If ever there is an appropriate time for communal mourning, it is now, in the midst of a global pandemic.  On July 29 at sundown marks the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the many catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people at this very time throughout our history.

Tisha B’Av is not a holiday of joy, but rather an anticipation of better days to come. This perspective sheds light and gives us hope in our modern day tragedy. Pandemic, protests, politics…we are in a war amongst ourselves.

Tisha B’Av, which literally means the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, is a time to remember the destruction of the two holy temples in Jerusalem almost 2,000 and 2,500 years ago, as well as other calamities that sought to break our soul and destroy us. We remember these tragic events that include the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1942, the start of World War I and the ensuing tragedy of both Worlds Wars that lead to the Holocaust, and more HERE.

The exile lasted up until the Six Day War in 1967 when, after a battle, the Western Wall became ours again. Today, the world is under siege by  the fallout of COVID-19. The novel coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on humanity on all fronts–physically, emotionally, economically, socially, morally, and ethically. We were not prepared for this  causing much pain, suffering, fear and uncertainty.  And tragically, we are our own worst enemy. Continue reading →