Summer’s Forgotten Holiday

NOTE: I will be on vacation from July 27th – August 10th and will likely take the next two weeks off from blogging.  In fact, since I will be celebrating my 10-year anniversary during that time, let’s go ahead and say I will be taking two weeks off from blogging!

Each summer, nearer to the end than the beginning, comes the Jewish holiday of Tisha Be’Av (I am not providing a link because I will be defining and explaining below).  This tends to be one of the least-acknowledged and commemorated holidays, unless you are summering at a Jewish summer camp.  There are a variety of reasons for this, not the least of which, I am sure is that it is both a profoundly sad day and brings with it all the prohibitions of Yom Kippur, but with a longer and hotter day.

So in the spirit of encouraging exploration of this fascinating day on the Jewish calendar, I would like to provide you with some background and some suggested family activities that may, perhaps, allow you a way into summer’s forgotten holiday.  [I’ve adapted this material from a summer camp curriculum I wrote a few years ago.]

Tisha Be’Av – The Ninth of Av

The ninth of the Hebrew month Av is a major fast day in the Jewish calendar, when we lament the date of the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, with the subsequent loss of national sovereignty and exile from the Holy Land.  Tisha Be’Av is the culmination of a three week period of mourning, the last nine days of which are particularly intense, with observance of many customs similar to those practiced after a bereavement in the close family.  The “Three Weeks” begin on the seventeenth of Tammuz, the date on which the outer walls of the city of Jerusalem were breached during a Roman siege.  This is also the date which the Midrash claims Moses broke the first tablets of the Law when he came down from Mt. Sinai to find the people worshipping the Golden Calf.

On this day, the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple in 586 B.C.E., and the Romans burned the Second Temple in 70 C.E.  This date marks as well the day on which the Jews of England were expelled from that country in 1290.  The greatest catastrophe of medieval Jewish history, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, occurred on the ninth of Av in 1492.  It is also the date which marked the beginning of the Nazi deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto…

The day is marked publicly in the State of Israel by the closure of restaurants, places of entertainment, etc., from the previous evening, with food shops open only for morning hours.  The day is interpreted through its religious significance and/or its importance in connection with nationhood and national sovereignty-whether or not individuals choose to fast.

Traditional observance included the reading of Book of Lamentations, a 25 hour fast, deprivation of comfort and physical contact.  In Jerusalem, thousands of people stream towards the Kotel, the Western and only remaining Wall of the Second Temple to commemorate the destruction and pray for redemption.

 

Religious Observance

Tisha Be’Av is marked by strict mourning practices and the reading of the Book of Lamentations.  It is preceded by a meal called the seudah ha-mafseket (“the meal that interrupts”- that is, differentiates between a regular day and the fast day).  It is usually a modest meal.  Some people eat food that is customarily provided for mourners – hard-boiled eggs and lentils.

During Tisha Be’Av, as on Yom Kippur, the following are forbidden: eating, drinking, bathing, anointing with oil/perfume, wearing leather shoes, and sexual intercourse.  Unique to Tisha Be’Av is a prohibition against the study of Torah, since studying Torah is a joyous activity.  All that is permitted to be studied is the Book of Job, the parts of Jeremiah that describe the destruction of Jerusalem, and the sections of Talmud that deal with the destruction as well.  Even though work is not forbidden, we are encouraged by the tradition to minimize the amount of work we do this day.

The synagogue service begins after sundown with ma’ariv (the evening service), followed by the reading of the Book of Lamentations (Eicha).  It is customary to sit on the floor or on low benches during the reading, which is again similar to mourning customs.  Only a few lights or candles are left on in the synagogue.  The ark curtain (parokhet) is removed.  The ma’ariv service is recited in hushed tones and Lamentations is chanted to its own special melody.  At the end of Lamentations, the next-to-last verse is repeated by everyone so that the book will end on a hopeful note: “Turn to us, O God, and we shall be turned, renew our days as of old.”  Following Lamentations, a series of piyyutim-liturgical poems-are recited.  These prayers, known as kinot, describe the destruction of the Temple and the sins of the Jewish people.

While many people do not wear shoes all day long on Tisha Be’Av, others refrain from doing so only during services.  The next morning, tallit and tefillin are not worn.  This is another sign of mourning, because a mourner before the funeral does not put on tallit and tefillin.  The Torah is read, and the congregants sit on the floor and recite kinot.  The haftarah is from Jeremiah 8:13-9:23 and is chanted to the tune of Lamentations (except the last two verse, which are to the regular haftarah melody).  At mincha (afternoon service), tallit and tefillin are worn and the Torah is read again.  At the end of Tisha Be’Av, some people recite poetry by the medieval poet Yehuda Halevi which speaks eloquently about Israel and the Diaspora.

Extract from Lamentations:

In blazing anger God has cut down all

the might of Israel;

God has withdrawn God’s right hand in the

presence of the foe;

God had ravaged Jacob like flaming fire;

consuming on all sides.

Lamentations 2:3

 

Extracts from Yehuda Halevi

O beautiful one, joy of the universe,

City of the great King

For you, my soul has longed

From the furthest corner of the West.

 

My heart is in the East,

And I am at the farthest end of the West,

How can I taste,

How can anything in life be sweet?

 

Tisha Be’Av Values Clarification

Choose one of the following statements and answer the following questions:

1. Since the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, we have no reason to commemorate Tisha Be’Av…the Jewish State has been restored.
2. It is important to use this day to remember the events which occurred in history on Tisha Be’Av, and the suffering of our ancestors.
3. Isaiah 40:24
4. Lamentations 2:3
5. With the establishment of Yom Ha’Shoah as another communal day of grief and mourning, Tisha Be’Av is no longer needed.
6. The destruction of the Temple was a blessing in disguise because it allowed Judaism to mature beyond sacrifice into prayer.
7. A statement which summarizes the laws of Tisha Be’Av.

a)     Why did you choose this statement?

b)    Put this statement into your own words.

c)     Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

d)    How does this statement relate to Tisha Be’Av?

e)     What lessons can one learn from your statement?

f)     Describe one way in which the statement you chose explains your personal                           connection to Tisha Be’Av?

g)    Can you identify one new observance of Tisha Be’Av that you would be willing to                 experiment with this year?  Which would it be and why?