Remembering the Destruction
זכר לחורבן
Following the destruction of the Second Temple, a terrible upheaval took place; it seemed that after the destruction of the Temple, and all that happened in its wake, it would be impossible to go on living normally.
Thus it is related in the Talmud (Bava Batra 60b): When the Second Temple was destroyed, ascetics multiplied in Israel who would not eat meat or drink wine. Rabbi Yehoshua engaged them and said: My sons, why do you not eat meat and not drink wine? They said to him: How can we eat meat, from which sacrifices were offered on the altar, and now it has ceased? And how can we drink wine, which was poured as libations on the altar, and now it has ceased? He said to them: If so, do not eat bread either, for the meal-offerings have ceased. They said to him: Indeed, we can survive without bread by eating fruit. He said to them: You cannot eat fruit either, for the first-fruits, which came from the fruits of the seven species, have ceased. They said to him: We can eat other fruits. He said to them: You cannot drink water either, for the water libation has already ceased. And since it is impossible to survive without water, the ascetics fell silent.
Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: My sons, come and I will tell you – not to mourn at all is impossible, and to mourn excessively is impossible, for a decree is not imposed on the public unless the majority of the public can abide by it.
Rather, life must go on, and one must not allow the terrible mourning over the destruction of the Temple to cast a depression that the people cannot withstand. However, whenever a person is in a state of special joy, he must remember the destruction of the Temple, for as long as the Temple lies in ruins, joy cannot be complete. Therefore the Sages said that a groom on his wedding day must set Jerusalem above his chief joy and place ashes on his head. Likewise, a person who builds a house must leave a cubit by a cubit unplastered in remembrance of the destruction. And when one holds a festive meal, one must leave out one dish in remembrance of the destruction, and so too with a woman’s jewelry.
The nations of the world stand astonished before the phenomenon of the eternity of the people of Israel. There is no other people in the world that was exiled from its heritage and scattered to the four corners of the earth, yet despite this preserved its national identity for such a long period. Not only that, but it still retained enough vitality to return to its land and build it, as we merit to see today. There is no doubt that it is the eternal divine Torah that helped the people of Israel preserve its identity. And these enactments which the Sages instituted in remembrance of the destruction preserved within us at all times the awareness that life in exile is not the ideal, and that our natural place is in the Land of Israel.
Even today, when by God’s kindness we have merited the ingathering of the exiles and the building of the Land, we must continue to observe all the enactments that the Sages instituted in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple. And precisely the continued mourning over the destruction of the Temple will awaken in our hearts a greater yearning for the revelation of the Shekhina in the Land, and through this we will merit the building of the Temple speedily in our days.