Tisha B’Av begins Monday at sundown.
I’m already worried.
This is one of those days to take seriously. I worry about what is happening in the planning of evil of the enemies of the Jewish people.
I think like you do of personal friends and the challenges they are having with their lives or loved ones.
Like you, I think of Gilad Shalit and Israel and its very real enemies such as Iran.
Mostly, I worry about us.
We still come to Tisha B’Av with the very issues of anger, loshan hora, bickering and disunity among ourselves.
There are really wonderful efforts out there in Baltimore’s Jewish community to bring us all together. The merging of Rambam and B’nos is a wonderful community action. The rolling out of Hatzalah’s ambulance service is again a triumph of the spirit and soul. The upcoming JCC Maccabi Games and JCC ArtsFest is a celebration of the youth of our community. New shuls, new rabbinic leadership, families making aliyah. These are all wonderful milestones.
Still, though, I think that the separation of the denominations or the estrangement of many Jews is enough for us to focus perhaps harder this Tisha B’Av.
Certainly we have our enemies. Yes, they want Israel to disappear, and they wouldn’t care if the Jewish people were destroyed. It’s not a fantasy, it’s not imagination, it’s all brutally true.
So when we come out of Tisha B’av, with God’s help Tuesday night, can we somehow make the time as we approach the month of Elul something meaningful and real. Our strength in our faith has to start with us. We have to reach out better to one another, help one another and bring love and joy and hope to one another.
Make this Tisha B’av not just a matter of going through the motions.
Make it real.

fyi - Rambam and Bnos are not merging as your blog makes it sound…they are swapping campuses. i dont think either school would want it to sound that way!