Tisha B'Av: A Time to Weepഉദാഹരണം

Tears for Nothing

The tears we shed on Tisha B’Av are primarily associated with the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and the Second Temple in 586 BCE; however, the origins of this tragic day go back centuries earlier.

The year was 1313 BCE when the Israelites were on the threshold of entering the Promised Land. Two years earlier, they had been freed from Egypt through God’s powerful miracles, including the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. They had already experienced the revelation of God at Mt. Sinai and received His Word in the Torah. Indeed, they had been blessed with many of God’s loving miracles.

Before entering the land, Moses had sent out 12 spies to bring back a report about the land. When the spies returned, all but two of them gave a bad report about the land. They determined that the land was unconquerable.

That night, the ninth of Av, “all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.” They cried because they wanted to return to Egypt. They cried about their circumstances. But ultimately, they cried for nothing because God had already shown them that with Him, they could do anything.

According to our Oral Tradition, that night God decreed, “Tonight they cried for nothing, so in the future I will give them a reason to cry!” Those words sealed the fate of generations to come. Both the First and Second Temples were destroyed on Tisha B’Av, marking the most agonizing and painful periods for the Jewish people, resulting in an exile whose ramifications are still felt today.

In 133 CE, the few remaining Jews in Israel rebelled against the Romans. The rebellion was finally squelched on Tisha B’Av and hundreds of Jews were brutally butchered. Exactly one year later, the Temple Mount was razed so that a pagan temple could be erected. In 1290, again on Tisha B’Av, the Jews were expelled from England. In 1492, on Tisha B’Av, the Jews were kicked out of Spain. World War II and the Holocaust were the direct results of World War I, which began, of course, on Tisha B’Av.

God has given us many reasons to cry on this fateful day. However, when we learn to rectify the sin of the spies and instead live in faith, God will wipe every tear and put an end to all the tragedies. May we deserve that time to come speedily in our days!