Don’t talk to me about Eichah…

Today, we know the ‘how’. We have lived it.

We know what one group of reckless politicians and their hardline supporters did.

And we know what another group of reckless politicians and their hardline supporters did in response.

We all know very well what happened soon after.

And we see yesterday, the same first group of reckless politicians may be preparing to do it all over again.

And just in case we don’t understand what we’re seeing, we have 2,000 years of mourning, and kinot, and searing aggadot in the Gemara, and of course, we have Jeremiah, and we have Lamentations, and in fact, the whole book of Prophets, and the Torah itself, with the ‘original sin’ of the Spies, and Korach, Zimri, Datan, Aviram and more.

So don’t talk to me about ‘Eichah’.

Let’s talk instead about ‘Madua’.

Why, when there has never been an era when so many Jews live in Eretz Yisrael…?

Why, when returnees had been pouring in from all four corners of the world as our holy Torah and prophets foretold…?

Why, when for the first time in 2,000 years, Jerusalem had again become the capital of a Jewish commonwealth…?

Why, when for the first time in 2,000 years a strong Jewish army could protect its citizens, and Jews worldwide, from pogrom, libel, terrorism, famine and drought?

Why, when for the first time in centuries, if not millennia, Jews can freely pray at the tombs of our patriarchs and matriarchs, Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, Rachel, Joseph, David, the holy sages of the Mishneh and Gemara, and even Aaron HaKohen across the Jordan…?

Why, when there has never been an era when so many Jews are studying Torah….?

Why, when the state of the Jews funds the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, that are studying Torah…?

Why, when the whole country shuts down for Shabbat… and the Jewish holidays…. and Tisha b’Av…?

Why, when the first Arab-Islamic leader in Israel openly recognised that Israel is and will remain a Jewish state, and then joined in its governance…?

Why, when Christians worldwide proclaim support, raise funds and join marches for the state of the Jews…?

Why, when the state of the Jews had secured unparalleled levels of recognition and support, from long-standing friends and former foes alike…?

Why, when contributions and innovations by Jews worldwide were truly helping to ‘fix the world’ in almost every scientific, social and cultural endeavour…?

Why, when antisemitism had been discredited and stood at an all time low…?

Why, when Jewish ‘in-reach’ movements were finally turning around the devastating plague of Jewish assimilation…?

Why, when genocidal enemies were approaching our gates…?

So this Tisha b’Av, let’s perhaps reflect more on the ‘why’, because we know too well the ‘how’.

May Hashem forgive our deep ingratitude in the face of the unprecedented blessings He has showered upon the Jewish people in recent times.

May Hashem nonetheless bless us to find the pathway to genuine unity among the Jewish people, for the sake of His great name, and the entire world.