[Avodah] The Universal Relevance of Tisha B'Av

[Prof. Levine]

 From http://www.torah.org/features/pending/relevance.html

In 19th century Germany, some reformers argued that the new civil 
rights granted to Jews had made Tisha B'Av outdated. In their view, 
the primary reason for the mourning for the Temple and Zion was the 
loss of our civil rights; thus, now that some of our civil rights 
were being restored in the new Germany, there was no longer any 
reason to mourn. In the second half of the 20th century, there were 
Zionists who argued that since we have a Jewish state, Tisha B'Av 
should be abolished. In their view, the primary reason for the 
mourning for the Temple and Zion was the loss of our political 
sovereignty; thus, now that we have our own country, flag, and army 
like all the other nations, there is no longer any reason to mourn.

In an article written in 1855, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch describes 
the attempt of one "modern" rabbi to abolish Tisha B'Av:

Rabbi Hirsch then observes: "The persecuted, despised, misrepresented 
Jewish people is not the most unfortunate on earth, the one most in 
need of deliverance on earth. The whole earth is thirsting for 
deliverance. Sorrow and misery in hovels and palaces, in cities and 
states, arouse messianic yearnings in every heart. It is not only the 
Jewish people whose redemption depends upon the rebuilding of Zion, 
and surely, their confident expectation that the redemption will 
indeed come about is not the least valuable dowry which the Jew 
brings with him into the community of nations."

Please see the above URL for the rest of this article.
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