What is our task during this period when we mourn the destruction of the Temples?ย
During this period of the year there is spiritual work that needs to be done.
People ask "When will the fast end?" Better to ask "When will the exile end and how can I help end it?โ
Here are some answers and food for thought:
ย 1. Don't run away from the pain:
We need to connect our small troubles to the general and spiritual troubles. During this time we don't just ask for personal comfort, but for complete redemption. We are called to fight for the world, for the sake of the people of Israel, so that the fate of the universe should be better.
According to Rabbi Kook: "All our private difficulties come only from the lack of higher spiritual illumination of life". The destruction of the Temple is the root cause of the darkness currently found in the world.
Our private sorrow is the sorrow of the Divine Providence.
We need to work on giving space to personal pain and trouble and trying to connect it to the general troubles of the world.
2. To try to understand what we lost: longing for longing:
Part of the point is knowing what we don't know. To know that the destruction is double - there was also the physical destruction, but along with it the knowledge of what was in essence was destroyed. How can one explain in words the disadvantage of losing something that we never got to experience? A world with the Temple was a completely different world, it was the conduit that connected the highest spiritual worlds with the material world.
Rashi according to the words of the sages: "Jacob's ladders feet were in Be'er Sheva, and its top was at Beit El and the middle of his slope was toward Jerusalem." Beer Sheva alludes to the practical world (between man and his fellow man), Beit El (the house of God) is the end of the ladder that reaches heaven (between man and God), but Jerusalem, the city of perfection, is precisely in the middle of its slope. Perfection is expressed in the ability to balance between the spiritual world and our physical world. After all, this is what man was created for, to apply the highest values in the world of action.
We need to work on knowing that we are missing something big.
3. Aharon HaCohen's work:
Aaron's symbol is love, unconditional love. He made peace "between a man and his friend and between a man and his wife". He also made peace between man and God. His work was also to instill in the hearts of Israel for all generations the belief of the great love that the Holy One, blessed be He, has for all of Israel.
We need to work on loving everyone unconditionally
4. Correcting our relationship to the Torah:
Torah with โDerech Eretz" (The Torah with the Way of the World) The Torah is a living reality. Delving into the Torah will lead to spiritual alertness. At any moment you can wake up with renewed enthusiasm to fulfill God's will.
We need to work on reestablishing our connection to the Torah so that we can elevate the world to new heights.
5: Av precedes Elul for a reason:
The word AV in Hebrew consists of two letters Aleph and Bet, which can stand for the words Elul Ba, Elul is coming! The month of Av is followed by the month of Elul which is the month that precedes the new year. Av reminds us that Elul is coming, and that Rosh Hashana is around the corner! We have the gift of Av to prepare ourselves for the month of Elul in which we do our final reparations for Rosh Hashana. We can introspect and correct our ways for the past year already from the month of Av. When Elul arrives, we can truly prepare ourselves for whatโs to come.
Each of these answers help give us direction on how to work on ourselves and everyone together can help build the third Temple in Jerusalem speedily in our days!
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