How to celebrate Tisha B’Av

Celebrating? Really?

Initially I wanted to title this posting “How to use Tisha B’Av” or “How not to miss Tisha B’Av”. However those titles do not reflect the unique opportunity of that day!

The truth is, Tisha B’Av is the lowest day in the Jewish calendar! However precisely because of its gloomy nature it is the most suitable day to rectify all the falls that happened on that day throughout the history .  Any day when Hashem allows and helps us to get closer to him is a very good day, so why not celebrate Tisha B’Av?

It is a mistake to “suffer through” the day and think that we did what is required of us on Tisha B’Av.

The power of Tisha B’Av is exactly in the fact that it’s so low and deep.

Using the Springboard Dynamic, we can propel ourselves into astonishing ascent, towards   Tu B’Av , through the great opportunities of Elul, into the holiness of Tishrei and beyond!

Working through the roots of a problem.

To accomplish this jump we have to identify the reasons for the Destruction of our Holy Temple and our low spiritual state. Reasons that are most relevant to us now and here. When we rectify those flaws with Tefillah to the best of our ability.

Looking at the events that created and shaped the Tisha B’Av

• Incident with ten spies who caused the entire generation to die in the desert instead of inheriting Eretz Israel.
• Destruction of the First and the Second Beit HaMikdash and others.

– we see lack of Emunah ( belief  that absolutely everything is from Hashem),  idol worship, licentiousness, murder, and baseless hatred to another Jew.

None of those issues was completely rectified and they still remain and are  up to us to fix.

The grief over the destruction is only the first step. Grief and anguish over the loss of our intimacy with Hashem needs to be transformed into the constructive effort of Tikun.

This means fixing our relationship with other Jews, the relationship with Hashem, rectify what was broken on Tisha B’Av!

Article by Rav Yitzchak Schwartz provides great tools for this re-channeling.

May we be successful in doing our part and may Hashem bring our Redemption with joy and light, speedily, in our days,

Amen

Related Articles:

The Other Side of TiSha B’Av