Mazal Tov. Today, the 6th of Av, is the 50th anniversary of man's landing on the moon, and it is still a giant leap for mankind. The amazing achievement of astronaut Neil Armstrong and his colleagues has fascinated and excited many people for an entire generation now.
Also, then, 50 years ago, when the whole world celebrated, the days were the days before Tisha'a B'Av. Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman, a Holocaust survivor who lost many of his family members, was one of the founders of the Torah Yeshiva World in Israel. He sat at that time in his home in Bnei Brak. When people came and told him that man had reached the moon, he opened a curtain in his room, pointed to the people who were walking in the street, and said: "Man reached the moon. But man to man - he has yet to reach."
The world has since made much greater technological progress, and this story is still relevant, even more so than in the past: Rabbi Kahaneman saw the viciousness of Germany, a most advanced country in terms of culture and science, and reminded us that technological achievements are not everything. The Destruction of the Holy Temple happened due to violence, corruption, estrangement, indifference and apathy, lack of sensitivity and lack of faith. This is the basis for everything - human relations - the real good relationship that man must develop with other people and with himself. Sometimes it is easier to reach the moon than to reach another person.
