Dear Matzav Inbox,

I don’t know if I’m the only one who’s bothered by this, but every year it gets worse, and this year I finally couldn’t stay quiet.

What in the world has happened to Tisha B’Av?

We all talk about the churban. We’re supposed to cry over the golus. We lament how far we’ve fallen. But then comes Tisha B’Av, and what do so many people spend the day doing? Sitting in front of a screen watching movie after movie after movie.

Seriously? That’s how we’re mourning the Beis Hamikdash?

People will tell you, “They’re inspirational.” So what?

Let’s be honest: Most of these videos have absolutely nothing to do with the churban. Nothing to do with golus. Nothing to do with Kinnos. Nothing to do with why this day even exists. They’re emotional stories, biographies, historical dramas, or productions with a Jewish message. Nice? Maybe. Appropriate for Tisha B’Av? Since when?

We’ve reached the point where people actually look forward to Tisha B’Av because of the movie lineup.

Read that sentence again.

Isn’t that terrifying?

The day we’re supposed to be mourning the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash has become the day people ask, “Which films are coming out this year?”

Something is very wrong.

I don’t understand the logic. On Tisha B’Av we can’t learn regular Torah because Torah brings simchah. We accept that. We put our seforim away except for the parts we’re allowed to learn.

But somehow sitting in front of a giant screen for hours is perfectly fine? How did we get here?

And please don’t tell me, “It’s better than wasting time.” That’s not the point.

The point is that Tisha B’Av isn’t supposed to entertain us. Even meaningful entertainment is still entertainment. The whole purpose of the day is to sit with the pain. To feel the emptiness. To think about what we lost and why we’re still in golus. If we spend the entire day watching productions, when exactly are we supposed to feel the aveilus?

And that’s before getting into another issue. Some of these productions come from places whose hashkafos are, at the very least, debatable. Have they been reviewed and approved by rabbinic authorities? I know for a fact that 90% of them have not. Who is taking achrayus for what’s shown?

Even the ones that are completely fine still don’t belong on the saddest day of the year if they have nothing to do with the churban.

We’re becoming a generation that can’t sit quietly for even one day.

Everything has to be packaged. Produced. Filmed. Projected onto a giant screen.

Are we really incapable of spending Tisha B’Av with an Eicha, a Kinnos, a meaningful conversation, or simply sitting and thinking?

What are we teaching our children? That the highlight of Tisha B’Av is the feature presentation? Where does this end?

We already have advertisements months in advance. Trailers. Premieres.

Before you know it, people will be voting for their favorite Tisha B’Av film. Maybe we’ll even have Jewish Oscars for “Best Tisha B’Av Movie.” I wonder who’s gonna win “Best Actor.” I wonder if he’ll accept his award while wearing his Tisha B’Av shoes.

It sounds ridiculous.

Years ago, what we’re doing today would also have sounded ridiculous.

I know that some people think that others feel inspired by these films. But good intentions don’t automatically make something appropriate.

Maybe it’s time for all of us to ask a very uncomfortable question: Are these productions helping us mourn the churban or are they helping us avoid mourning the churban?

Those are two very different things.

We’re living in a generation drowning in distractions. Must Tisha B’Av become another one?

It’s a sick world when we can spend hours watching movies on the very day we are supposed to be sitting on the floor crying over the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash.

Maybe instead of asking what new movie is coming out this Tisha B’Av, we should be asking why we’re still in golus. That question is infinitely more important.