Burgs Father must be turning over Listening to his boychiks nonesense.

The 'State of Israel' not the 'Thrid Temple'. The Third Temple will be a real place- very real. It will be an everlasting Temple which will never be destroyed. In addition, 'Redemption' is not just the founding of a 'State' in Israel, but something much much more profound. It is the culmination and purpose of all the years in Exile and it will express the unity of all Jews- and the world at large- in a new era entirely. It will be led by a real Moshiach of flesh and blood. Lets not settle for this Golus- even a Golus/Exile within the 'State of Israel'; lets demand a *true* Redemption with Moshiach! The 'State' of Israel in its original context has proven to be non-sustainable. For if it has no real substance- it is based on survival alone. If a brand new Land of Israel- as its called in the Torah- emerges, with a proud Jewish population, this will be the most joyful day of all. A unified Jewish people with One Torah, One G-d, in One Land. This is the day that HaShem would surely send Moshiach to take the reigns and be here for all Jews and all of humanity. May it be even before Tisha B'Ov, and we'll truly celebrate that day as a day of feast instead of a fast. PS- I'm sure you know the story of Rabbi Akiva, how while everyone else was crying over the destruction of the Temple, he was laughing. THe reason was because just as the first part of the prophets predictions came true exactly as told, so too the second part- the regathering of the Jews and the rebuilding of the Third Temple- will surely become a reality. For this he was glad and joyous. While we must realize that we are standing without a Temple- something terrible and very sad- we must also realize that we have much to look forward to. We will very soon be in a period with the Final Redemption! We have in our power to speed it up and step out of Golus through adding in Mitzvos and Torah study- specifically relating to the Redemption, and through helping others in this way as well. It may be just the one good act which could turn everything up to be ready for the Redemption.

YOUR OLD DEAD CRITICISM WILL BE ANOTHER FOOTNOTE ON THE ASHHEAP OF HISTORY. THIS IS THE TRADITION YOU CAME FROM AND THE ONE THAT WILL OUTLIVE YOU AND ALL THE OTHER ENEMIES OF ISRAEL.

Thank you, Mr. Burg! Let's cut back on year-round mourning ...maybe we would find that more people are interested in Jewish observance?

Mr. Burg - for I can not call you a Rabbi in any sense - how dare you speak such outright heresy and painful words?? Tisha B'Av marks one of the worst dates in Jewish history - the destruction of our Holy Temples, of the vibrant Jewish community in Israel, the murder of millions of men, women, and children. How can we forget what they died for, and the tortures they endured? If I follow your sick logic, perhaps we should celebrate the Holocaust - after all, it was only in its aftermath that the state of Israel was created, and just see how far we've come since then, how much we've rebuilt!! Calls for celebration, doesnt it?? No one can be allowed to forget that whatever we have now has been built on the tears and blood of the millions of Jews before us who sacrificed so much for G-d and the Holy Land. [Not State - LAND.] Tisha B'Av is a day of deep seriousness and mourning with many complex laws to ensure that we commemorate the many tragedies that occurred this time, properly. Suggesting that we celebrate the "rebuiliding of Jewish life and the state of Israel" on the 9th of Av is an absolute sickness. If anything, this year especially, we can truly feel the bitterness of the day for it marks the beginning of the insanity called disengagement - the actual destruction of thousands of homes, and marks the beginning of the destruction of Israel. So how can you speak of rebuilding and renewal when the Israeli state is doing nothing more than signing its own death warrant, and throwing Jews out of their homes which they too have built on the blood of their brethren. May this Tisha B'Av however, be turned into a truly joyous celebration with the ultimate redemption.

Mr. Burg will go down in history as one of Israel's great kings of IDIOTS & FOOLS! Mr. Burg is the perfect example of the typical idiotic scared pathetic GHETTO JEW who's afraid to be Jewish, afraid of the goyim, and hates anything Jewish for making him Jewish. His father is turning in his grave..

I dont see any sadness in Israel. Infact real sadness and tragedy is with the Palestinians who are under the Israeli occupation where the settlers are enjoying and crying like a bunch of hypocrites. They have plenty of money, freedom, protection, media. If the temple is destroyed why not to built it? why wait. And the last passage is wrong. God Never Changes like Time Never changes He remains the same, only people change either for better or for worse. Its upto them.

Chana, how dare you call Burg sick! Comparing the disengagement to the atrocities of the ninth of av is sick! How can one compare the destruction of the two Temples and the exile of the Jews from Israel and elsewhere to the movement of Jews (who are even given aid!) to homes in Israel?? Never before has the situation of us Jews been as good as it is now, with our own state under our own control. There are more Jews living in Jerusalem now than ever before, and soon the majority of the Jews in the world world will be living in the State of Israel. Indeed there has been a redemption of sorts. And another question, when the "ultimate" redemption does indeed arrive, will it not be sick to celebrate on the ninth of av? Uch, this "land" which you speak of, will Moshiach ever come to a land soaked in blood?

when will you all learn to live in the now, and not in the past? as we dont seem to learn from it! move on

If this guy had lived at the time of the Maccabim, he would have been one of the first to be taken care of... Internal enemies and traitors, the Jewish Hellenizers, were taken care by the Maccabim BEFORE they took care of the Hellenists...

The message of Eichah and the Kinot is that the Jews have betrayed the covenant made with G-d at Sinai. Instead of focusing on the theology of the Churban, Burg focuses on tragedy and appropriate commemorations of Jewish tragedy. He seems to have borrowed a line from Tevya, the character in Fiddler on the Roof-To Life, To Life! The occaisonal pearl found in his chatter on the parsha are far outweighed by the nonsense and drivel produced by his pen.

It was because of a lack of Ahavat Yisrael. One shouldnt accept if someone is trying to bend the Torah, but he must be treated with utmost respect as a Jew. He is no less and no more a Jew than any other. Who knows what type of soul he has? Who can judge the inner struggles that he has overcome in the direction of good? One cannot judge another. However, it doesnt change the fact that it is just not logical to try and fundamentally change Judaism according to one's own feelings... As was mentioned here- where are the 'Maskilim' today? Why are so many Jews crying that their kids are marrying out and have no connection to Judaism? I think the answer is that as soon as you play with the fundamentals and custom taylor them to your own ideas, Judaism is no longer. Only a true Torah scholar- actually one who is also a truly pious man (TZaddik)- can add or 'change', but even that has to be in absolute accordance to true Torah guidelines... However, as I tried to point out before, there is truth and a spark of goodness in everything. IN this case, yes, we should 'update Tisha B'Av', but it should be a *true* update which includes the Third Temple which is built by G-d Himself. One should not fool himself- if it is G-d who creates this world and it is He who gives life to all, then He is most certainly capable of bringing Moshiach and building the Third Beis Hamikdosh. At that point- may it be now!- Tisha B'Av will truly be 'updated'; it will be a big holiday! You may be aware that by Chassidim Tisha B'Av is not a sad day at all. Anything related to depression and sadness is avoided very strongly. But rather one tends to be more serious in their own reflections, and also studies about the future Temple and the time of the Geulah... In this way, there is meaning to the day, rather than just a day of sadness. G-d does not like sadness...

Rabbi Burg is on to something, something very interesting: That the State of Israel should be considered the Third Temple has a resonence which excites the imagination. It has the potential of being a unifing force of the secular and the religious plus defusing the obsesion with restoring "a temple".

I have been thinking for some time that we should add the custom of donating blood soon after Tisha B'Av. This involves a measure of personal sacrifice, but also celebrates life. If done after the holiday it would not interfere with fasting. On the other hand, for those who already do not fast it offers a substitute that is at least some form of observance.

Kol Ha'kavod, Avraham. I met you in Durban, South Africa in the 1990s just before I made aliyah. How sensible to update the events marked on "Tisha b'Av" - YES, happy events too AND yes, it was US with OUR INTERNAL disagreements that DID cause the destruction of the second temple! SO, let's update this day to mark positive events, halfway through the day!

Could we please be of some perspective here. NO, Israel is not the 3rd Temple. No, Israel is not Galut. We are approaching sometime in the next 5-10 years numbers that will make Israel the majority of Jews in Israel. We see that Jewish land in Israel is currenty producing more than 50 times that of the world avg per dunam, and even land in Israel farmed by Arabs doesn't even come close. All signs that Israel is not THE redemption but rather is the beginning of the fulfilliment of the prophecy of the engathering of the exiles and may we see the COMPLETE redemption, the rebuilding of the temple, and the comeing of masicach speedily in our days.

the state of Israel, more like a golden calf than a third temple. Yet I agree with Mr. Burg that Tisha B'av is the appropriate national day for remembering the Holocaust. I would just like to remind Mr. Burg that those who mourn the Temple, not just on Tisha Bav. will merit seening it rebuilt,