In the depths of Tish’ah BeAv morning caffeine deprivation, I am contemplating last evening’s community discussion about commemorating what has befallen us.

We mourn for what was.  Rabbi Seth Adelson put forth that “we actively remember destruction and desolation, coupled with the reminder that throughout our history rebuilding always follows, to derive a meaningful desire to survive and thrive.”  He pointed out that yearning for healing, redemption, rebuilding, and return gives the Jews the strength to continue, and that is why we are still here 2600 years after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians.  It is an arc, he said; plunging to the depths, beginning the evening stripped down to our souls, sitting on the floor and reading Lamentations, gives us reason to look ahead to the next afternoon and better days.

Perpetual mourning!  Yet, the Psalms tell us that the Almighty heals the brokenhearted.  Beyond the first few years, when we remember who and what we have lost, we can choose to remember the positives that existed rather than the negatives that took them away.  Are we still in mourning?  (Or, like me, do we go because we appreciate the chanting of Eykhah?)

Rabbi Larry Freedman then presented other sources which would lead us to action as a response to what has befallen us, even to the point of militancy:  to finally stand up and defeat our enemies, possibly going overboard in zealotry.  The sources seemed to suggest we act before we disappear, rather than mourning after decimation.  Yet, taken too far it might lead to destroying others before they destroy us, which seems rather unholy.

Some say we Jews are always going to be hated, so let us mourn,........

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