Tisha b'Av is now a memory.  To a great extent it's a catharsis, an opportunity to try to take in the pain of this world and human tragedy; to turn our attention to the destruction of Jerusalem and holy place where a person could actually experience a sense of God's Presence.  There is a heightened awareness of our historical connection to that place.  Despite the great sense of ease that life in the United States offers us to this point, we still might be living in the land of Israel were it not for the destruction and subsequent exile that took place a little less than two thousand years ago, in the year 70 to be exact.
Questions: Has the world come any closer to learning the lessons of history? More pointedly, have we?
How many of us sense the value of framing the course of our personal experience in terms of our relationship to a Grand Creator?  No matter how satisfactorily we explain the origin of Life, or the Universe, even down to a primordial state, we are still left with the question: So how did that primordial state come into existence?  The fact that the world is so filled with so much that is marvelously complex plus the fact that as humans we are programmed with a high degree of intelligence seems to suggest that whatever that Ultimate Cause may be, it must inevitably possess an even higher degree of intelligence - of a whole other order.
You could say that the Bible is revolutionary in proposing a concept of One Ultimate Creator to begin with!  (Given the polarity of life, it might have chosen to propose an Ultimate "Male" and "Female" or a version of Zoroastrianism which proposes ultimate forces of the nature of "Good" and "Evil").  The Bible goes a step further in proposing the possibility of mortal human beings being in a loving(!) relationship with their Creator!  Finally, the Torah and its exposition gives us the tools with which to create that loving relationship.  In this way, despite all the challenge and tragedy that life presents us, living a loving relationship with God allows us a way to discover meaning past the temporary nature of our existence here.  There is a wisdom in realizing that whatever "success" we achieve in this world can only be temporary.  On the other hand, discovering the way to express our love of God, whether through the pursuit of social justice, personal acts of charity, making a gift of our time here weekly and at certain set times (Shabbat and Festivals) to contemplate and explore the profound greatness of God, devoting a part of every day to prayer and study in order to understand and preserve our Tradition, in sum making mitzvot  an essential part of who we are and what we are - places a unique value on our presence in this world that goes well beyond our own personal achievement.
It is no coincidence that this week's Torah portion contains two essential teachings: the first paragraph of the Sh'ma and a second iteration of the Ten Commandments.  The first lays down the premise to "Love ... God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might..."  The second proposes ten specific ways in which we can take an "emotion" and turn it into effective behavior!
Knowing that every single one of us is capable of achieving this, if we only care enough, is the greatest "comfort" in the world!  All this, despite the loss of our central Home of Worship and our subsequent dispersion.
May this Shabbat fill you with the blessing of inner peace and a sense of God's reality.

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