Tisha b'Av Coda

B"H

As my fast winds into its final hours, a really important thought comes to mind, in addendum to my latest (coherent?) piece on Tisha b'Av: more than any other time in our year, the afternoon of Tisha b'Av is a time dedicated to heightened vision. This is why I have fasted for nearly a day and now put on t'fillin before a setting sun. As the Dalai Lama has said, love is ultimately not a way of feeling but a way of seeing. The same can be said of hate. As we strive now toward the acquisition of pure, hateless vision, with which vision we may then, b'ezrat haShem, break fast and fuel our engines for the building of a better, less Homeless world, it is worth remembering that staggering numbers of people literally can't do this -- can't take on a fast to elevate their vision, and, more to the point, couldn't break a fast to fuel their engines. If you happen to read this in time, try not to break your fast until you have done something toward alleviating needless hunger in our world.

I have more to say about food and tzedakah, but I'll swallow it (which, you see, I find funny at this hour) for now.