Tisha B'Av is coming soon. We are currently in the midst of The 9 Days, the days of sorrow leading up to that day of national sorrow. All throughout Jewish history this day was marked for our national tragedies. Tisha B'Av, the 9th Day of Av.
It began with the sin of the spies who mocked the Land of Israel and lacked faith that we could live there, that it was preferable to live as well-fed slaves in Egypt. The sin of the spies occurred on Tisha B'Av.
Both of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on the 9th of Av. The rabbis taught that it was due to the sin of sinat chinam, the causeless hatred of Jews against their fellow Jewish brothers, that led to the destruction and the subsequent exile from our land.
And the expulsion of the great Jewish community of Spain in 1492 was also on the Ninth of Av. Hundreds of thousands of our Jewish brothers and sisters were sent into exile penniless fleeing the Inquisition.
And today, in the year 2005, the secular leadership of the State of Israel are so disconnected from the Jewish calendar that they just "happened" to pick the 9th of Av of all days as the day to expel the thousands of our Jewish brothers and sisters from their beautiful homes and communities in Gaza, in Gush Katif.
They moved there at the invitation of successive Labor-led governments to help build the Land of Israel. They settled on desolate, empty wasteland devoid of human habitation. They literally made the desert (and the sand dunes) bloom. For three generations, since the early 1970's, these pioneers and their families built thriving communities dedicated to the ideals of Judaism and Zionism. They built hothouses and greenhouses and exported food and flowers all over the world.
Now they have nothing. For three years they have lived in squalor as the government has broken every promise made to them. People are literally ill from the depression and anger that they experience on a daily basis. Couples are divorcing from the stress and tension of financial ruin. Many hundreds have literally dropped dead from heart attack and stroke brought on by the depression and tension of their current lives. Many teens have turned to drugs as an outlet for their pain. 8,000 lives were ruined.
And as for the State of Israel itself, since then thousands of rockets and missiles have been launched against civilians in southern Israeli cities from the very towns that were evacuated and destroyed. People live lives of daily terror. Children have just fifteen seconds to run to the nearest shelter to protect themselves from the blasts and the flying shrapnel. Now tens of thousands live in daily fear and terror. The recent ceasefire is being used by Hamas to rearm and reorganize in peace. And still, rockets are (compulsively) being launched.
As fellow Jews, we have an obligation to feel the pain of our brothers and sisters. Kawl Yisrael Areivim Zeh LaZeh. All Israel is responsible for one another. This is a cardinal principle in Judaism.
To help get in the mood of these nine days of sorrow (it is forbidden to listen to music during these nine days) and contemplate the meaning of Jewish catastrophe, I am including a powerfully moving film with this email. Just scroll down. They are actually two films on the same theme - the destruction and expulsion from Gush Katifin 2005.
In the recent film Munich, we saw how Israel tracked down each of the participants in the planning of the Olympics terrorist attack of 1972. In these two 10 minute films (a Hebrew and a English version) we see how each and every one of the planners and officials who joined with
Ariel Sharon were each seemingly tracked down and have fallen from office in shame, disgrace and public humiliation. The films are titled, Yesh Din, veYesh Dayan, Day of Reckoning (literally, "There is a Judgment and there is a Judge"). It makes you think. And feel. Just 10 minutes each.
Just scroll down and click on the two links- one in English. The other in Hebrew. Each slightly different but worthwhile.
Have an easy fast.
Rabbibi
Please feel free to forward these films to your friends.
--- On Wed, 8/6/08, המטה העולמי להצלת העם והארץ <eishelanu@gmail.com> wrote:
From: המטה העולמי להצלת העם והארץ
Subject: 3 שנים לגירוש - הסרטים יש דין ויש דיין ולעולם לא עוד על מצב המגורשים - סרט חובה
To: bmelman1@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 12:16 PM
הסרטים שחייבים לראות ולהפנים
יש דין ויש דיין – מה קרה למבצעי ומתכנני ההתנתקות מחבל עזה וצפון השומרון – סרט עוצר נשימה
לעולם לא עוד – הסרט שהתקשורת צנזרה ונאסר לפרסום
קיבלת את המייל ?
אתה שולח אותו לכל החברים שלך ומדווח לנו על כך
בין השולחים יוגרלו מוצרי זיכרון לגוש קטיף – נא לשלוח לנו את תפוצת המייל אליהם שלחתם ונודיע לכם על זכייתכם
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