Community Magazine August 2019

24 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Home&Stone FIXTURES FAUCETS HARDWARE ACCESSORIES 1663 Coney Island Ave Brooklyn NY 11230 Valet Parking Appointments Welcome 718.787.1000 homeandstone.com @homeandstone לעילוי נשמתם של משה בן עליזה, יצחק הלל בן עליזה, והנרייט לאה בת עליזה, דוד בן גילה, רבקה בת גילה, יהושע בן גילה, משה בן גילה, שרה בת גילה, יעקב בן גילה, ואליאנה בת גילה. ולרפואה שלמה ליוסף בן אהובה מסעודה, שילת אהובה בת עליזה, ודניאל בן עליזה. This was not always the case. I – like, I assume, many readers – am old enough to remember the time when Tishah B’Av did not receive much attention in our community. Heaven forbid, my intention is not to judge the previous generations, which faced enormous challenges in preserving our traditions and educating the youth, challenges that we, baruch Hashem , cannot even begin to imagine. I stand in awe of the resolve of previous generations and the great sacrifices they made in their struggle to build Jewish life on these shores against all odds. It is to their credit that we can take pride in how Tishah B’Av looks today in our community. I generally speak in several different synagogues in and around Deal on Tishah B’Av, and each year I am amazed by what I see. Enormous rooms are filled to capacity with adults and youths who have come not for food, and not for entertainment, but for learning, prayer and reflection. Especially in contrast to the memories of Tishah B’Av in my childhood, this is simply astonishing. What a blessing! And this is the blessing that will, please Gd, transform Tishah B’Av into Simhat Torah. The Midrash ( Pesikta DeRav Kahana , 15) relates that the gentile nations once approached the leading gentile thinkers of their time – the prophet Bilam, and a man named Avnimus Hagardi – to inquire about the likelihood of defeating the Jewish People. These two experts replied, “Go around to their synagogues and study halls. If you find there children making noise, you are unable to defeat them; if not, then you are able to defeat them.” Bilam and Avnimus noted Yitzhak’s proclamation, “ Hakol kol Yaakov vehayadayim yedeh Esav – The voice is the voice of Yaakov, and the hands are the hands of Esav” (Beresheet 27:22). This means that when “the voice is the voice of Yaakov” – when we are using our voices for prayer and Torah study – then the “hands of Esav” are powerless against us. We can feel encouraged by the beautiful sounds of Torah and prayer produced by our community’s youth, particularly on Tishah B’Av. We are seeing with our own eyes how Tishah B’Av is slowly becoming more and more like Simhat Torah, how the first steps of Tishah B’Av’s transition from a day of mourning to a day of festivity have already been taken. It’s only a matter of time until this process will reach its ultimate goal. The Ohev Yisrael writes that the 21 days of the Three Weeks will, in the future, be celebrated as “ yamim tovim gedolim venora’im asher en leha’arich – inestimably great, awesome holidays.” And Tishah B’Av, he adds, will be the most joyous day of them all. May we soon be privileged to experience this great celebration, when Tishah B’Av will be a day of festivity, of singing and dancing together, young and old, with the Torah scrolls as on Simhat Torah, rejoicing together over the final redemption and the rebuilding of the Bet Hamikdash , amen . Aaron 732.631.4519 New clean car with comfortable leather seats Community Driver Deal Driver To JFK $180 To LaGuardia $190 To Atlantic city $140 To Newark $90 To Manhattan $180 To Brooklyn $180 Hourly(local) $25/hour Super-Drive Super Service. Every Ride. Every time. Your one stop shop service for mezuzot ! mezuzah checking service selling a variety of new mezuzot and cases For inquiries : (917) 566.5337 asmezuzot@gmail.com A&S