FARBRENGENS

Special Tisha B’Av Program: Overcoming Loneliness

The first word of the Book of Lamentations — Eicha — teaches us the root of all loneliness and isolation, and its antidote.

After Adam sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil he hid from God. God then asked Adam ayekoh – where are you? This first experience of dissonance set in motion forces that would create every form of identity crisis the human condition would experience. Where are you? is the eternal question each of us must answer: Who are you? What do you stand for? Is your outer life reflective of your inner one? Do you have a seamless identity or a duplicitous one? Is your existence aligned with its higher purpose?

On Tisha B’Av — the saddest day of the year — this dissonance and disconnect came to a head. Ayekoh — where are you? — devolved and climaxed into Eicha — How: How she sits alone. A misaligned identity leads to loneliness and detachment. The solution is to realign your identity with its transcendent purpose and calling, which in turn creates the healthy attachments and love necessary for a wholesome life.