Imummumml.mmu l
TORAH PORTION
SIDEWALK SALE
JULY 21st, 22nd, 23rd
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tisha B'Av: A Faith
That Would Not Die
RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT
Special to The Jewish News
T
his week's Torah
portion is always read
in the synagogue on
the Sabbath prior to Tisha
B'Av, the ninth day of the
month of Av. Tisha B'Av is a
day of mourning and fasting
commemorating the destruc-
tion of both Temples in
Jerusalem, sad events that,
ironically, occurred on the
same day some 600 years
apart.
In our pragmatic society,
Tisha B'Av is perhaps the
most neglected and
misunderstood of our fast
days. In this generation the
message of the Ninth of Av is
Shabbat Chazon,
Parashat Devarim:
Deuteronomy
1:1-3:22,
Isaiah 1:1-27
also blurred by the happy
realization that the State of
Israel has been re-established
as our Jewish homeland.
"What need is there," I am
often asked by well-meaning
people, "to continue mourn-
ing and fasting?"
The answer to this question
lies in the very definition of
Jewish history and our
understanding of Jewish sur-
vival. All the nations of the
world celebrate their victories
with special national obser-
vances, parades and
festivities. However, their
defeats and catastrophes are
usually ignored. The only na-
tion which also com-
memorates its debacles and
disasters is the Jewish people.
On Tisha B'Av we recall
ancestors who had seen their
land and Temple destroyed,
who had been carried into ex-
ile and who sat by the waters
of Babylon and wept. They
wept but they did not despair.
They experienced tragedy but
their spirits were not broken.
And because they refused to
succumb to despair there is a
Jewish people and a Jewish
state today.
This week, on Shabbat
Chazon, we read the words of
the prophet Isaiah forecasting
the impending destruction of
Israel. Next week, the haf-
tarah from the same prophet
will begin with the words
"Nachamu, Nachamu Ami —
Morton F Yolhut is rabbi of
Congregation B'nai David.
comfort ye, comfort ye, my
people." Despair never over-
took Israel; out of the ashes of
destruction there arose a
hope for a better tomorrow.
This is the message of Tisha
B'Av — indeed the message of
Jewish history and survival.
When the Holy .Thmple was
destroyed and the Jewish
community was decimated,
the intuitive response of our
people was not one of death,
but hope for renewed life.
And they swore a sacred
oath: "If I forget thee, 0'
Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget its cunning, let my
tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth, if I do not
remember thee, if I set not
Jerusalem above my chief
joy."
rib these exiles, although
the stones were broken, the
hope of return was not dead.
As long as this hope was
alive, neither they nor their
descendants would ever ac-
cept defeat. The destruction of
a building, even national in-
dependence, did not destroy
the message and destiny of
our people. What is this
destiny? The exile would not
be permanent, and our people
would again, as we have
begun to do in our own day,e
mbrace our ancient homeland
and re-establish our
sovereignty and
independence.
Tisha B'Av is thus a tribute
to the inexhaustibility of life
and a tribute to a people who
would not die. In the words of
our sages: "He who mourns
the destruction of Jerusalem
will yet rejoice in its
reconstruction."
Jewish Agency
Topic Of Talk
Dr. Conrad Giles, president
of the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion of Detroit, will deliver
the address at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek during ser-
vices on July 30. He will
speak on his recent atten-
dance at and participation in
the meeting of the Jewish
Agency, held earlier this
month in Jerusalem. Giles'
topic will be "Israel and the
Diaspora: Challenge and
Response."
Formerly a vice president of
the Federation, Giles served
as chairman of the Federa-
tion's human resources
development committee and
was head of the JWF task
force on services to the non-
institutionalized elderly.
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
33