She Said: She Said: Tisha B'Av 5769

Every year, we mourn the loss of the Temple. I never merited seeing the Temple, so it's been hard for me to mourn. This year, however, was different. I didn't mourn the Temple so much as work to build it.

I spent Tish B'av in the Old City, in the Jewish Quarter. I stayed in an apartment with some of my national service friends. All of us will be volunteering at an organization which promotes the significance of the rebuilding the Temple.

For the reading of Eicha, we stood at the outskirts of the Jewish Quarter, surrounded by policemen. That is, we heard the megilla at the Kotna Gate, right next to the entrance to Har HaBayit. We davened by the light of our cellphones and were interrupted by shouting between IDF soldiers and Arabs. Our prayer experience was amazing.

Around 11:00 p.m. that night, my friends and I sat by the Kotel. We were literally sitting on the ground and looking up at the Kotel. We were talking about how no one knows that the Kotel was originally a shuk, and how amazing it is that people perceive the Kotel to be the most holy place in the world. We decided we had to do something about that misconception.

Thus, at 11:30 p.m. we went to our sherut leumi office and made posters. After a quick call to one of our rabbis for permission, we set up a stand to collect funds for the Third Temple. All of the funds we collected were earmarked for educating people about the Temple, or for helping to fund the rebuilding of the Temple vessels. We were out until 2:00 that morning. We collected over 400 shekels.

About five hours later, we went to the Kotel to daven shacharit. I had never been to the Kotel on Tisha B'av. It was an unforgettable experience.

After we finished praying, we "opened up shop," again. However, it was a hot day and all of us were all fasting. We had plans for the late afternoon and we didn't want to get dehydrated. After about an hour of manning our stand, we decided to close down and to rest in the shade.

That plan was not to be. While carrying our table back to the office, we kept stopping, asking for - and getting - donations. Eventually, instead of standing in the middle of the sunny staircase, we found a shady spot and set up there. After four hours of work, and many very generous donations, we counted almost 1000 additional shekels in donations. People care.

My friends and I all rested for an hour or so, and then we went to Mitzpeh Yericho to see the building of the sacrificial altar. We were able to say "amen" to the blessing made on the building a vessel of the Temple, and we were able to watch the tar being poured into the mold for that construction. We even got to see a rabbi take a rock out of the altar when it touched the metal tar bucket; no part of the altar can touch metal.

This Tisha B'av was the most meaningful one I ever have had. Instead of simply mourning the loss of something hard for me to conceive of, I was able to work to rebuild the Temple.

One day, we will have no more need to fast; we will instead feast in honor of the Temple. May we all be fortunate enough to soon bring our sacrifices to the third Temple!

-Becca

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Tisha B'Av this year, in our home, resounded with meaning. It was not so much that we had guests with whom we sat and grieved. This year, our home was empty of bnot and bnai bayit, of foreigners, and of other welcomed souls. Likewise, it was not the case that the liturgy concomitant to this day took on fresh meaning, though I wish I could say it had.

This year, like the years before, during the weeks of loss, during the days of grief, we continued to speak of Moshiach's coming. We cried over the fact that Tisha B'Av could be a feast, not a fast.

Moshiach did not come. We ate the same meal of boiled eggs and ash as we did during the previous years. We again sat on stools or on the floor, like we did previous years. We once more read Eichah, The Book of Lamentations.

The Temple remains destroyed. The Jewish Nation remains in tatters. From convergent media to interpersonal speech, there continues to be a lack of love among brothers.

Moshiach will not come if we do not do our histadlut.

Accordingly, there are two questions it would behoove us to ask ourselves. First, are we truly willing to do what we have to in order to prepare for Moshiach? Second, are we sincerely interested in living in a Messianic world?

The second question is easier to answer. It revolves, in part, around the material world, the world of gashmiut. Our elders have inferred that the Messianic Age will be a time of Torah. This era will be a time of spiritual endeavors. Ego, and its accompanying emphasis on status and on physical goods, will necessarily be diminished.

When we frail individuals fail to quell our anxieties with emunah and with b'tochen, we become susceptible to filling those voids with things that are not so good for us or for others. Living in a Messianic Age means living without those accouterments. I'm not sure any of us are sufficiently spiritually evolved to let go of our foibles. I pray we learn to do so.

Regarding the first question, the issue of doing what is necessary on our part to prepare for the coming of Moshiach, that matter, too, is a matter of suppressing the urge to feel better about our real and imagined losses through artificial compensation. In short, we can't gossip to raise our popularity, we can't slander to make up for insult, and we can't decry the behavior of other Jews even when thier behavior is irritating or worse. It has never been our portion to judge or to penalize. Those actions are the province only of our Boss.

Consequently, we must strive to be compassionate in our dealings with other members of the Klal. We must actively seek means by which to build bridges among our fellows. We must learn and sincerely believe we are capable of learning from every Jew we encounter, no matter the circumstances and no matter the outcome of those circumstances.

The aforementioned are rigorous requirements. It's nearly impossible to look favorably upon someone who hurt us or whom we perceived hurt us. The yetza hora is very strong in these matters.

Hashem is stronger. We look to the heavens, ask for His help, and somehow, some way, overcome the inclination to bring more negativity into existence.

If we can bring down blessings from heaven. If we can hold off the entrance of ill thoughts and words into our lives, we can recreate the Temple.

If we can suspend our service to ego and enhance our service to the greater good, we can live with Moshiach. If we can embrace the height that selflessness brings, we can dwell in the Temple.

I'm not sure we want to do what is needed to bring the Messianic Era, or to live in it. I am sure, however, that we are able.

-Channie