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Tisha b'Av and the Birth of Mashiach
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki

There is a fairly well known statement in the Talmud Yerushalmi that states that the Mashiach was born on the day of the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. The statement appears at the beginning of a lengthy story.

"A story occurred regarding a certain Jew who was plowing his field. His ox cried out. An Arab passed by and heard the sound. The Arab said to the Jew, 'Jew! Jew! Set your ox free and give up your plow, for your temple has been destroyed.' The ox cried out a second time. The Arab said, 'Tie up your ox and start plowing, for the Mashiach has been born.'" (Yerushalmi Berachot 2:4)

As I mentioned, this is the beginning of a lengthy story that includes many interesting and cryptic details. I would like to focus on one idea from the above citation.

In the above scene, the ox cries out in pain when the Beit Hamikdash is destroyed. A cry of pain for the destruction is certainly appropriate. Why, on the other hand, does the ox cry out when the Mashiach is born? A second and more basic question is, what is the meaning of the idea that Mashiach is born on the day of the destruction?

In the book The Doctor and the Soul, Dr. Viktor Frankl - the great psychotherapist and thinker, best known for his famous work Man's Search for Meaning - discusses the meaning of suffering.

"As long as we are suffering from a condition that ought not to be, we remain in a state of tension between what actually is on the one hand and what ought to be on the other hand. And only while in this state of tension can we continue to envision the ideal." (page 108)

Frankl explains that the degree of suffering one feels is in direct relation to the degree to which one's present situation deviates from what reality is supposed to be. A few paragraphs later, Frankl continues:

"The meaning of trouble is also that it is a reminder. On the biological plane, as we know, pain is a meaningful watcher and warder. In the psycho-spiritual realm it has a similar function. Suffering is intended to guard man from apathy, from psychic rigor mortis. As long as we suffer we remain psychically alive. In fact, we mature in suffering, grow because of it - it makes us richer and stronger." (p. 109)

The tension between what is and what should be - the suffering - reminds us of the ideal. It is like the red dashboard light that tells us that something is not right.

I'd like to suggest that this is the meaning of the crying of the ox upon the birth of Mashiach as well as the occurrence of the birth on the same day as the destruction. I am suggesting that the first cry is for the actual destruction of the Temple. The second cry is the cry of the suffering of the ensuing exile. It is this suffering - that continues until today - that itself is the catalyst for redemption.

As long as we suffer, we realize that all is not right with the world- that something needs to be fixed. When Jews accept their status in the exile and cease to suffer from it, they are implicitly saying that there is no gap between the way things are and the way they ought to be. They are - G-d forbid - giving up on the need for redemption.

Tisha b'Av is a day to focus on what is not right with the world. It is a day to suffer. It is a day to recognize the gap between what is and what ought to be. From this recognition the foundations of the redemption are built.

May we merit the ultimate redemption of the entire world in our days.