ignored in modern discussions of the mood of Tisha B’ Av even though this opinion is actually cited in the the Shulḥan Arukh, 15 and the former opinion is not! I imagine that the reason for this is that the message of the latter explanation deprives the worshiper of the more optimistic and positive implication of hope as the day goes on, and moderns tend to gravitate to an optimistic view of life more than medievals did. But the more pessimistic view, that the mood of the day grows darker, is as authentic an approach as the more positive one.
In the past, the three religions that view Jerusalem as holy have long played a zero-sum game which assumes that since there is only one chosen people, only one religion can lay claim to be God’ s truly chosen ones, and the other two must be shown to be unworthy pretenders. In modern times, perhaps these three faith communities could instead embrace the possibility that each of them is“ chosen” to teach one aspect of God’ s truth – after all, who can claim to fully know God? – and to model that kind of mutual embrace in Jerusalem. When that happens, perhaps it could be said that God has returned to Jerusalem.
The notion that Tisha B’ Av grows more intense as the day progresses takes seriously the darkness that can find a home in the souls of people, including religious people. Almost by instinct, we can sometimes find ourselves very comfortable thinking about God strictly from the point of view of our own faith community, as if God can be contained only within a portion of the human family. When that kind of thinking is applied to specific pieces of geography viewed as“ holy,” dark things can happen. It is certainly true that the Jewish People were the victims in the events marked by Tisha B’ Av. Yet all human beings carry both darkness and light within; all human beings have the capacity both to oppress and to liberate and this day is a most appropriate occasion to face not only the darkness that others forced on us, but also our darkness that may lurk within as well.
15
Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 557.
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