Finding Hope and Joy Today on Tisha B'Av - The Day of Mourning for the Holy Temples

There is no day during the year when we can't find an opportunity to laugh, chuckle, guffaw, grin, or maybe just crack a smile.  Without humor, the world would be a much grimmer place.  Even during the High Holy Days and on fast days, most of us find a moment to share an anecdote or witty comment with friends.  

Today is no exception, but the overall mood of the elongated day is much more sorrowful than any other.  The reason, of course, is that today we observe Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av.

Tisha B’Av is a fast day that commemorates the destruction of the two Temples. It also happens to be the day that many other calamities have befallen the Jewish people. 

 

This year Tisha B'Av was actually yesterday, but because we don't fast on Shabbat, the day of mourning and fasting was put off until today. The same thing happened in 2018, and in that year Israel's i24 News posted a YouTube video by Rabbi Yaacov Kirmayer of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue who explained the significance of the day.

 

Amid the sadness of the day, there is room for hope and even a bit of laughter, as the rabbi described how centuries ago Rabbi Akiva laughed while visiting the site. Why laughter? Because he realized that the destruction was the fulfillment of a prophecy and pointed to a later prophecy that the Temple would ultimately be rebuilt.

We hope you have an easy and meaningful fast.

Birth of Red Cow Seen as First Step Toward Building of Third Temple

To most students of the Torah, the narrative in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers) about the red heifer, a cow that is the key to purification of individuals and vessels used in the Holy Temple, is purely theoretical. 

But it is taken very seriously by members of the Temple Institute, an organization in Jerusalem that is busy making preparations for the day that a third Temple will be rebuilt.

The ashes of the red heifer are necessary for the final preparation of the sacred vessels to be used in the Holy Temple, and for the purification of the kohanim (Temple priests) who will serve in the Holy Temple.

Recently, the theoretical turned to the possible when it was reported that a purely red cow was born in January on a farm in Arkansas. The owners of the red heifer, known as the parah adumah in Hebrew,  contacted the Temple Institute to share the news and receive instructions concerning the proper care of the animal. The Temple Institute contacted a professional documentary film producer who provided this exclusive footage of the red heifer.

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)

Today is Tisha B'Av: Holy Temple Visitors Center Opens in Jerusalem

Today is Tisha B'Av, the saddest date in the Jewish calendar. So we're taking a day off from humor and instead reflecting on the loss of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and imagining what it would be like when it is rebuilt. 

Although Tisha B'Av commemorates the destruction of both Temples, the main historical sources are in dispute about exactly when the Temples were destroyed. Some say the first Temple was destroyed either on the seventh or the 10th of Av in 586 B.C.E. by Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylonia), and the second Temple was destroyed on the 10th (70 C.E. by Titus).

The rabbinic authorities decided to mark the ninth as the official date of remembering their destruction. Over the centuries many other tragic events happened--or were traditionally said to have happened--on this date. 

These include the capture of Betar, which marked the final defeat of Bar Kokhba's rebellion against the Romans, and the razing of Jerusalem by the Romans. The edict of King Edward I compelling the Jews of England to leave the country was signed on the ninth of Av in 1290, the Jews were expelled from Spain on that day in 1492, and World War I broke out in 1914. 

The sadness and mourning that Jews feel on this day are reflected in the various practices of Tisha B'Av, including abstaining from joyous activities like study of Torah, from eating and drinking, from sexual activity, and from wearing leather.

With Jews around the world focusing on the First and Second Temples, a new Holy Temple Visitor's Center is preparing to open its doors in the Old City of Jerusalem.

As Yoni Kempinski wrote in Arutz Sheva,

The new exhibition includes a highly advanced, state of the art presentation of the Temple-ready sacred vessels created by the Institute, garments of the High Priest, oil-paintings depicting aspects of the Divine service of the Holy Temple and model of the Holy Temple Complex.

Visitors will also be able to see a scaled-down stone altar, made in accordance with Torah law, transportable and completely ready for use on the Temple Mount.

Here is a video walkthrough of the new center.

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)