1.
Each year on Tisha B'Av, we gather our national tragedies into a great sack of tears, sitting in darkness and reciting from the Book of Lamentations: "How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave," (Lamentations 1:1). Throughout history, our adversaries have chosen this time, almost without fail, to inflict new wounds upon old scars.
Tisha B'Av is not a "religious" fast day but a national day of remembrance, during which we mourn the loss of our independence and sovereignty. The Temple was the crown jewel of the Jewish people. Despite Josephus's attempt to exonerate Titus, it was clear to the Roman army that the rebellion would not cease as long as the Temple stood. The burning of the Temple was a distinct Roman interest – not a religious matter but a symbol of national significance.
2.
Indeed, Josephus recounts how the spirit of the Jews was broken with the Temple's destruction: "The shrieks from the hill (the Temple Mount) were joined by the clamor of the multitude in the city. Many who were wasting away from hunger, too weak to utter a sound, found renewed strength to lament and cry out at the sight of the fire consuming the Temple..." The Temple vessels brought to Rome were symbols of our lost independence, and the victory parade through Rome's streets was intended to be the national funeral of the Jewish people. The figures in the reliefs on the Arch of Titus face westward towards the center of imperial rule, while their backs are turned eastward, for at that time, the future seemed to lie with Rome, while Jerusalem and Judea lay in ruins.
3.
Last Shabbat, we read how, just before entering their ancestral land, the people succumbed to their fears and heeded the spies' libelous warnings about the land, resulting in their wandering in the desert for 40 years. Our sages established Tisha B'Av as the night of great weeping when the people heard the spies' incitement. In doing so, they pointed to the sin of "rejecting the desired land" as the root of our national woes (as opposed to the sin of the Golden Calf, which was more religious in nature).
Video: Tisha Be'av: What does it mean / Credit: Israel Hayom
The generation that left Egypt passed away during the wanderings, and in their place arose a new generation born in the desert, who would ultimately conquer Canaan. Now, just before Moses bids them farewell and Joshua leads them to conquer the Promised Land, there is again a chance that the people might get "cold feet" and be unwilling to pay the price of conquering the land. Therefore, Moses strengthens and encourages them not to repeat the fateful mistake. This is the first topic he mentions in the beginning of his farewell speech. He knew why.
4.
Throughout our long exile, Tisha B'Av reminded us from where we were exiled to and where we longed to return. Those who fasted and read the Book of Lamentations understood that wherever we may be, it was not our home. At the end of the journey, we would return home to Zion and Jerusalem. Now that we have returned and established an independent state, we are required, especially during these days, to pay the price of our freedom.
Our enemies imagine that terrorism and threats of war will cause us to surrender and perhaps leave. The current generation of our fighters proves that the spirit of the conquerors of Canaan lives on. This year, we will mark this historic day in Gaza, in the north, on the hills of Samaria, and in the mountains of Judea, for a people that remembers the stations of its life will never retreat from the trenches of its existence. This is the profound correction to Tisha B'Av. With our own hands, we are writing a new chapter in history. The people of Israel live!
