Tisha B'Av 5780

Husband here. Doesn't take much to say that this Tisha B'Av is VERY DIFFERENT than the one I had last year. Could it still be meaningful? Could I/we still feel the pain of the destruction when there is so much other pain around us? Is "virtually mourning" an adequate substitute for the real thing in front of real people and seeing with my own eyes what is missing?

I will attempt to answer these questions, but above all, and I find it interesting that no one I listened to today or last night mentioned this, in one way it is easier to connect this year because just about all of us are experiencing Churban - destruction. Our shuls, while the buildings may still physically exist, they are merely shells. We can't gather in them, and our reading of Eichah/Lametnations in the streets, allowed me to vividly imagine the singing of the same Lamentation the first time it was sung in the streets immediately following the destruction of the Temple. I'm not one to read into things, but what does it mean to not have access to our miniature Temples on a day like today? Have we done something wrong to deserve this punishment, or is it a message from Our Creator that it is time to give up what has become in the eyes of many (to no fault of their own) adequate replacements to the Temple that once stood in the center of Jerusalem and make movements towards rebuilding it?

A year after I criticized what little talk there was about doing what we can to rebuild, things aren't much better, so I've spent some time thinking of some ideas of what we can do to remind ourselves that the ingathering of the Jews in Israel is only one (very important) part of the redemption, but it is not complete until the Temple is restored:

1. All religious umbrella groups should adopt wording for their Tisha B'Av programming that anticipates the rebuilding of our Temple.
   
   The fliers/newspapers which are published each Shabbat were filled with advertisements of the programming that was planned for today. Not a single one of them had any disclaimer such as: "In the event that our Temple is not rebuilt" or "Our preferred schedule is...but in case the Temple is not rebuilt".
   
   
2.  Add a direct reference to the need for our Temple in our "Blessing for the State of Israel"
   
   Complacency around the fact that the state of Israel is the end goal I think contributes to the lack of mainstream religious desire to take steps towards its rebuilding. We call the state of Israel the "First Blossoming of Our Redemption" but make no reference towards what the rest of the blossoming looks like.
   
   
3. Incorporate the religious need for the Beit Hamikdash into the platforms of the religious parties in Israel
   
   I'm not an expert and have done almost no research, but the political aspect of our need for the Temple can not be overlooked. Even the "Ultra-Orthodox" parties here in this country, all their voters, and all the rabbis that are part of those voters end their speeches with the words "and may we see the rebuilding of the Temple speedily in our days". So shouldn't they want it to be part of the parties that represent them (regardless of whether you agree there should be a secular government in Israel)?

I have more ideas, but I think making progress on these fronts are simple and are steps in the right direction that don't rock the boat too much from a political or halachik (Jewish law) perspective. 

So, given that we couldn't be in our shuls, and given that we couldn't hear in person from our religious leaders as to how we can incorporate our national and global feelings and crises into the day on our calendar that condenses all of our sorrows and tragedies, what is one to do? Turns out that in some way I had been preparing myself for how I spent my Tisha B'Av during the past few weeks. See, I have stopped going to daily prayers in the synagogue in an effort to prevent infection from Coronavirus (though the discussion of whether tempering our prayers and the effect that mass prayer has on the heavens is the correct course of action is for another time) so instead I have been going each morning to various historic and scenic sites around my city to pray to Hashem and reflect on the state of the world. It has been wonderful to be able to learn how much there is right around me (our part of the country is not known for its historical/tourist abundance) and do my own part in acquiring the land. I have called the project "Shacharit (morning prayers) on Location" and I post pictures of where I have gone each day on Facebook.

Therefore, I was quite pleased to see that Mizrachi "stole my idea" (not really) and decided to record "Kinnot (lamentations) on Location". The Mizrachi movement selected famous Rabbis and both male and female non-rabbinic scholars from around the world to give context to the various Kinnot we say during the day. It was well done, and I learned a lot about events in Jewish history I didn't know before. I suggest watching the one about the Martyrs of York and also a video about the Ketef Hinom Graves. Add in a video about the City of David and how the brilliant Menachem Begin so perfectly demonstrated the importance of our Temple to our national story and it actually came out to be on par with other years (if not more so). 

Next year I hope I can write the post I really want to write. The one about how Tamar lit candles to welcome in the Yom Tov/Holiday of Tisha B'Av. The one where I write that I was able to buy my Korbanot from the shopkeeper mentioned in the City of David video. The one where I can post to my "Shacharit on Location" album pictures of the altar and the Holy of Holies in our rebuilt Temple.