Rest in pieces
As many of you know already, Monday night and Tuesday are Tisha b'Av (the ninth of Jewish month of Av), the day on which both the First and Second Jewish Temples were destroyed, a day that is "ready for tragedy" as the rabbis put it.Many secular Israelis believe that we should no longer be observing Tisha b'Av. After all, Jews have returned to Israel in greater numbers than at any time since the Temples were destroyed, we have a Jewish state, we have Jewish culture and so on. As a result, in recent years, there have been arguments over cafes and pubs in Tel Aviv remaining open on Tisha b'Av, whereas on Remembrance Day and Holocaust Memorial Day, all places of entertainment - including restaurants - are required to close. Daniel Gordis makes the argument on the seculars' own terms for Tisha b'Av remaining on the calendar.
There are Jews who wonder if the Ninth of Av still makes sense. After all, no one is slaughtering us. Israel is thriving. And Jerusalem is rebuilt. Why all the mourning? For me, moments like an evening with Dr. Zreik, articulate and brilliant though he is, make the case for this period of mourning. It’s not just about the past, but also about the future, about what could still happen, and what may already be beginning. “The Lord has summoned against Jacob enemies all about him,” says Lamentations (1:17). “Jerusalem has become among them a thing unclean.”If you're wondering about the title of this post or the picture of the cemetery (Orgeev, Moldova, although it could have been many other Jewish cemeteries), read the whole thing.
The Khaleds of the world are too few and far between. Today, for the most part, we’re surrounded by a world that has tired of us, once again. It has tired of its guilt, and has tired of the state that it re-created when that sense of responsibility was at its peak. Gone is the era when the world understood, even if momentarily, that we, no less than anyone else, deserve a place to be. We had it, briefly, but it’s gone.
Which is why, I suppose, we still conclude the reading of Lamentations not with its last verse, but by repeating the penultimate sentence: “Take us back, O Lord... renew our days as of old.”
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:18 AM
2 Comments:
It makes sense to keep the holiday, Israel's re-establishment notwithstanding. Tisha B'Av is a reminder of the perpetual insecurity of Jewish existence and that nothing must be taken for granted about it. And also, as long as Israel has not fulfilled the commandment to rebuild the Temple, Israel's restoration remains deformed and incomplete. Israel will never be complete and restored complete to its true and holy state of being until the Temple is renewed again.
We will have Tisha B'Av with us for a long time to come.
dont even have to explain it in a religious way
the united states has memorial day
this is israel's memorial day
unlike the us, which has turned memorial day into just another economic holiday, where only official offices and banks are closed and private biz runs specials so people can make money...israel is keeping to the tradition (the way it should be) that everything closes, so the population can reflect on this one calamitous day.
i remember the first time i visited israel...30 years ago.
it was tisha b'av and i was walking down a street in yerushalaim.
walked past a secular american jewish girl who kept stopping people asking them if they new of a bar or restaurant that was open....these were not frum people she was asking....they all looked at her like she was nuts
finally, one guy said, "dont you know today is tisha b'av?"
most beautiful thing i have ever seen
and that is why, until mashiach comes, tisha b'av must remain a day of mourning for all of israel
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