Rabbi Roodyn

Tisha B’Av is a long and challenging day.

It is a day when we are challenged to put things into perspective.

For one day a year we are meant to put aside our own issues, or at the very least see them as part of a bigger picture. We take a step back and look at our own history and identity.

We realise that so much of that which we have experienced is due to the loss of the Beis HaMikdash. for the last 1946 years the world has been without a place where Hashem’s presence can be felt by all of humanity.

We don’t spend our time on Tisha B’Av cursing the Babylonians or the Romans, because to do so would be to miss the point entirely. Chazal tell us that the reason why the Beis Hamikdash could be destroyed is because we emptied it of true spirituality through our insincere actions, particularly between us and our fellow men.

Mourning on Tisha B’Av is therefore only half of the picture. The second half of the day, the time when we are not in shul, where there are no structured tefillos, gives us the opportunity to think about what we can do to repair ourselves, our relationships and our world.

May we be zoche to use this afternoon to do just that so that this time next year Tisha B’Av will be a day of celebrations and the golus, a distant memory.