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Sivan Rahav-MeiWhat do we do now on the 10th of Av?

Translation by Yehoshua Siskin

Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av) is now behind us, so what do we do on the 10th of Av? Here are two recommendations that I heard this year. They provide guidance and inspiration as we continue from Tisha B'Av into August.

First: we should not point the finger at others but rather take responsibility. To create solutions from within ourselves and our surroundings and not "out there". Why have we lost so much? Because of baseless hatred, social gaps between haves and have nots, our relationship to Shabbat, our relationship to Torah and more. Instead of pointing fingers at the Babylonians and the Romans, we should improve ourselves instead.

Second: breathe deeply. This is essential for making it through the second wave of the corona. We are frustrated because we love to get things over with right away, to quickly declare total victory. We love to remind ourselves of the raid on Entebbe and the Six-Day War. So too did we think we could destroy the corona. But the second wave has exhausted us and there is no excitement over a victory. No songwriter is coming out with any more corona songs and there are no more jokes on WhatsApp about masks or isolation. Tishav B'Av connected us anew with the eternal Jewish pulse, reminding us that we have 2,000 year-old patience, in case we need it. We are long distance runners and this is a marathon, not a sprint. We do not despair easily and we do not measure time with a stopwatch, but we patiently take a deep breath and continue to deal with the situation with hope for better times.

Shabbat shalom.

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