This past Shabbat
we entered Shabbat Naḥamu, the Shabbat of
Comfort, and with it began the seven weeks that lead us from the ashes of
Tishah Be’Av toward the hope of Rosh HaShanah. Then, on Tuesday night and
Wednesday, we celebrate Tu Be’Av, the fifteenth
day of the Hebrew month of Av, a day that our Sages describe as one of the
happiest days of the Jewish year. How can the Jewish calendar move so quickly
from the deepest national mourning to one of its greatest celebrations? What
changed in just a few days? In this
morning’s class we explore a profound answer. Tu Be’Av is not a departure from
Tishah Be’Av—it is its completion. The destruction of the Beit HaMikdash was
not only our tragedy; it was, so to speak, HaShem’s. When our mourning matures
from grieving what we lost to
recognizing the pain caused to Avinu ShebaShamayim, consolation
can begin. Drawing upon the Gemara, Midrash, and the timeless teachings passed
down by my rabbis, we discover why Tu Be’Av stands alongside Yom Kippur as a
day of joy, how true teshuvah is rooted in empathy for HaShem, and why the
first steps toward rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash begin not with stones, but
with repaired relationships—with HaShem and with one another.