Why do we Mourn?

The Jewish Calendar and the Special Days or Holidays that it contains are remarkably different from other calendars. Namely, the secular calendar that the Western world primarily utilizes is the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII. The names of the months, i.e., July and August, were also named after Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus. I don’t think it is a stretch to say that these gentlemen would not be nominated for Mensch of the Year. The holidays on this calendar are days of commemoration. The Jewish Calendar has deep spiritual messages embedded in its structure. Every month and day has a particular manifestation of a certain Mazel or spiritual influence. The month of Av, which we have just begun, is marked by a manifestation of sadness and pain that enters the world. The Rabbis teach, “When Av arrives, there is less joy.” The reason for this is that the distance between G-d and the Jewish People is most acutely felt at the beginning of this month. The destruction of the First two Temples (Batei HaMikdash) is really just a physical manifestation of this distance between us and G-d. The schism began over 3,300 years ago as the Jews traveled in the desert en route to the Holy Land. As they were on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, the people believed a toxic narrative about the Land of Israel and turned their backs on their ancestral homeland. That night was the ninth of Av, and in a sense, we have never recovered. The era of the Concealed Face of G-d (Hester Panim) began and only intensified over time. All the Jewish suffering, both on a collective and personal level, for thousands of years has its roots in Hester Panim. The more recent suffering for the last year and half since that tragic Simchas Torah on October 7, is also related to this unfortunate spiritual state. We cannot continue to view the world through a single-dimensional lens of geopolitics or economics. There are other dimensions as well, including the spiritual dimension. No one on this side of the Earth can know why these poor souls were taken as hostages, and many still currently remain languishing in dungeons below ground. Jewish Tradition does teach that this suffering is also to Hester Panim and the excruciating spiritual environment we find ourselves. As we sit on the floor on Tisha B’av, it is essential to remember that we do not mourn only for a series of events that took place thousands of years ago. We mourn the current state of our people, both on a collective and individual level. It is a time for us to open our souls up and let the voice of Renew the Days of Old, finally come to fruition in our lifetime. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch