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May it be rebuilt.
This morning I paid a visit to the Chabad synagogue in Southwest Portland where I used to pray. I hadn't seen the shul since the fire. (There were actually two fires - the first probably accidental, the second almost certainly arson.) I'd heard at the time that it had been "damaged", which I assumed meant something short of "completely gutted", and in my imagination I pictured perhaps a few scorch marks around the roof. That was wishful thinking. What I saw when I got there was that the building was completely boarded up on all sides, and padlocked. It was readily apparent that there were going to be no prayer services held there at any time in the near future.
The congregation also operates a religious school across the street, and I believe that's where they are holding services now. Still, the burned building was a grim sight.
The period following the mourning of Tisha b'Av (commemorating the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem) is designated as a period of consolation, when we look forward to the redemption of a better era in the future. And that's the feeling I will try to hang on to now.
The congregation also operates a religious school across the street, and I believe that's where they are holding services now. Still, the burned building was a grim sight.
The period following the mourning of Tisha b'Av (commemorating the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem) is designated as a period of consolation, when we look forward to the redemption of a better era in the future. And that's the feeling I will try to hang on to now.