Potpourri

I was afraid of this. Research shows that you're probably not going to read much further.
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Chazal say that Eisav lived with two righteous people (Rivkah and Yitzchak) that he could have learned from and he failed in that task. The Ben Ish Chai points out that although Eisav also lived with Yaakov it would not have been possible to learn from him the way he could have learned from his parents. This is because you can only learn from someone you love, and Eisav did not love Yaakov. Wow. Based on this Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky says that one should only correct others out of love - otherwise it is a futile task. (Heard on a tape of Rabbi Yisroel Reisman)
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Eizeh hu mechubad? HaMechabed et habriot. Who is honored? He who honors others. This is generally understood to mean that you get back what you give; treating others with respect breeds them treating you respectfully in return. A different take on this just dawned on me. It appears to me that you innately become a person of dignity through treating others in a respectful manner. It is not just quid pro quo, that you will be externally treated respectfully by people you approach with respect. It's deeper, you become dignified inside. For example when someone comes to my apartment I like to clean beforehand. I wish that I kept things totally neat and clean for my own self dignity, but mitoch shelo lishmah bah lishmah. If one recognizes the dignity of others, one will become respectable from within toward oneself as well. Eizeh hu mechubad? HaMechabed et habriot. Who is honored? He who honors others.
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Tisha B'Av is coming, and with it Tisha B'Av questions and thoughts.

Is it a day of teshuva or exclusively a day of mourning?

Napoleon said that people who mourn a Temple destroyed so long ago are bound to see it rebuilt.

If you are not with the Jewish People for the mourning, you will not be there for the redemption. It's like that episode of the Little Rascals where they cut school and miss ice cream.

"Nachamu, nachamu." Why twice? Maybe because we are being told to take consolation from the reality our not being numb, but instead feeling the pain and needing the consolation. Or maybe because we're so hurt that when we're consoled we run away and need to be consoled again.

Why is so much of what we recite on Tisha B'Av in alphabetical formats? On the one hand maybe it's that we feel so much pain we need to contain it or it would overflow forever. On the other hand, although we feel so much pain without a format we would be at a loss for how to express it. mm b