There have been many times in my career when I’ve officiated at a brit milah ceremony in the morning and a funeral in the afternoon. Sometimes sorrow and joy come together in powerful and unexpected ways.Every year around this time, sorrow and joy meet by design. A week ago Thursday, we commemorated Tisha B’Av, a day of painful remembrance:

“On the Ninth of Av it was decreed upon our ancestors that they would all die in the wilderness and not enter Eretz Yisrael; and the Temple was destroyed the first time, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and the second time, by the Romans; and Beitar was captured; and the city of Jerusalem was plowed, as a sign that it would never be rebuilt”

—Talmud—Ta’anit 26b

This past Wednesday, just six days after our mourning, came joy—the 15th day of the month of Av is a time of celebration. According to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, there were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the 15th of Av. Why? At this time in days of old, members of the different tribes of Israel were permitted to marry one another. At other times throughout the year, apparently one would be required to marry within the tribe. But on this one day, a young man from the tribe of Dan, say, in the north of Israel, could wed a maiden from the tribe of Benjamin in Judea.Tisha B’Av is about disunity, discord, and division, for the rabbis teach that the second Temple was destroyed on account of sinat chinam (senseless hatred). Tu B’Av is the exact opposite. It’s about harmony, amity, and union. The distinct and varied tribes of Israel come together in love.One of the sages of the Talmud (Taanit 31a) views this moment in a messianic, redemptive way. Rabbi Elazar, who lived soon after the destruction of the Second Temple and saw first hand just how divided the Jewish people were, imagines a moment in the distant future when all Israel will come together for a celebration, a ‘dance of the righteous’ as he so beautifully puts it (מָחוֹל לְצַדִּיקִים). He likely was imagining a wedding dance, a giant hora in which all Israel circles bride and groom, hand in hand. And at that joyous moment, Rabbi Elazar imagines us all singing the words of the prophet Isaiah: “This is the Eternal for whom we waited. We will be glad and rejoice in God’s salvation” (Isaiah 25:9).

וְאָמַר בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא הִנֵּה אֱלֹהֵינוּ זֶה קִוִּינוּ לוֹ וְיוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ זֶה יְהֹוָה קִוִּינוּ לוֹ נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בִּישׁוּעָתוֹ׃

It’s so achingly beautiful to me. A circle of unity. No one in front and no one behind. The circle can always expand to make room for one more. And the Hebrew word that connotes the seemingly interminable waiting for such a moment? The root of the word that is used (קִוִּינוּ) is tikvah, hope.In times such as these, when we see Israel and the Jewish people so deeply divided, we imagine a future that culminates not in division or destruction, but rather in joy, unity, and love. This is our tikvah, this is our hope. And while we know it will take time and demand patience, we will not wait for it passively or silently. We will work for it urgently and passionately, reaching out to each other in love, celebrating each other’s simchas and standing hand in hand at moments of sorrow. Mourning to dancing. A great circle of life and love.Shabbat Shalom,

—Rabbi Yoshi