Speaking of videos....
There is one circulating informing us that Tisha B'av is not a day of sadness but a day of yearning. The narrator of the video means well no doubt. But let us be honest.
It is actually a day of PROFOUND sadness. Throughout the generations Jews sat and the floor and cried. The Shulchan Aruch says at the very beginning that anyone with Yiras Shomayim should be distressed and troubled [מיצר ודואג] about the Churban ALL YEAR ROUND - all the more so on Tisha B'av.
Problem is - we are just not there. Far from it. Life is good. We watch a Holocaust video and that makes us sad. We are sad [maybe] that the economy is crumbling. We are sad [at least momentarily] when we hear of tragedy in our communities. But most of us are not particularly sad over the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. That is the reality.
So people are told - "Hey, you are not supposed to be sad. Just yearn for G-d and become more spiritual."
However, we should actually yearn to be sad. If we were homeless for ONE NIGHT we would be miserable. Imagine sleeping in the cold on a bench in Central Park. Hashem, כביכול, has been "homeless" for 2000 years. But we are more or less OK with that. It is not b/c we are bad people. It is b/c, among other things, we are so blessed. There are so many frum Jews with at least 3 homes. One in NY, one in Florida and a third in Israel. We all own cars - usually multiple cars. Food - very kosher food - is plentiful. Life is pleasurable and comfortable. Even spiritually things are great. A little daf yomi with Eli Stefansky, hygienic mikvaos for men and women, an endless array of educational institutions to choose from, great Rabbonim to hear shiurim from whenever we want just a click away, shuls and minyanim galore etc. etc. Of course we all have struggles also and they occupy our mind far more than the absence of a "big shul with animal sacrifices" that once existed in Jerusalem.
SWEETEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LET US ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND GET TO WORK.
Let us work on feeling sad that there is no Beis Hamikdash. Not depressed but profoundly sad that Hashem's glory is not sufficiently felt on earth. Happy for all of our blessings [no Tachanun on Tisha B'av b/c it is a "Moed" and we say the pasuk in davening "עבדו את השם בשמחה"] but broken b/c the Shechina is in Galus.
Tisha B'av is the saddest day of the Jewish year. It is OK to be sad for a day. Nothing will happen. If one is depressed and it is Pikuach Nefesh for him to feel the aveilus then he has a heter to be happy but for the rest of us the Avoda is serious mourning.
וכל המתאבל על ירושלים זוכה ורואה בשמחתה!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
