Monday, July 15, 2013

Rebuilding today

"Every generation in which the Temple has not been rebuilt is like the generation in which it was destroyed." - Jerusalem Talmud (יומא פ׳ א,הל׳ א)

What a powerful message that should ring in our ears like the terrible indictment that it is. We're still here. All the things that got us here so long ago are still around now - worse, it seems.

The baseless hatred, the divisiveness, the inability to empathize with the other...

In these past nine days I have tried very hard not to read what is going on in our global Jewih community. Even the period of time when people used to be more sensitive to the elements that are holding us back in this exile seems to have lost its import.

This blog is not about spreading negativity; it is this author's hope that we achieve quite the opposite on a constant basis, and now is no different. In these waning moments before the Ninth of Av commences yet again as a day of fasting and mourning, I beg all of us - big and small, in positions of great and minor influence - to help increase the light.

If you want to fight for a cause or combat a social ill in our community - fine. Please! We need it more than anything! But do it in a way that seeks to enhance the positive aspects, not simply expose the wrongs. More importantly, let's all resolve to work on ourselves and strengthen our more personal relationships with others as well as with ourselves...

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