controlled by people who did not live up to those standards, the Temple no longer served its function and was destroyed. The world we live in today is not ideal. It is not the way G-d had hoped to run the world. Many Jews overlook the power of Tishah B'av observance. They live the challenges of daily life without the inspirational hope that Tishah B'av provides. Tishah B’av acknowledges the loss and pain. By failing to observe it people view tragedies as normal vicissitudes of life that we must reconcile ourselves to. Tishah B'av declares that these problems are not normal. All year we must deal with them; Tishah B'av reminds us that we should not get used to them. Once a year we remind ourselves that it is a tragedy that it is this way. Allow me to share with you a humorous story that I once heard from my uncle. When air conditioning was first made available for cars, only a few fortunate people had this luxury. In my Uncle’s senior year, he had a friend who had a car, but did not have air conditioning. This friend was an interesting fellow. He would give people rides wherever they wanted to go. But he had one condition. They must leave the windows closed as he drove on the highway, and smile in the window making believe to the other drivers that they had air conditioning. Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos and a meaningful fast, Rabbi Mordechai Rhine Plans begin for publishing our weekly Torah Thoughts in Book form. If you would like to be included as a sponsor please contact us. If you enjoyed this e-mail please share it with a friend. Please daven for Toba Rochel bas Necha, and Esther Rochel bas Chaya Riva. This week’s e-mail is sponsored by Concierge Services of Cherry Hill. For help with errands atc. Please contact Judi at txjudi2002@yahoo.com or 856-667-0451. Thank you to all who participated in Rabbi Becher’s astounding series on Jewish History. Additional events are being planned for the near future. Stay tuned… This week’s Shabbos Women’s Shiur will take place at the home of Rachel Glyn, 6 Isaac Lane. Shira Baratz will be speaking on Yirmiyahu. PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN TIME: The shiur will begin at 4pm this week. Following are the times for the Tishah B’Av service and program at Young Israel:
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Rabbi Mordechai Rhine is the Co-Director of Torah Links of Cherry Hill, and the Rabbi of Young Israel of Cherry Hill. His book, “The Magic of Shabbos,” (The Judaica Press, 1998) is available at Judaica stores worldwide. Additional articles by this author are available at his web site www.teach613.org.
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