Yesterday was Tisha B’av. If you’ve never been to a Jewish summer camp near the end of the summer, or don’t have a triple degree in Talmud, Jewish Studies, and Hebrew, then chances are you haven’t heard of the “holiday”.
Tisha B’av is the saddest day of the Jewish year, a day of mourning and a day of fasting. We commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples, the defeat of the Bar Kochba Revolt and the fall of Beitar, the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews from Spain, and the commencement of the deportation of the Warsaw Ghetto Jews to Treblinka during the Holocaust, among other calamities. As a result of this day of mourning we fast, sit on the ground (not on chairs), and generally refrain from pleasurable things.
The past few years (except last year), I had been at Herzl Camp over Tisha B’av. There, a large portion of the community fasts together, and we all partake in the reading of the Book of Lamentations and the Book of Job as is the custom. We also typically showed the movie “A Hero in Heaven”, a tribute to the life of Michael Levin, an American who made Aliyah and gave the ultimate sacrifice while fighting in the Second Lebanon War. Michael, too, was buried on Tisha B’av. Here at camp, I thought I understood Tisha B’av.
Back in 2008, I explored Israel on Alexander Muss High School in Israel. I learned Jewish history from beginning to the present. I understood the importance of remembrance. I understood the modern importance of the lessons of the First Temple, as idol worship and corruption were the cause of its collapse. I understood the importance of the lessons of the Second Temple, where sinat chinam, baseless hatred, caused the Temple to be destroyed. I understood the importance of a Jewish state, and the need to protect and defend it at all cost. But yet, Tisha B’av was just another day to me, another ritual rooted in ancient (or seemingly ancient) times.
That changed this year. This year I’m fortunate to have spent Tisha B’av in the Third Temple. No, I’m not breaking some major news story where the Jews have destroyed the Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuilt a grand and glorious new temple. No, this temple was created in 1948, with a victory over the surrounding nations in the War for Independence, and still stands to this day. This temple is Medinat Yisrael, the State of Israel.
This Tisha B’av, and actually this whole week, I’ve been volunteering at a vineyard in the Kinneret region up north, in St. Paul’s partnership region. As I fasted, for the first time, I got to work the land of Eretz Yisrael. I got to experience and take part in the constant rebuilding of the Third Temple by helping to make this land beautiful and prosperous. This contrast between the fast and the labor, between the remembrance of what was and the reality of what now is, is an experience that is not lost on me, and that I will take with me the rest of my life. We are here now, and we’re not going anywhere.
Once again, there are people the world over that call for the destruction of the State of Israel and the elimination of the Jewish people. Like it or not, they are on our doorstep and ready and willing at a moment’s weakness to strike. We’ve unfortunately seen it these past few weeks, where the people of Israel and Jews across the world have witnessed the terror of those who want to destroy us. We have also seen, however, a Jewish unity unlike anything we have seen in a long time. Jews from all over the world stood up for their brethren, and raised their voices together in support of the Israeli people.
Let us continue to heed the lessons of Tisha B’av, of the First and Second Temples, of the Inquisition, of the Holocaust, and let us recognize that UNITY, and only unity, will leave us victorious in this time of the Third Temple. Together, as a Jewish community, we can and must stand for what is right and just in the world. We can and must fulfill our purpose of being a beacon of light, peace, and prosperity unto the nations. This, I believe, is our mission, and our duty. And only together, we can make it a reality.
