I spent a year in a small yeshivah in Hungary. We often had a hard time getting together the ten men needed for a minyan (prayer quorum). As soon as the ninth worshipper would enter, one of our regulars—a middle-aged man from Monsey—would always say, “The Baal Shem Tov promised that when there are nine Jews waiting for a minyan, there will be a tenth.” And the tenth man always did come.

The two most prominent fasts on the Jewish calendar—Yom Kippur and the ninth of Av—are polar opposites. On Yom Kippur we revel in our close connection to G‑d; spending the day in prayer, we feel like angels. The ninth of Av, on the other hand, marks our distance from Him; it is a day riddled with events demonstrating how far we have wandered from our Heavenly Father—including the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. Yet, at its core, buried in the estrangement of the ninth of Av lies the closeness of Yom Kippur celebrated on the tenth of Tishrei.

Following nine, there will be a tenth.

In the words of the sages, “He who cries over the destruction of the Temple will merit to see it rebuilt.”

Amen.

Menachem Posner,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team