Tisha b’Av-Kinah 31-Becoming An Exile

Transcribed by Michael Beller: This kinah compares leaving Egypt with leaving Jerusalem, and its not that leaving Egypt was so amazing and in contrast leaving Jerusalem was so horrible, but that everything we had when leaving Egypt was a hint to what would happen to us if we lost the sense of the exile from Egypt.

In other word if you don’t appreciate and protect and maintain and nurture something like the exile from Egypt, you end up becoming “an exile from Jerusalem”. It’s not just a contrast it’s a warning, if in your moments of greatness you don’t hold onto them you will become the opposite.

The reverse is also true. If you are aware of what it means to be “an exile of Jerusalem” and you’re determined to repair it and address it then you can get back to the level of “an exile from Egypt”.

It is a reminder of what happens when one does not treasure their potential and nurture it, and that if god forbid you are place in a situation like the exile from Jerusalem what it is you need to do in order for to become like an exile from Egypt.