Speedily Rebuild The Temple

Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) is tomorrow on Shabbat, so we conduct the day of mourning and fast on Sunday.

On this date on the Hebrew calendar was BOTH the:

• Destruction of the First Temple (587 BCE) by the Babylonians

AND

• Destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE) by the Romans

Each Temple lasted about 500 years!

The destruction of the Temple and our subsequents exiles from the Holy Land are deeply traumatic periods of Jewish history.

Also on Tisha B’Av was the:

• Defeat of the Bar Kochba revolt and the fall of Betar (135 CE)
• Expulsion of the Jews from England (1290)
• Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492).
• Start of World War I, which led to World War II and the Holocaust (August 1, 1914 when Germany declared war on Russia)

Needless to say, this is a very sad and scary time of year.

However, we are living in the time of redemption when after 2,000 years, the Jewish people have been blessed to be returned to their biblical homeland, Israel.

Next up is the rebuilding of the Temple VERY SOON please G-d.

Let us hope and pray that we are deserving of Hashem’s kindness and mercy, and that sadness will be completely turned into joy, the world will be healed, and peace will prevail. ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)