The day after Tisha B’Av

Tisha B’Av is only good if you remember it a little bit longer. If the next day is just the same as it was before, what good is the whole thing?

Part 1

So, what are your feelings the day after Tisha B’Av?

Relief let’s go party. Enjoy the summer.

That is a positive emotion but there is so much pain. So much pain in this world.

For me, Tisha B’Av is the emotional climax of the year. A day to reflect. To reflect on the tragedies over the last week, month and year.

Oy, we lost so many good people this year, this last week and month through hatred of our brothers, the Arabs, through accidents, through depression, through sickness and that dreaded C word. So, many in the prime of their lives.

Not only death but also severe injuries. We tend to forget about these unfortunate souls.

Oy, how can we continue. Oy, how we can continue with God still hiding his presence.

So much tension, division in the word. So many bad words, so many mistruths.

So much fanaticism. Me included.

The kinnot we read on Tisha B’Av was a cry from the heart as we reflected over all the suffering of the Jews over the centuries and now.

So, how can we move forward?

Do, we simply go straight into the summer of love and happiness.

Thank God, we the ability to forget, to drown out the sorrows.

Our sages instituted seven weeks of healing, seven weeks to remove the sadness, seven weeks of compassion. Nachamu.

Indeed, this Shabbat is called Shabbat Nachamu. We need compassion so much. The world needs to be compassionate.

Part 2

For some people this year, they simply cannot move on from their personal Tisha B’Av like our friends from Moshav Meor Modi’im who lost their homes, their personal memorabilia and community. They are crying, fighting to get their homes back, their rights to their land to build a better future. They are up against bureaucracy, false promises of support.

They have resilience but need our help, love and support.

Their frustration and hopes are illustrated by the following stories that Avraham Sand posted on Facebook:

On Shabbos at the Moshav, our first Shabbos here after the Fire, we only had 7 guys for the Minyan. So, my holy wife Leah Rivka ran up to the highway to stop cars, to request help. Then Reb Shalom told her she was not allowed to stop cars on Shabbos. So, she went dancing up and down the highway, and no cars stopped. Then she was reported to the Police. “I would like to report a crazy woman dancing along the highway.” The Police came to check her out, but there was only 1 guy in the car, and he had to get back to work.

Sometimes it pays to learn from non-Jews. The Amish, a religiously Christian community, practices a simple lifestyle, is reluctant to introduce modern technology into its environment, and is located mainly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When a house is being built, everyone in the community bands together to put it up, and the work is usually finished in less than a week.

Imagine if all the followers of Shlomo Carlebach were to donate only four hours of their time to rebuilding the moshav; it could be completed within six months. Such people include architects, interior decorators, property developers, painters, carpenters, electricians, etc. Whoever has been to a fair at the moshav and has enjoyed the music of the original residents and their highly talented offspring would surely want to have that experience again in the not too distant future. It could happen if they all donate four hours of their time. You know the old saying: Many hands make light work.

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