Tisha B'Av 5778

The story of Rabbi Akiva and the foxes on the Temple Mount ends the tractate of Makkos and is to bring us comfort during the exile. He laughs cheerfully as he sees the foxes; if the first part of the prophecy has come true (ie. the destruction of the Temple and the barrenness of the land), then surely the second part is to come true as well.
However, we do see that the final part of the prophecy that Rabbi Akiva mentions in fact has been fulfilled. The streets of Jerusalem are indeed filled with people young and old. So why do we still mourn?
The answer is simple. We still don't have our Temple back. We can prosper in the land of Israel. We can build it up with the latest trends in technology and agriculture. We can make it the most populated area of Jews in the world. We can have one of the best armies in the world.
But we're not done yet. Not until we bring G-d's Presence back into our midsts. These are all minor steps in the right direction, but we have many more to go.
May we be zocheh to see the Final Redemption and the final Temple built, a place that will be deemed a "house of prayer for all nations".

Tisha B'Av 5775

The Midrash Rabbah compares the sin of Adam to the exile from Jerusalem based on a posuk from Hoshea. Hashem had brought Adam into Gan Eden and gave him an order to follow (not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge). Adam transgressed the command, causing Hashem to banish him the garden and send him out into the world. Hashem also lamented over Adam as seen from the word “Ayeka” (“where are you”), which is spelled the same as “Eichah” (“alas”).
This pattern can be seen with Bnei Yisroel. Hashed brought them into Eretz Yisroel and gave them the mitzvos to follow. They committed sins and Hashem banished them from His temple and sent them out into exile. Hashem lamented over them with “Eichah”.
Why does the Midrash compare these two entities? What connection is there between them?
The Rambam explains that before Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge, he saw everything in the world as Truth and Falsehood. There was clear indication of what was the right thing to do. After the sin, Adam saw his choices as Good and Bad, a more subjective perception of things.
When the Beis Hamikdash was around, we witnessed miracles upon miracles. We saw kivyachol the Hand of G-d on a daily basis. It was as if we saw everything on a level of Truth and Falsehood. Unfortunately, we were not able to sustain that sense of choice and we resorted back to choosing between Good and Bad.
This is what we pray for everyday, that we once again reach a level of Adam before he sinned. If we can reach and maintain a level of choosing between Truth and Falsehood, we can bring back the Temple bimheirah biyomeinu.