Messianics For Torah

This year, I feel something I have never felt before: a sense of anticipation, even excitement, for the period of the Three Weeks during which we mourn the loss of the Temple.

This is a new feeling for me, as in previous years I saw it as a necessary evil, perhaps, to adopting a Jewish life. I saw it like eating my vegetables if I wanted to have my dessert. I considered the practice low on the scale of importance on the Jewish calendar, something for people who were highly detail oriented. If I had my druthers, I would have skipped it and focused on enjoying my summer.

But now something in me, or rather, something in my paradigm has changed. I no longer see this period as minor, nor a drag. Instead, I am beginning to view it as the focal point of what I believe and feel called to do. I won’t be able to communicate why in a short blog post. But let me try to give you the general gist.

During this period we mourn the loss of the Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the expulsion of the Jewish people from the Land. That event (or sequence of events) initiated the era that we are now enduring, which is called the Exile of Edom (i.e., Rome). Exile is the opposite of redemption. It is a period of pain and longing, where God’s kingship and presence is concealed.

Our goal is to return, spiritually and physically, to Hashem. Our task is to make the most of this exile and with God’s help, bring it to a hasty close. We will then enter into a period of the revelation of God’s glory, as the world is restored to its proper order. The Jewish people will return to their land, Jerusalem will be established, and the Temple will be restored. Our righteous king messiah will reveal himself to the world and usher in an era of justice and peace.

Our master Yeshua saw the destruction coming. He pleaded with people to take the steps to avert it. When he perceived that destruction was inevitable, he showed everyone the path to restoration. The impending exile, its cause (sinat chinam, baseless hatred) and its antidote (ahavat chinam, baseless love) were the very essence of his message.

It has finally sunk in for me that the Three Weeks are not a period of mere moping or feeling sad. Yes, during this time we are to face up to the significance and impact of our loss. We need this reminder, because sometimes exile is deceptively comfortable. Still our goal is not just to show Hashem how truly sad we are, but to put in place a plan of action to correct the error. And if we identify those problems and correct them, we are not just wallowing in exile but working toward redemption.