My first trip to Eretz Yisrael was during the Three Weeks. I remember my first visit to the Kosel, and my impression of it as being tall yet unimposing, grand yet welcoming. It just felt right to be there, to stand there, to say the same words of prayers and Tehillim that my ancestors had said throughout history. I sensed Hashem’s presence there, and I tried to spend as much time as I could at the Kosel during our stay in Yerushalayim.
And then came the Nine Days. When I came to the Kosel I felt a difference. It was the same wall, but somehow it felt empty. The Shechina, the Divine presence, had temporarily left. And we, the visitors, were left to our own devices.
There is a story told about a Jew who asked his rabbi why G-d created atheists. The rabbi answered that we have what to learn from atheists — when they see a person in need, they don’t wait for G-d to help them, but they rush to help the person themselves.
Perhaps that is the lesson of the Nine Days and Tisha B’av. The darkness is greater than ever. Hashem has hid His face. Perhaps Hashem wants us to act as if He doesn’t exist, to take initiative, to take proactive steps to bring light into the darkness.
In the haftorah of Shabbos Chazon, which we will read this Shabbos, the prophet Yeshayahu tell us that Hashem doesn’t want our prayers or our sacrifices. He tells us, “Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; Aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; Defend the cause of the widow” (translation from Sefaria.org). Let’s forget for a moment about G-d’s presence “out there” and focus on the G-dliness within us.
That Tisha B’av, my first in Eretz Yisrael, came and went. Mashiach still didn’t come, but that feeling of Divine Presence came back to the Kosel. The darkness abated a bit. But it is still up to us to fix the wrongs, to care for the vulnerable, and to bring out that innate G-dliness that Hashem endowed each and every one of us with.
Have a wonderful, inspiring Shabbos Chazon and an easy and meaningful fast!