The Month of Av: The Lion Who Destroys and the Lion Who Rebuilds

Greetings and blessings for the new month of Av, which literally means father, and carries the energy of Leo, the lion. The Midrash says a lion came on the month of the lion and destroyed the lion, so that the Lion, G-d, can come back and build the lion. Nebuchadnezzar, the great lion, destroys the Beit HaMikdash, called Ariel, the crouching lion, so that Hashem, "Ariel sha'ag, mi lo yira," will rebuild it. Av is ferocious, raw father energy that can wound or warm. Beneath the calamity we are eternally beloved, "Banim atem," the children of G-d. The point of the mistake is not to stay in it, but to rise into the awareness of our Father's love. On the first of Av is the hilula of Aharon, a har, a mountain, carrying the aleph of humility and the nun that draws strength down to every person. Not to wallow in what was, but to be empowered, to trust, and to rekindle with the lion within. May we see the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash.