Over the next week, we continue commemorating the nine days, the period leading up to Tisha b’Av. Tisha b’Av is the darkest day in Jewish history in which we remember the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem along with other catastrophes harming the Jewish people.
The nine days involve a series of stringencies. Many do not eat meat, renovations pause in home building, swimming is discouraged and we refrain from buying or repairing clothing.
But there is one stringency that caught my eye.
According to the Shulchan Arukh, one should not plant flowers or trees for frivolous reasons. However, planting for life purposes is permissible. While during a period in which we commemorate loss and intentionally curtail joy, we do not stop living. Even through our sadness and sorrow, Jewish law asks us to choose life.
During these darkest of days in which the events of Tisha b’Av are understood and felt more than ever, we mourn, cry, remember and take stock of what has been destroyed and brutally taken away. And simultaneously we take heart in knowing, through terror, we embrace life. We choose to live. We plant, we rebuild and find a way forward.
Over and over again.
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Nicole Guzik is senior rabbi at Sinai Temple. She can be reached at her Facebook page at Rabbi Nicole Guzik or on Instagram @rabbiguzik. For more writings, visit Rabbi Guzik’s blog section from Sinai Temple’s website.
