The Torah Laments
One Tishah b’Av eve, as I left the Beit Hamidrash after the kinot recitation, I turned to my disciples. “Look at the Beit Hamidrash,” I began. “See how its walls weep. Usually, we feel joy and elevation here. The walls of the study hall are saturated with divrei Torah. But tonight, on Tishah b’Av, it is depressing to be here, when the walls mourn.
“The reason for this is that tonight, we are not involved in Torah study. The sound of Torah is silenced and therefore the joy is missing. Happiness and exhilaration can be reached only through Torah study.”
The Study Hall is saddened whenever any Jew wastes time from Torah study. But on Tishah b’Av, aside from the usual sorrow due to bitul Torah, there is the added dimension of all the bitul Torah which occurred throughout the year, for which we suffer this long exile. As long as we mourn the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and are incarcerated in this bitter exile, it is a sign that we have not yet released ourselves of the shackles of bitul Torah.
