By Betzy Lynch in La Jolla, California
On the evening of July 22, we begin Tisha B’Av, the day we remember the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the many heartbreaks that have shaped Jewish history. Yet the Jewish response to destruction has never been simply to mourn. It has always been to ask: What are we being called to rebuild?
The destruction of the Temple transformed Judaism. Worship that had centered on one sacred place became centered on sacred lives. The Temple was not replaced, it was reimagined.
The Hasidic master Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl, in the Me’or Einayim, teaches that each of us can become a living sanctuary. When we live with purpose, compassion, and integrity, we create space for G-d’s Presence in the world. When we act from fear, anger, indifference, or resentment, we experience a kind of destruction within ourselves. Yet the Zohar reminds us of an enduring truth: there is no place where G-d is absent. Even in our brokenness, holiness is waiting to be uncovered.
The Kabbalists taught that every soul carries a spark of the Divine entrusted to our care. Our task is not to create holiness but to reveal it, through the choices we make every day. Every act of kindness, every word of encouragement, every moment of forgiveness uncovers that hidden light. Every act that diminishes another person, or ourselves, conceals it.
Perhaps this is the next chapter of Jewish life. After the Temple came Rabbinic Judaism, teaching us that prayer, learning, and community could become sacred offerings. Today, many of us are searching for an equally personal connection with the Divine, not replacing our traditions, but embodying them more fully. What if the Temple we long to rebuild is not only in Jerusalem, but within each of us?
As Tisha B’Av arrives, I am committing to a daily three-step practice and I thought perhaps you might consider joining me:
Each morning, I will pause to set an intention of sacred awareness. I challenge myself to consider, “How can I reveal more light today?”
Each evening, I will commit to chesbon hanefesh, an accounting of my soul, by reflecting on one question: “Did my words and actions build a sanctuary, or diminish one?”
And each day, I will choose repair over destruction. I commit to at least one intentional act of repair, a conversation, an apology, an expression of gratitude, or an unexpected act of kindness.
The Kabbalists believed redemption is not a single moment but the patient work of revealing one spark of light after another. Perhaps that is what Tisha B’Av is really asking of us, not simply to remember what was destroyed, but to become the people capable of rebuilding it, one soul, one relationship, and one act of compassion at a time.
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Betzy Lynch is the CEO of the Lawrence Family JCC.