Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for "baseless love" As essential to building the Jewish national home, speaking on Tisha B'Av during a visit to the Israel Defense Forces' Hasmonean Infantry Brigade training base in the northern Jordan Valley.
"If baseless hatred destroyed the Temple, then only baseless love, love of the people, and love of the land can continue building our shared home," Herzog said. He noted encountering "a spirit of dedication, faith, responsibility and partnership" Among the brigade's soldiers.
Herzog visited the IDF's first ultra-Orthodox brigade to read from the Book of Lamentations, the biblical collection of poetic laments for Jerusalem's destruction in 586 BC. Tisha B'Av, observed Wednesday evening and Thursday, is an annual fast day commemorating disasters in Jewish history, including the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BC by the Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Romans.
During the Lamentations reading, Herzog reflected on the lesson of baseless love that has guided the Jewish people for two thousand years.