I'm sending you a different kind of Nine Days newsletter. Recipes links are at the end but first, a Jerusalemite's perspective as all eyes are on Israel now. The days have been cooler here in Jerusalem than any July I remember. The evening air is a caress of soft breezes. But there is no comfort. And despite the pleasant weather, our mood is tense. With each day anticipation and sorrow mount.

We mourn the loss of the sweet pure souls of our fallen chayalim. We pray for our wounded. We are connected with a tightly gripped heart to each and every son, father, brother in and waiting for battle, because they are in no uncertain terms- our family.

This is Am Yisrael (people of Israel). This is our job. To love each other, to expose and eradicate evil in our midst, and
to rebuild.

Today, with the entry of Rosh Chodesh Av, we have reached a crescendo that something big is happening, going to happen, and our world will be very much changed in its wake.

This Av is different from the 2000 that came before. This year we are living our mourning. Our losses are real. But unlike the time of the churban (destruction of the Temple), when we palpably felt the presence of Hashem withdrawing, here we are also living through His miracles. The Kipat Barzel (Iron Dome) above makes us feel secure, and discovery of the tunnels below saved us from a diabolical plan of horror. Within, we have an achdus (unity) that has bound us since the kidnapping of Ayal, Gilad and Naftali broke our hearts wide open. Our connection to one another is astounding! Are we finally freed from the sinas chinam (sin of baseless hatred)
that has kept is in galus (exile) for so long?

The world seems to be in a tailspin, but we seem more united in purpose than ever before. Today, Rosh Chodesh Av Jews around the world, from Israel to NY, Antwerp to Istanbul...will say the SHEMA ISRAEL...at noon EST for Peace & Protection of Eretz Israel. It is a different Av. We are a different Am. May this Tisha b’Av 5774 be different as well, a day of complete and revealed joy.