A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem... TU b'Av is/was a very joyous day. How is it possible to feel joy when our hearts are breaking because of what is happening in our country? How can we manage conflicting emotions? The answer is a slightly different question: How can we NOT manage conflicting emotions? If we can't then we are lost, because there is plenty to be sad about. If we cannot be happy simultaneously, then we've got a big problem with a full schedule of tragic events to commemorate and enough happening in our own time to severely strain our emotions. Being able to add joy to the emotional mix is a mark of faith in G-d and of our duty to thank Him for a myriad of reasons to rejoice. Until the coming of the Yom Shekulo Tov, we must try to constructively mourn and grieve (but NOT despair) and to always see the bright sides of Life. [The
Parshat Va'etchanan Homepage]
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