Reader's letter

Tisha b'Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Menachem Avenue, is the saddest date on the Jewish calendar. On that date, both the first and second Holy Temples of Jerusalem fell, in addition to other painful events occurring for the Jewish People and the rest of humanity.

However, less than a week later, there is another important date on our calendar: You b'Av, the 15th day of the month of Av. While Tisha b'Av is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, the 15th of Av is one of the happiest.

Our Sages say: “There are no days as festive for the Jewish People as the 15th of Av e Yom Kippur”, for there is no greater joy than having forgiveness for your sins, in Yom Kippur, is at You b'Av, joy for the seven positive events that occurred that day.

Among these, the celebration, in Ancient Israel, in which single girls went out to dance in the vineyards, singing: “Young people, lift up your eyes and seek whom to choose as your companions”. And single boys flocked to the fields to choose their intended. Since there is no happier Jewish occasion than a wedding, the 15th of Av It was considered one of the happiest days of the year.

Tisha b'Av symbolizes the fall of the Holy Temple and the destruction of Jerusalem, with the death of a large number of Jews in the wars against Rome. You b'Av, on the other hand, celebrates Jewish weddings. While the theme of the 9th of Av is destruction, that of the 15th is the union to form new families, thus guaranteeing the continuity of the Jewish People.

The fact that these two significant dates are so close conveys a lesson: we must never lose hope, because darkness is always followed by light and salvation can come in the blink of an eye. From the deep sadness of Tisha b'Av, the Jewish People rise up and, shortly after, celebrate one of the happiest days of the year.

the 15th of Av It reminds us, year after year, that no matter how difficult a person's situation is, their life can change completely. This world, the Talmud teaches, is a great ferris wheel. Even those who find themselves on the edge of a “precipice” can be lifted suddenly to “greater heights”. This is true for individuals, a nation, or even the entire world. In fact, some of the greatest miracles in our history have happened after the most difficult and painful periods. Our liberation from Egypt came shortly after Egyptian slavery and oppression. Likewise, the State of Israel was founded shortly after the Holocaust.

Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner, wrote that his generation was that of Job and Jerusalem. He experienced the destruction orchestrated by Nazism and was present both in the extermination camps and on the day Israel reunited Jerusalem and the Boiler returned to our hands. His generation lived through the darkest moment in Jewish History, but just a few years later, they witnessed miracles that we had been praying for almost two thousand years.

The fact of You b'Av occur a few days after Tisha b'Av It doesn't mean that the joy of one date cancels out the sadness of the other. The great triumphs of the Jewish People do not erase their tragedies. We fast and mourn in Tisha b'Av, even though one of the happiest days of the year comes less than a week later, and we continue to mourn the nearly seven million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, despite our people's return to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. You b'Av, therefore, teaches us that we should never lose hope, because no matter how long or dark the night is, it will always be followed by dawn.

Even during our darkest moments, we never lose hope, because our own calendar teaches us that salvation is always imminent, meaning we may go to sleep crying, but there will be laughter in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Among the countless invaluable contributions that the Jewish People have made to the world, one of them is the unshakable belief that tomorrow will be better than today and that, no matter how difficult the current circumstances, we will win and triumph. , ever!