Are you going on vacation or have you just returned? Everyone seems to be using this time of year to relax and rejuvenate. On the Jewish calendar, the three week period that began this past Sunday, is a time of national mourning. Many tragic events occurred on the 17th of Tammuz and on the 9th of Av, and the three weeks between them are observed to commemorate them.
When commemorating a tragic event there are two parts; commemorating the past and planning for the future. Let me tell you a story that highlights the difference.
In the 1950’s, shortly after the establishment of the first Camp Gan Israel overnight camp in upstate New York, the Rebbe went to visit the campsite and speak to the children in the camp. The staff gave the Rebbe a tour of every part of the facility, including the Arts and Crafts room.
Anticipating the Rebbe’s visit, and slightly ashamed of the appearance of the room - with remnants of past projects all over the place – the staff painted a large circle on the ceiling with the word’s Zecher L’Churbon, a remembrance to the destruction.
(We Jews weren’t always spread around the world in such a fragmented manner, with no central and uniting place of worship. From the time our ancestors left Egypt (in 1313 BCE) until the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem, was destroyed in (70 CE), the center of the Jewish world was in the Temple. Since the destruction of the Temple many have the practice, when building a new home, to leave one section of the wall near the front door unfinished as a remembrance).
When the Rebbe saw this, he pointed to it and in a surprised voice asked, “Zecher Lechurbon? Zecher L’mikdash! A remembrance to the destruction!? It should say, ‘A remembrance to the Temple!” The Rebbe was communicating an important lesson: Rather than focus on the destruction, we should focus on the existence of the Temple and anticipate its rebuilding.
When we experience a setback in our personal or professional life, we should not allow it to get us down. We should look to the future and think how we can ensure that we don’t make the same mistakes in the future.