Our Sages explain that on Tisha B'Av Moshiach is born. According to the Arizal, it is on the afternoon of Tisha B'Av that Moshiach is "born." This does not refer to his actual birth, because Moshiach will not be an infant when he redeems our people, but rather to a strengthening
of his influence. For our Sages refer to a birthday as a day when mazalo govair, "the spiritual source of one's soul shines powerfully." On the day when Moshiach's spiritual source is powerfully revealed, there is a unique potential for the Redemption to come.
This year Tisha B'Av is on Shabbat, and thus we do not mourn. Thus, Shabbat postpones the negative factors associated with Tisha B'Av and enhances and amplifies the date's positive influences. Similarly, the fact that Tisha B'Av falls on Shabbat and that instead
of fasting we are obligated to take pleasure in the foods and beverages served, alludes to the Redemption. For every Shabbat is a microcosm of "the era that is all Shabbat and rest for eternity" and the Shabbat meals are a reflection of the feast to be served on that day.
For that reason, when a fast day falls on Shabbat there must be an additional stress on happiness. This is reflected in the third Shabbat meal. Although it is the seuda hamafseket, the meal directly before the Tisha B'Av fast which is usually associated with certain mourning rites, this year, one may serve "a meal comparable to the feasts of King Shlomo."
Indeed, in regard to a Tisha B'Av which falls on Shabbat, our Sages use the expression, "Since it was postponed, let it be nullified." On a simple level, it means that since the fast was not observed on its appropriate date, there is reason to suppose that in that year, one need not fast at all.
On a deeper level, however, it reflects the potential for the fast to be nullified completely and totally with the coming of the redemption.
Among the unique aspects of the observance of Tisha B'Av this year is that it has a resemblance to Yom Kippur. In regard to Yom Kippur, it is said, "whoever eats and drinks on the ninth is considered as if he fasted on the ninth and tenth." Eating "succulent meat and aged wine" on the ninth of
the month causes G-d to have this considered as a special merit. This concept can also be borrowed in regard to the ninth and tenth of Av this year, for we eat on the ninth of the month in preparation for the fast on the tenth.
The imminence of the Redemption mentioned previously allows for the possibility for a further connection to be drawn between Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur. At the dedication of the First Holy Temple, on the tenth of Tishrei, on Yom Kippur, the Jews ate and drank in celebration. And this was considered
a unique merit for them. Since we are awaiting Moshiach's arrival every day, it is possible that the tenth of Av will be the dedication of the third Holy Temple. For the Holy Temple is already completely built in the spiritual realms and must only descend to the earth. Were this to happen, the parallel between Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur would be revealed in the most complete and positive sense. May it happen this year!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Tzali Borenstein
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Tisha B'Av Schedule at Chabad Jewish Centre of Durham Region:
Join us for our an evening of the traditional reading of Eicha-Lamentations and our Tisha B'Av program and film.
Tomorrow, Saturday evening, August 10th, Eicha -Lamentations at 9:30 pm followed by film and discussion
Fast Begins Saturday, August 10th : 8:28 pm
(Shabbat ends at 9:15pm)
Fast Ends Sunday, August 11th : 8:58 pm
Why do they hate us? What should we do about it?
Explore the Rebbe’s unique take on the root cause of anti-Semitism. Watch as the Rebbe draws from the timeless wisdom of our sages, explaining the hatred and setting forth an ideology to mitigate its unpleasantness.
Thirty minute film followed by discussion.
Please let us know if you are joining us, by clicking here.
Math Teacher: “If I have 5 bottles in one hand and 6 in the other hand, what do I have?”
Student: “A drinking problem.”
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On the first of Shevat (thirty-seven days before his passing), Moses begins his repetition of the Torah to the assembled children of Israel, reviewing the events that occurred and the laws that were given in the course of their forty-year journey from Egypt to Sinai to the Promised Land, rebuking the people for their failings and iniquities, and enjoining them to keep the Torah and observe its commandments in the land that G‑d is giving them as an eternal heritage, into which they shall cross after his death.
Moses recalls his appointment of judges and magistrates to ease his burden of meting out justice to the people and teaching them the word of G‑d; the journey from Sinai through the great and fearsome desert; the sending of the spies and the people’s subsequent spurning of the Promised Land, so that G‑d decreed that the entire generation of the Exodus would die out in the desert. “Also against me,” says Moses, “was G‑d angry for your sake, saying: You, too, shall not go in there.”
Moses also recounts some more recent events: the refusal of the nations of Moab and Ammon to allow the Israelites to pass through their countries; the wars against the Emorite kings Sichon and Og, and the settlement of their lands by the tribes of Reuben and Gad and part of the tribe of Manasseh; and Moses’ message to his successor, Joshua, who will take the people into the Land and lead them in the battles for its conquest: “Fear them not, for the L‑rd your G‑d, He shall fight for you.”
Jewish History Who Was the Exilarch (Reish Galuta)? This title was given to
the political head of the (at times) semi-autonomous Jewish community in Babylon, who traced his lineage to King David.
Jewish Georgraphy What Do You Know About Caesarea In Jerusalem, King Herod needed to be (somewhat)
sensitive to traditional Jewish sensibilities. Not so in the (largely non-Jewish) coastal
area.
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