Tisha B’Av

Last night we drove to Jerusalem to hear the book of Lamentations on Safra Square, just outside the Jerusalem city hall. Women in Green had organized this reading this year as in previous years, and as in previous years, the reading was the first part of the evening, a prelude to the walk around the walls of the old city of Jerusalem.

We had walked around Jerusalem’s walls three or four years ago when the intifada was still at its height. That night, terrorists forgetting it was Tisha b’Av, had killed several foreign workers, the only people present at the targeted location. Last night we felt moved to attend once again because of the terrible war that is going on at present and our need to both give and receive support. Obviously the other tens of thousands who joined us felt similarly and as we walked, old and young, some with flags recalling the expulsion from Gush Katif and some with Israeli flags, there was once again a sense of comforting Jerusalem. Her children have not abandoned her.

When we stopped outside of Lion’s Gate, the one our soldiers entered when they recaptured the old city, there were three speeches. All of them referred to this war as having come as a result of last year’s expulsion or ten thousand Jews from Gush Katif. It emboldened our enemies. They saw that we wanted peace and quiet more than our land. And the people of the country allowed it. Soldiers followed orders and with tears in their eyes they carried women and children from their homes—families that a year later are still living in trailers and tents.

And now our terrorist enemies have forced our people in the North into shelters for over three weeks. In many towns, more than half of the population has moved south to friends, relatives, and strangers. Today eight innocent Israeli civilians were killed—three of them Arabs—by terrorists who don’t value anyone’s life.

But last night, in the clear Jerusalem air, we walked with our people – arriving at midnight at the Kotel, the Western Wall. As we came through the gate, hundreds of people were leaving. When we passed through security and arrived inside, the plaza was so filled with people that it was difficult to find a place to stand. Radio reports put the number of people there at 100,000. As we left, hundreds more were arriving, and on our fifteen minute walk to the car, we saw a constant stream of groups of people walking toward the Kotel.

Our pain is profound, but our faith and our will are strong and we will prevail.

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Comments

  1. The national news are FINALLY reporting on the suffering going on in Yisroel. For weeks all we have heard on the major network reports are the sufferings of Lebanese civilians. Of course we feel for those people also, but does the public not have the right to know both sides? If it were not for Rona’s reports I would not have a clue as to the extent of the destruction, damage and deaths south of the Lebanese border. If it is true that Jews run and own the media, then why have we not heard much reporting about Yisroel until AFTER the ceasefire? Obviously this must be a myth–that is, Jewish control of the news.

    On FOX, Oliver North had as guests on his show persons who have had dealings with the Hisbolleh,including Terry Anderson who was imprisoned and tortured by these terrorist for seven years–remember him? All the guests on the show were adamant that these terrorists must be cut to the core.

    Until this week, the only place other place I saw the truth of the matter, rather than a take depicting the “terrorism” that the Jews are wreaking in Lebanon, was in a political cartoon. The caption read, that Arabs believe in putting women and children first; then the illustration showed an Arab terrorist shielding himself behind a woman and some children.

  2. Is the day before Tisha b’Av called “Tish Below”?