Monday, July 27, 2009

How We All Have Access to the Good in Tisha B'Av


Usually, it is appropriate to see everything in clear categories. We fast and are only sad on fast days. We rejoice on holidays. Some times of the year have a more open double nature, like Rosh Hashana, which is both the day of judgment and a "Yuntif" at the same time.

But "kol ma d'avid rachmana, l'tav avid," everything Hashem made, He made for good." That means that even fast days where we try to do teshuva for the sins we commit that continue the sins of our ancestors, area really all good.

Rebbe Akiva saw the good that was already hidden in tragedy when he laughed with joy when he saw the fox emerging from the Kodesh Hakodoshim, but almost no one is on that level. But this year on Tisha B'Av, we will all be permitted to see the good in Tisha B'Av. When we refrain from saying Tachanun, we affirm that even now, we all have the ability to see the oneness, the unity, the goodness, even in the most horrible things.

Picture courtesy of wilmington.johnlocke.org. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

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