What an incredible energy at last week's First Fridays! Next one will be on September 2nd.
Driving around town, one of the most interesting features is the empty lots with a fence around them - and there's plenty of those in Petaluma. Someone somewhere has decided that the desolation that is the current reality of that tract of land, need not stay that way. In fact, precisely because of it's demolished state, the potential emerges for creative growth, for something more beautiful than could previously have been imagined. The developer, builder, and interior designer are in a virtual playground of creativity, having a field day transforming a site of wreckage through unlimited options of expression.
Sunday is "Tisha B'av", the day when the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. A sad day in the Jewish calendar commemorated with fasting. A day of mourning. Yet, despite the tragedies that plagued our people on this day throughout time, a fascinating episode is recounted in the Talmud:
Rabbi Akiva was walking near the ruins of the Holy Temple, when he spotted a fox taking a casual stroll among the destruction. The other sages started crying. Rabbi Akiva, however broke out in laughter. When asked about his strange behavior, he replied: "If the prophecies of the destruction have come to be, then certainly the promises of rebuilding will come to fruition as well."
The emptiest of places, can be filled with the most beautiful of structures.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Dovid Bush
ב"ה