Tisha b’ Av as a day of rebuilding? What is the future we might dream for ourselves? Can we cry tears of hope and not only tears of despair?
In his poem,“ Faith,” Yiddish poet Aaron Zeitlin writes,
“ On the bare foundation of a building, which is burned, her tears run.
The tears reflect a dawn, which illuminates the firmament over her and the ruins.”
In Zeitlin’ s poem, tears cover the ruined foundation of a building burned and it is the wetness of these tears that reflects back the dawn, illuminating the firmament. These are tears cried over destruction but they are also tears that reflect a hope in the breaking of dawn. The tears make it possible for the light to shine off the ruins.
What if, out of the depth of our longing, Tisha b’ Av is the first day of the beginning of the rebuilding? What future might we dream together?
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