The ninth of Av.
A date of destruction and devastation
not just once
but again and again.
586 BCE.
Our First Temple destroyed
at the hands of Babylonians.
70 CE.
Our Second Temple destroyed
at the hands of the Romans.
1492.
The Spanish expulsion.
Our deadline for departing.
World War I
broke out on Tisha B’Av
ultimately setting the stage
that would lead to the Holocaust.
Houses of worship burned.
Sacred objects destroyed.
People of faith exiled.
We are not alone.
2015.
In January, churches were destroyed in Niger
after the Charlie Hebdo attack.
In March, more than 130 people were killed during Friday prayer
in mosques in Yemen.
In May, 21 people were killed at a mosque in Saudi Arabia.
In June and July, six African-American churches
were set aflame by arson in the Southern U.S.
This is just an abbreviated list of the sanctuaries this year
that have been shattered by violence and hate.
“Eichah – How?”
The book of Lamentations cries out.
“How the city sits alone that was once full of people!”
“Eichah – How?”
How did we and
how do we move forward?
We rebuilt and rebuild.
Synagogues, schools, communities.
Ultimately our holy land of Israel
and our holy city of Jerusalem.
Others rebuilt and rebuild.
Aloneness of exile ameliorated
by standing with and for others.
Flames of hatred extinguished
by acts of love.
On the 9th of Av,
Jewish tradition teaches
that the messiah was born.
On this day,
hope was born
and is born.
Today is a day for
turning the world around.
A day for faith in
what is and what can be.
