100719 TISHA B’AV 2010

Almost 2000 years ago on Tisha b’Av - the 9th of Av - the Roman armies of Titus burned the Second Temple to the ground. The Jews understood that because of their base hatred towards one another Hashem allowed their enemies to conquer and destroy the Temple.

The people wept and mourned as they sat on the ground wailing lamentations in remembrance of the Temple and of Jerusalem before it was plowed under like a field. Along with the rabbis, they cried out: “What shall we do now that the Temple for the G-d of Israel is no more? Where shall we bring our offerings to G-d?”

Later, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai’s reply to their questions was: “Now you must bring Hashem acts of loving-kindness for He desires mercy and not sacrifice. Yes, the houses built for G-d are gone, but the Torah says:

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

And let them make a mikdash for Me so that I may dwell inside them. Shmot 25:8

The verse does not say inside IT meaning the Temple, but it says inside THEM referring to the people.

Therefore, each of us is actually a living temple and we pray that by acts of loving-kindness we will be able to expedite the redemption of our people,”

Tragic events which occurred throughout the history of our ancestors on this day:

1. The sin of the spies caused Hashem to decree that the children of Israel would not be permitted to enter the Land because of their evil report of the Promised Land

2. The First Temple was destroyed

3. The Second Temple was destroyed

4. Beitar, the last fortress to hold out against the Romans during the Bar Kochba revolt in the year 135 CE was destroyed sealing the fate of the Jewish people

5. One year after the fall of Beitar the Temple area was plowed under

6. In 1492, King Ferdinand of Spain issued the Expulsion Decree, setting Tisha B’Av as the final date by which not one single Jew would be allowed to walk on Spanish soil

7. World War I began the downward slide to the Holocaust on Tisha B’Av

8. The most shameful - Expulsion of 8,000 Gush Katif residents by their own government of their own Land