This Shabbas is the 9th of Av the date on which many tragedies befell the Jewish nation, including the destruction of the first and second temples. The fast and other restrictions as well as our mourning are "pushed off" and we observe these laws on Saturday night and Sunday as opposed to Shabbat.

It is very difficult for most people to really connect to Tisha Ba'Av. We are mainly mourning the destruction of the temple and it is something that we don't really understand. We never saw the Holy Temple or experienced life in the times of the Temple. How then can we properly mourn for what is lost? We are obviously mourning something much deeper than the destruction of a beautiful building and by trying to learn and understand what it means to have the Temple we can certainly begin to appreciate what was lost.

One point that I think is worth contemplating is that in the Temple itself there were constant miracles. The Temple functioned in a supernatural way, if a person would visit Jerusalem and go to the temple they would see these miracles. In our time we are faced with many different challenges in life which in some cases may shake our belief in G-d. Imagine being able to visit the Temple and see open miracles, imagine being able to clearly see the truth manifested through these supernatural occurrences. All of our questions and doubts would disappear. We may not have all the answers but it would be clear to us that we are in the hands of a higher power. The Jewish People at the time of the Temple lived this reality and clarity. This is one aspect which was lost when the Temple was destroyed and certainly as reason to mourn.

Shabbat Shalom,

May we see the rebuilding of Jerusalem speedily in our day.

Heath