Tisha B’av is almost here, but for most people in the contemporary Jewish community it will pass unnoticed and unacknowledged. It’s the most unlucky holiday: because it falls in the summer, the only people who seem to observe this day of fasting and mourning with enthusiasm are young people who attend Jewish summer camps. Of course in the orthodox community, Tisha B’av will be scrupulously observed but for the vast majority of Jews it doesn’t even exist because it falls outside of Jewish prime time. Imagine what Jewish life would be like if Passover fell in the middle of the summer and Tisha B’av was in the spring!

And of course, there are arguments to be made for doing away with Tisha B’av or at least down playing the observance of this day of mourning and sorrow. With thousands of Jews traveling to Israel this summer, it is hard to wrap our minds around the destruction of the temple or even the exile of the Jewish people from Spain. Sure we can stand at the kotel and witness the ruins of the Temple but what we also witness is a vibrant Jewish community coming to pray from all corners of the world. Do we really think of ourselves as living in exile? The word Galut, exile, has been replaced in modern times by the word Tefutzot, Diaspora. We are the Jewish Diaspora, not the exile forced to leave our land and pining away for Jerusalem.

And then there is the problem of theology. In the book of Eichah, Lamentations, we chant, “Because Jerusalem has grievously sinned she has become contaminated,: and “Why should a person complain when he is punished for his sins.” We’re troubled by the idea of associating sin with suffering. Yet that idea underlies every aspect of Tisha B’av. It is hard for us to think about the temple being destroyed because of the sins of our people without reflecting on the reason for the death of a million and a half children not to mention six million people in the holocaust. It is not possible to say that there is a connection between sin and suffering for one without saying that the same true for the other. So what do we do with Tisha B’av? Why should we observe it today?

Without solving this theological conundrum, I’d like to offer seven reasons why I believe we need to observe Tisha B’av today. Whatever the theological truths of Tisha B’av may be, we cannot deny the historical truths of this day of sorrow. Jews have suffered throughout the ages and we can no more forget this fact than we can forget who our parents are. With that in mind, Let me suggest several reasons why we need Tisha B’av now more than ever.

1. We need Tisha B’av today because Jews have still not learned to love one another enough. The Talmud is very clear about this. The second temple was destroyed not because of idolatry or bloodshed, but because of sinat chinam, causeless hatred, between Jews. That is not a theological statement but a basic fact of history. When we hate one another, when Jews defame one another, we threaten our very existence. Tisha B’av, then, is a warning. As Rav Kook taught, redemption will come not when one truth or another prevails but when Jews learn to show one another ahavat chinam, complete and unconditional love.

2. We need Tisha B’av because we are no less vulnerable today than we were 2000 years ago. At a time in history when terrorists can fly a jet plane into the world trade center, there is no way that we can see ourselves as safe from the dangers of zealotry and hatred. And only sixty years after the holocaust ended who could imagine that anti-Semitism would be on the upswing in Europe and around the world. That’s not to say that we have to live in a state of panic and fear, but neither should we let our guard down, nor should we assume that everything will be OK.

3. We need Tisha B’av because it’s just as important to learn how to cry as it is to know how to laugh and celebrate. Sorrow is a part of life and no one is immune from tragedy. Tisha B’av is an opportunity for us to learn how to mourn, how to share our tears, and how to express our vulnerability with one another. By ritualizing a day of national mourning, Judaism teaches us that putting on a stiff upper lip and sucking it in is not necessarily a good thing. On Tisha B’av we allow ourselves to cry.

4. We need Tisha B’av because the threats to our existence are just as real today as they were in the past – only they are internal rather than external. Anti-Semitism hasn’t disappeared but our real fear has to do with conflicts among Jews: secular and religious, Orange versus every other color in Israel these days, and denominational conflicts here in America. But even deeper are the dangers of apathy and indifference that we face in Jewish life. We are victims of our own success. Will we still be here a generation or two from now? Maybe the issue over which we should mourn in our generation is not a destroyed temple but an empty temple, whose doors and windows have been boarded up.

5. We need Tisha B’av today because history is made up of both triumphs and failures, and we need to acknowledge both. As Jews we have much to be proud of. But it is more important for us to understand why we have failed and what we can learn from our past. In fact I would argue that there are no failures – only lessons to be learned that can help us address the future.

6. We need Tisha B’av today because we need to remind ourselves that Jerusalem is the heart and soul of Jewish life. Tisha B’av is a powerful reminder to us that Jews never forgot their land and that Jerusalem was never far from the consciousness of the Jewish people. Whether it was breaking a glass at a Jewish wedding or saying, “Next year in Jerusalem,” on the night of the Passover Seder, we have survived because Jerusalem has always been our home and our heart. At a time when most Jews, unfortunately, are still staying away from Israel, we need to remind ourselves of what Napoleon Bonaparte said after passing a synagogue in Paris on the eve of Tisha B’av and seeing the Jews crying for the destruction of the temple. “If the Jews are still crying after so many hundreds of years, then I am certain the Temple will one day be rebuilt!"

7. Finally, we need Tisha B’av because it is a powerful reminder that we are interconnected as a people. We gather together on this day not as individuals but as a community. We feel each other’s pain, and we are reminded that when a Jew suffers in one part of the world, his or her anguish is shared by Jews in every other part of the world. That shared connection is both geographic and temporal. We remember the past and we know that we are connected to Jewish communities everywhere.

So there may be problems with Tisha B’av but I believe that this fast day is the greatest acknowledgement of Jewish people-hood. The truth is, even a secular Jew ought to be able to identify with this holiday. No matter how you may feel about God, Tisha B’av is a reminder that all Jews share a common destiny that we can never escape.

Tisha B’av is not about being victims. Just the opposite; if we were, in some way, responsible for the destruction of the Temple, then we also have the power and potential to rebuild it. And if we can rebuild our Temple, then we can rebuild the world as well.

This evening as we observe Tisha B’av, let us consider how our actions make a difference. Each word, each act of kindness, each act of devotion makes a difference in the world. Let us remember the words of the psalms: “We may plant with tears but in the end we will reap with joy.”

May Tisha B’av teach us to renew our resolve to rebuild and renew our world.

Shabbat Shalom