Tisha B'Av thoughts

I know it's a little late, but this is the first time i have had to write this...

If we go back to the origins for Tisha B'av the whole eternal damning of this day came out of negative propaganda and people believing it. 10 leaders were able to persuade the whole nation that Israel was not worth fighting over, not worth working hard for. They painted a gloomy picture
"and they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature"

This, some may say is still true today -- the land definitely "eats its inhabitants" in more ways than you could really imagine.

With Israel fighting boycotts, a negative media image, NGO's criticising Israel for anything it does, and countless other negative vibes, it is very easy to think that this is the spies again coming back out and saying - its not worth it.

Sitting in Shul on Tisha B'av its clear to see that its always been like this.
This antisemitism is sadly told of over and over in the kinot read -- how the nations of the world will cause problems (i cant find the exact wording right now), how they will jeer and reject us.
The problems described are as old as the destruction itself.
I think its one of the reasons why Sinat Chinam( baseless hatred) destroyed the temple. But i see it on a national level, not just a personal level.

10 leaders persuaded all the Jews to hate Israel for no good reason
1 unwanted invitee to a party persuaded the Romans to hate Israel
1 rogue photographer in last years war got his photos published on CNN and the world thought much worse of Israel
The stories go on.


Sadly it does not take much to make the world hate Israel, so when G-d said that because we cried on this night for no reason, he would give us a reason to cry -- this is our punishment.
Sinat Chinam destroyed our chance, so sinat Chinam keeps happening.

A footnote on this is to add that i am really against those who equate the tragedy that happened in Gush Katif last year to what happened on Tisha B'av. I think it belittles Tisha B'av. Tisha B'av is about national tragedies happening to the Jews from other nations, not from ourselves.
Israel has made enough mistakes on the part of its own people, without claiming that evicting people from their homes falls under the category of a Tisha B'av proportion.

Eicha ends on a semi-positive note -- a hope that we return to Israel again, so I want to end with a story.

Napoleon was once walking through the streets of Paris. As he passed by a synagogue, he heard the sound of people weeping inside. He turned to his assistant and asked, "What's going on in there?"

"Today is Tisha B'Av," came the reply, "and the Jews are mourning the loss of their Temple."

Napoleon looked toward the synagogue and said, "If the Jews are still crying after so many hundreds of years, then I am certain the Temple will one day be rebuilt!"


Please G-d he will put an end to our suffering and bring about complete salvation