“Next week we mark the 17th of Tamuz, beginning a three-week period of remembering and mourning for the destruction of the Temple and the exile from Jerusalem that culminates with the fast of the 9th of Av.

For some, there is something deeply incongruous in perpetuating this ritual mourning period for a people that has returned to its homeland, and to Jerusalem. Is this commemoration of destruction really still warranted? Why should our pain and memory be marked in the time of our national rebirth in the same way it was marked during our national dispersion? This question is usually presented as a challenge to the way we continue to observe Tisha Be’av, but it perhaps reflects an even larger question about what place longing should have for a people that has come home. For centuries, the Jewish people longed for Zion, keeping Jerusalem in our prayers and our consciousness well before the idea of national self-determination in our ancient homeland became an active political program. Throughout the many years of exile, the dreams of return sustained us, and mourning over the loss of Jerusalem was both natural and a unifying force for our people.”

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