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We are currently in the midst of Tisha B’Av, a day on which we mourn the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, while alongside our grief, we believe in and anticipate redemption.
In the Talmud, there is a story about Rabbi Akiva and his companions who went to Jerusalem after the destruction. When they reached Mount Scopus and saw the ruined Temple, they tore their garments as a sign of mourning. When they arrived at the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies. While Rabbi Akiva’s companions were appalled by this sight and wept, Rabbi Akiva himself laughed.
His companions asked him, “Why are you laughing?”
Rabbi Akiva replied with a question, “Why are you weeping?”
His companions responded, “How can we not weep? The Torah states that any foreigner who approaches this site (the Holy of Holies) shall be put to death, and now foxes are walking in it!”
Rabbi Akiva said to them, “That is precisely why I am laughing. For, indeed, the prophet Uriah prophesied concerning the destruction, ‘Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field.’ But Zechariah prophesied about Jerusalem’s redemption, ‘Old men and old women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem.’ Now that Uriah’s prophecy of destruction has come true, I am certain that Zechariah’s prophecy of redemption will also come true.”
His companions responded, “Akiva, you have comforted us!”
While we mourn the destruction and the void, we also remember Rabbi Akiva’s statement and find solace in the knowledge that future redemption will arrive and unite all parts of the people, in Jerusalem. “Every day, I will await him…”
“Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of old age” (Zechariah 8,4).
