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July 27, 2001/Av 7, 5761, Vol. 53, No.42
A Tale for Tisha B'Av
OZZIE NOGG
Special to Jewish News
Once, long ago, the ark with the Ten Commandments rested at Shiloh. King David brought the ark to Jerusalem, his city, where he longed to build a proper house for it.
But God did not approve.
"You are man of bloodshed and war," God said to David. "You shall not build a house in My name." So it was that David's son, King Solomon, came to build the house of the Lord.
Tens of thousands of men worked for many years to build the Temple. It was built from blocks of the choicest stone and glowed with copper, silver, brass and gold.
In the center of the Temple - in its heart - was a small, plain room. This was the sacred Holy of Holies in which the priests placed the ark with the Ten Commandments.
The elders, the princes of the tribes and all the people assembled for the Temple's dedication. Solomon praised God and asked the Lord to be merciful to the people of Israel and to hear their prayers and forgive their sins.
God accepted the Temple but warned, "If you turn away from Me, you and the Temple will be cast out of My sight."
So the people brought offerings and celebrated their festivals at the Temple.
Solomon died and his kingdom was divided. Ambitious kings murdered their rivals. Priests neglected their duties, and the people turned to the adulterous ways of Baal. The prophets warned that punishment would come from God, but the people did not listen.
Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, thundered into Jerusalem. He took everything he could carry from the Temple and, on the ninth of Av, his soldiers burned the Temple to the ground. The tablets of the Ten Commandments disappeared. The people understood that because of their ways, the First Temple was destroyed.
The Jews were carried off by the Babylonians into exile.
Eventually, Babylonia fell to Cyrus, king of Persia, who was called "the Anointed Shepherd of the God of Israel." He freed the people, and they returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
The Temple they built was small and humble, and in it the people heard Ezra read the Torah. They vowed, once again, to follow God's law, and brought offerings and celebrated their festivals at the Temple.
Years passed.
Antiochus and his troops came and desecrated the Temple but the brave Maccabees cleansed the holy place and rededicated it to God.
In time, Herod became King of Judea. To win the favor of the people, he made the Temple even larger than Solomon's, with massive marble pillars and many courtyards. In the center of the Temple was the Holy of Holies, but now it was an empty room. The people brought offerings to the altar and celebrated their festivals there.
The Romans at that time ruled the land, and eventually, the Jews rose in revolt.
They fought the enemy without, but there was much dissension and disunity within. Factions feuded. Zealots battled moderates. The sages saw the discord and intolerance and warned that punishment would come from God.
Weakened by internal strife, the people could resist no longer. The armies of Titus charged into Jerusalem. On the ninth of Av they burned the Temple to the ground. The Jews understood that because of their baseless hatred toward one another, the Second Temple was destroyed.
The people wept and mourned. They sat on the ground wailing lamentations in remembrance of the Temple and of Jerusalem plowed under like a field. And they asked the rabbis, "What shall we do now that the Temple is no more? Where shall we bring our offerings to God?"
And Rabbi Yochanan the son of Zakkai replied, "Now you must bring God acts of loving kindness, for the Lord desires mercy and not sacrifice."
But be comforted, for the Lord lives everywhere, and God's spirit rests in everyone. Each of us is a living Temple. In our very hearts is a sacred place. And that place is not empty, for God's words are in it.
From this place we can follow God's commandments and do what the Lord has asked. We can remember God. We can walk in God's ways. We can bring our offerings of love and kindness and justice to the Lord and to everything that lives on earth.
Ozzie Nogg is a free-lance writer living in Omaha, Neb.
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