Rabbi's Message

Tom Petty sang that “The waiting is the hardest part.”   I’m not so sure it is the hardest part, but it is certainly not easy.  That song has been going through my head this week as I repeatedly check the news from Israel.  Iran and Hezbollah keep threatening an imminent attack and, despite Hezbollah still firing rockets daily at Israel, a major one has not been launched yet (at least as of this writing).  Yesterday I spoke to a friend in Israel, and all he could say was what a surreal and strange time this is.  People are stocking up on supplies while also going about their daily routines, unsure of where, when, or how their lives will be disrupted.  This of course is on top of the 10 months of horror, pain and sadness that Israelis have been immersed in since October 7.  How can a people possibly live like this?  What makes this situation even more surreal is that on Monday, we began the Hebrew month of Av.  The Talmud says that when the month of Av begins our joy decreases.  That’s because this has been a month of calamity for our people throughout history.  It all culminates in the 9th day of Av, known as Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning where we fast to commemorate the destructions our people have experienced.  You can read more about the history and practices of Tisha B’Av here.   This year we will mark this somber day next Monday night, August 12, with the reading of Eikha, the book of Lamentations, and on Tuesday, August 13, with services in the morning and evening and a special program at 5:30pm.  Then we will be showing an award winning Israeli movie called “Legend of Destruction.”  I had the chance to see it in Israel with its creator, Gidi Dar.  He began working on it six years ago, and it came out in Israel two years ago.  It tells the story of the lead-up to the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE by the Romans.  The Talmud says that the Temple was destroyed because of sinat hinam, senseless hatred between Jews, and this story has a disturbing resonance with our own time.  We will be viewing it at TBS with our friends from Congregation Beth El and have a discussion afterward with Rabbi Arie Hasit, who grew up at TBS and is the Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School at the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem.  More details are below, and I hope you can make it. 

Despite this concerning confluence of timing, with the situation in Israel and the month of Av, our calendar also provides us with direction towards hope.  There is another month in our calendar that serves as a counterbalance to the sadness of Av.  It is the month of Adar, about which we say that when Adar begins our joy increases.  What I think our tradition is teaching us is that in life, there are moments of sadness and moments of joy.  We can’t always predict when one or the other will happen, sometimes we expect them and other times they take us by surprise. But we know they are inevitable.  And knowing that can help give us perspective for both the good days and the difficult ones, such as these.  This is also the lesson of Tisha B’Av. Our people have endured many tragic and difficult moments throughout history, and yet, here we are, still thriving.  There is no doubt that these are difficult days, but our resilience comes from a deep historical knowledge that we have been through difficult days before, and we have persevered, just like we will today. For now, the waiting might be the hardest part, but there will be other hard parts too.  And yet we know that we have the capacity to bring change.  Our ancestors went through many cycles, from darkness to light and from despair to hope.  Now it is our turn to do our part to bring us to safer, happier, and more peaceful days.  Kein yehi ratzon – So may it be soon.

Shabbat Shalom