Of all the holidays, fasts and other Jewish milestones on the calendar, Tisha B'Av has some of the worst public relations.
It falls during summer vacation, so it isn't covered in the school curriculum; we don't build a sukkah, there is no festive family meal, and we don't buy citrons or wave palm fronds. Unlike Shabbat, certain holidays or Yom Kippur, things don't close on Tisha B'Av and so the prevailing feeling is one of an ordinary day. But in contrast to other holidays – on which we eat matzah to mark something that happened in the past, wave money over our heads in a symbolic act of penance for our transgressions, or eat dairy products – Tisha B'Av is the most important, relevant date to us today.
The main word associated with Tisha B'Av is "destruction," and if we go a little further, "the destruction of the Temple." There is no one in Israel – or the world, for that matter – who doesn't have some kind of destruction to mourn, be it personal, national, the destruction of values, of morality or just a site of destruction to be improved.
"The destruction of the Temple" is always relevant. While personal destruction can refer to a family that breaks apart, a household in financial distress, or even more material problems like the addiction to smartphones and other technology, which could destroy family life.
It is almost too easy to mark "the destruction of the Temple" on a national level. The loss of tolerance and patience, the concern for the individual, the short fuses, the alignment into tribes and factions – all these cause intolerable friction and clashes.
There is no day without destruction. Right and Left, religious and secular, doctors being attacked, a man beating up a woman who honked her horn at him, hasty Internet comments and footage of celebrities that goes viral on Whatsapp are all part of a wildfire that is burning down our Temple and leading to our destruction.
Despite the bad PR for Tisha B'Av, it's good that it exists. Not only is it one of the most important dates of the year, it's an opportunity. My mother always says that knowing the problem is half the solution. Tisha B'Av gives us a public opportunity to stop, take stock, hold a discussion and acknowledge our own destruction – and to aspire to solve it.
