A TISHA B’AV THOUGHT

    Every year, for a period of three weeks beginning with the 17th day of Tammuz and ending with the 9th of Av, the Jewish people goes into deep mourning for the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. We had two Temples; the first one was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia, the second was razed by Titus and his Roman legions. Now we have no place that can be called the Sanctuary of God on

earth. But our prophets have given us God`s promise that, in due time, we shall have a third Temple, which will remain for all eter­nity, and those who mourned the most bitterly for Israel`s lost glory will have their grief turned into great rejoicing.

The Prophet Isaiah said:

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all of you who love her; rejoice with her with great rejoicing, all of you who mourn for her.                                                       (Isaiah 66:10)

In other words, those who genuinely keep the three weeks of mourning for our Temple, who will forego all pleasure and enter­tainment in memory of Jerusalem, will be privileged in due time to rejoice in the rebuilding of our Holy City and the Sanctuary therein. But why say Rejoice with great rejoicing?

The Maggid of Dubno gave his answer in the form of a Moshol: A man embarked on a long journey which was to take him to dis­tant lands across the sea. After he had been gone for some time, reports reached his home town that his ship had met with an acci­dent and that he had been drowned. His wife and children were prostrate with grief. His friends, too, were deeply shocked, and even those who barely knew him were momentarily stunned. As time went on, however, the memory of the man they had esteemed so highly grew dimmer in their hearts. But though the months passed, his immediate family never ceased to mourn for him.

Then, one day, the door of the man`s house opened. Behold, there stood the man who they had thought was dead, very much alive! The good news quickly spread through the town, and soon the house was crowded with friends who came to express their joy at his safe return. Those who had known him but slightly were pleased for him and his family. But his intimates, who had felt genuine sorrow when he had been presumed dead, were more than merely pleased; they were overjoyed that their friend was still among the living. And his family, of course, were beside themselves with happiness. Those who had mourned the most for the lost traveler were the happiest now that he had returned.

The same applies to our own mourning for the Temple and for Jerusalem, and to the happiness that will be ours when, in due time, both the City and the Sanctuary will rise again. Jeremiah said: And I will turn their mourning into joy and I will comfort them, and make them. rejoice from their sorrow (Jeremiah 31:12). In other words: The exuberance of their rejoicing will be in direct proportion to the tears they shed when there was reason to mourn. All of Israel will rejoice when the Temple will rise again in Jerusalem, but the degree to which they will rejoice will depend upon the extent to which they wept before. And those of us who tru­ly mourned for Jerusalem will then indeed rejoice with great rejoicing at its rebuilding.

Much the same idea is expressed in the Shir Ha-Maaloth which we sing on Sabbaths and holidays: Hazor`im bedim`ah berinah yiktzoru. Those who sow in tears will accordingly reap with joy (Psalms 126:5). The more genuine and heart-rending our tears for the lost Temple, the greater will be our joy and exultation at its restoration.

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all of you who love her; rejoice with her with great rejoicing, all of you who mourn for her.