A Day For Hope Through Mourning

As an old story tells it, Napoleon Bonaparte was traveling through a Jewish town in Europe when he decided to enter a synagogue. Inside, there were just a few candles providing light, and the atmosphere was somber and gloomy. He saw people sitting on the floor, crying, and reading from ancient texts. He turned to a Jewish officer who was with him and, assuming something terrible had just happened, asked, "What great misfortune has occurred?"