Feature Tidbit

Much More than Comfort

The similarity to lasrt week's "headline" (Much More than Mourning) is not coincidental. There is a point trying to be made which needs to be said again. It isn't just a Tish'a b'Av topic. It is a year-round topic, and must be presented as Tish'a b'Av fades into the background and we move on to the coming calendar agenda items.

At various points in the study of the laws, practices, and concepts of Tish'a b'Av, comparisons are made between national mourning and personal mourning. One issue relevant to the Nachamu phase of Tish'a b'Av, is the "problem" of overdoing the Aveilut. Rav Yoel Schwartz writes that if one decides to extend the ban on meat and wine from the Nine Days to the rest of the month of Av, because of a sincere desire to more fully mourn the loss of the Beit HaMikdash, it would be highly improper to do so, and such a practice, even if already established as a personal or family minhag of long standing, should be abandoned (without need of Hatarat Nedarim).

Why? Is it not praiseworthy to mourn the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash even more than the halacha requires? The answer is NO. One who overly mourns is considered as if he lacks faith in the Redemption. There are things that are done throughout the year in memory of the Destruction. There are various wedding customs and the practice of leaving an unfinished square Ama opposite one's door, to name two. But comemorations are not the same as mourning. Mourning need be contained within guidelines set by the Sages, in order to be healthy and constructive. Excessive mourning can be psychologically damaging, as well as indicative of an incomplete faith.

This is so for personal mourning too. Excessive mourning can be unhealthy as well as a show of lack of faith in the World to Come and/or T'chi'at HaMei tim and/or the eternal nature of the Soul. Personal loss also has its non-mourning commemorations, such as Yahrzeit and Yizkor.

But there is more to the post-Tish'a b'Av period than Nachamu, more than 7 Haftaras of Consolation, more than comfort in the promise of the Geula. There is what we can do about it. There are resolutions we can make as we emerge from the darkness of Tish'a b'Av, and as we approach Elul and the Yamim Nora'im. We can do something towards bringing about a happy Tish'a b'Av. We can help turn the 4 fasts into festivals. We can build the Mikdash, hasten the Moshiach. It sums up as Eretz Yisrael (by repairing the sin of the spies) for the People of Israel (by ridding ourselves of Sin'at Chinam (unwarranted hatred between Jews), according to the Torah of Israel (by restoring the Torah to the People and the People to belief of G-d and adherence to His Will.

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