The Tisha B’av Holiday

The Navi Zacharia was asked by the good Jews of his time if they should continue to fast on Tish’a B’av, as they had been since the destruction of the first Beis HaMikdash, for the second Beis HaMikdash was just built. He asked Hashem, and received the answer “The fast of Tish’a B’av, with the other fasts, will turn to rejoicing and happiness” – i.e. Don’t fast. (I edited the text a bit) The gemarah comments that the pasuk persists on calling it a fast – “the fast of Tish’a B’av” – even as it is telling us not to fast. Therefore, it concludes, we must realize there are three catagories; when times are good – “rejoicing and happiness”, when times are bad – fasting, and in medium times although a fast is appropriate, it is not obligatory. Whoever wishes so can fast.

The Rishonim differ in interpreting this Gemarah. Most Rishonim maintain that at the time of the second Beis HaMikdash there was no fasting, only rejoicing and happiness. The Rambam, however, in his commentary on the Mishna maintains that Tish’a B’av, at least, was a time appropriate – but not obligatory – to fast, even when the Beis HaMikdash stood. This was because Tish’a B’av had always been a sad day for us, back from when we were decreed upon to wander the Midbar, down to the destruction of the first Beis HaMikdash.

(I wonder why the other commentaries maintain that Tish’a B’av was a holiday during the second Temple period; what did they celebrate??)
At any rate here we face the specter of people in full possession of their Beis HaMikdash fasting – voluntarily – in mourning. So are we indeed fasting on Tish’a B’av merely in mourning over the loss of the Beis HaMikdash??
Looking through the Kinos it seems we are doing a few things:
* asking for the geula, yearning for Tzion.
* realizing the state we are in, far from Hashem, our nation, land and honor in shambles.
* realizing why we are suffering, so that we may profit a lesson thereby.
* mourning the past, crying about our pain and loss.
Perhaps the experience of our yearly Tish’a B’av, in the aggregate, is assimilating our collective national experience into our consciousness, becoming wiser and more experienced. There is a world of difference between a man of experience and a novice. They took the same courses, in fact the novice may even have the advantage of more recent and updated training. Yet no one hesitates in choosing the man of experience. He has developed judgment, knowledge of the field and practical hands-on ability to generate results. Wisdom cannot be obtained from a course.

So too, one of the personality factors we as a people need to generate is experience, wisdom and depth of field. We need to integrate our collective experiences and give them meaning, learn from them and develop from them.

Many of us are comfortable and happy. Perhaps we are happy because we do not know what we lack, much as a blind man is cheerful. Indeed, why mourn, awake old losses and make ourselves uncomfortable? Why – Because we have not yet given up the fight. We want to return to what we have been. To do so we need our goals, – and the desire to reach them, – alive in our breast.

But there is more; by remembering our history we gain experience. Our past makes us proud – we were sacrificing in the Temple when Queen Elizebeth’s forefather was living in a cave with a wooden club in his hand. We feel secure, because we realize that we are an undying miracle. We realize the transient nature of friendships and alliances with other peoples and powers, and we know the destructive power of internal strife. We preserve our experiences, for it makes us wise. It will make us a happy people, one able to focus on real goals, and to ignore the trivial.

Rabbi Pincus z”l suggested that inasmuch as according to the Rambam we have never celebrated Tish’a B’av yet, therefore it must mean that even in the days of Moshiach Tish’a B’av will still be, but it will be a celebration. About what? Because on Tish’a B’av Hashem appears to us as a “bear in ambush” (-Eicha). He puts on a mask of anger and aggression. That mask is a partition, and allows Him to draw close. Just as when we look at the sun we need a blocker, so that our eyes not burn, so too Hashem puts a partition in order to draw close to us. The mask of Tish’a B’av is so great, – Hashem SEEMS so far away, – because He is really so close. That closeness will be celebrated when it’s a time of Shalom.