Tisha B?Av is the most difficult day in the Jewish calendar. On that date there are recalled great disasters of Jewish history, beginning with the punishment of the spies and the decree forbidding the Wilderness generation to enter the land of Israel, and, above all, the destruction of both Temples. But the list continues down through the generations, including the expulsion from Spain and through the Nazi era. The very essence of the day is in understanding how disaster has been a recurrent part of Jewish history.



The observance of the day is seen by many as proof that the Jews do remember their history, do lament their losses, do pray deeply for the rebuilding of the Temple and the coming of the Messiah, do understand, too, that the one thing they must avoid is the senseless hatred that supposedly led to the destruction of the Second Temple. But a closer look at the modern observance of the day raises a certain question and problem.



Only a small minority devote the day to both a study of Jewish history, and a consideration of the situation of the Jewish people now. And this, with the aim in mind of preventing our people?s suffering yet another great disaster.



The great majority of those sitting and reading Kinot do not study Jewish history, do not know it in detail. Their conception of history is a '?mythic one? more than anything else, based on selected events and prescribed meanings given to them. The tough truths of the details, the particulars, even in regard to the fall of both Temples, is not part of their curriculum of study. Again, the relation of non-religious Jews to the day is even worse, as most of them ignore it completely.



What, however, would it mean for the Jews to really use the day to face the problems in their existential situation? These problems range from the fact that the Jewish nation is the most hated nation in the world, one many nations and peoples are working to destroy. It would mean facing the fact that less than sixty years after the murder of one-third of the Jewish people, mostly in Europe, European anti-Semitism has come back in force. It would mean looking at the fact that Israel has become, in Alan Dershowitz?s telling term, "the Jew of the nations". It would mean considering the fact that the Islamic world has become more extreme in its hatred of Israel. It would mean considering that the nations that hate the Jewish people are working to create another great disaster for us. It would mean thinking about the weapons of mass destruction now being developed in Iran, and elsewhere . It would mean considering whether or not the Israeli government in its planned retreat from Gaza is making a suicidal, disastrous step. It would mean looking at the situation of the Jewish people today in all its historical complexities, and asking what each and every one can do to help this people ?live?.



Tisha B?Av, in this sense, should be a day in which we do not simply follow certain prohibitions that are to lead us to religious repentance, but rather re-dedicate ourselves, historically, to the survival of our people. This means that each and every Jew should, at least on this day, consider what they personally can do to help the Jewish people survive. Jewish communal and religious leaders, too, should not simply be focused on following traditional religious observances, but should be thinking of how to make their communities more significantly contribute to the survival and well-being of Israel.



Perhaps it is not completely in our hands to prevent disaster from coming to us again, but we must do everything we as a people possibly can to make our people live.



This, I would suggest, is the truest commemoration of this day and the disasters our people have known.