On Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Great Temple in Jerusalem, Chief Rabbi Isaac Sacca held conferences at the Great Temple of the Sephardic Community and at the headquarters of the Menora Organization.
The Chief Rabbi explained the four main events that we remember on this day:
1. In the desert, it was decreed that the Jews were not going to enter the Land of Israel, because the ten spies who went to observe the land became corrupt since they did not want to lose their positions of power.
2. The Babylonians destroyed the First Great Temple in Jerusalem in 422 B.C.E.
3. The Romans destroyed the Second Great Temple in Jerusalem in 68 C.E.
4. The Romans captured the city of Betar, destroyed it completely and wiped out its inhabitants, in the year 120 C.E.
“All the destruction of the Great Temple was caused by the corruption of the leaders or rulers. We do not have to settle for a personal good but rather achieve a universal good. If good people do not act, the evil will continue to dominate us. Reconstruction comes from fostering union between human beings and doing good” – the Chief Rabbi highlighted.
He later explained: “The concept that keeps the world and all of humanity alive is solidarity, being useful to do good. The entire system of creation is made in such a way that we cannot live alone.
What is the essential foundation of Judaism? Love your neighbor as yourself, as Hillel the Elder instructs in the Talmud. The concept of monotheism is intrinsically related to the concept of the brotherhood of human beings.”
The prophets wrote Megillat Eicha (Lamentations), where they narrate the corruption that existed before the destruction of the Great Temple. It was the only house of God in the world, but it had to be destroyed because it had become disrespectful to God: instead of being an example for humanity, there was disunity and corruption. The other was seen as a threat, as a competition, even as an enemy.
“The day we see our neighbor as a partner in the construction of a noble society, that day the Beit HaMikdash (Great Temple) will be rebuilt” – Sacca concluded.
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Tisha B’Av dissertation at the Great Temple of the Sephardic Community.
