Hello everyone! I apologize for the delay in posting, but it’s been a busy few weeks with exams and lots of homework, leaving little time for blogging. However, I wanted to update you all on what has been happening this week! Tuesday was Tisha B’av (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av), a Jewish holiday commemorating the destruction of the beit hamikdash, or Temple. The Temple was destroyed twice, once in 586 BCE and again in 70 CE. The idea behind the Temple is complicated, but basically it was a place for Jews to offer sacrifices to God, and only certain people (priests and people from the tribes of Levi or Cohen) where allowed in the inner sanctums of the building. As a modern Reform Jew, the Temple doesn’t stir up much emotion for me as a structure, mostly because the destruction really gave way to the idea that there didn’t need to be only one place to pray or connect to God. It also ended the ritual sacrifices, which in my opinion, is a good thing. I’m pretty sure I would drop out of rabbinical school if I had to sacrifice a lamb every week. No thank you. Also, once the temple was destroyed, the idea of a Rabbi really came to fruition. It also allowed people to individually connect with God and not only have to do it via a priest or someone from a more important tribe. However, I do recognize that the idea is not just that we are mourning the destruction of the physical structure of the Temple, but rather the destruction and violation of the Jewish people’s right and ability to practice their religion. In that respect, I find the holiday meaningful. Tisha B’av in Jerusalem is interesting, mostly because it is Jerusalem, and everything is interesting here. On erev (the night before) Tisha B’av HUC took us to this monastery that was just outside of Tel Aviv. There is a kibbutz nearby that does a lot of collaboration with this particular monastery, and they were having a joint Tisha B’av concert/service. There were nuns from the monastery in attendance, as well as Jews from both the kibbutz and other progressive congregations around Israel. (Progressive Judaism is basically the equivalent of the Reform movement in America, but in Israel it’s referred to as “progressive Judaism.” More on that in another post.) The concert was beautiful for the most part, the songs were mostly in Hebrew (some were in Ladino and Yiddish as well) and the cantor who sang them had a nice voice. However, for some reason she just kept singing song after song after song, and it didn’t really appear to be any end in sight! I found the evening relatively spiritual towards the beginning, and being in this ancient place with all these incredibly interesting and diverse people really touched me, but after the 10th song, I was starting to check out a little. Most of my classmates were getting a little glassy eyed towards the end as well, so I know I wasn’t the only one! The next day we went to Pardes, which is an organization that runs summer and year long study programs for people from all over the world. They had a special Tisha B’av program with lots of different study sessions all day. I went to one that was very interesting and meaningful. The session was called “Cosmic Crack—Personal Pain, Kabbalistic Insights.” It was divided into two parts with two writing exercises. The first was to write a list of all the events in our lives that were destructive that we had played a part in. Then, we discussed in small groups what we had written down. It was pretty powerful to hear what other people had thought of, and while I was hesitant to share at first, it felt really good to get it out. The second exercise was to write down a list of events in our lives that were destructive, but that had become somehow hopeful or more positive over time. We shared these as well, which was equally as powerful. The main point of the program was that Tisha B’av is a different kind of mourning day. We are not mourning in order to ask for forgiveness or repent like on Yom Kippur, rather we are just mourning to mourn. It’s a day to be sad both for the things that we had played a part in destroying, and also things that were out of our control. However, as the day goes on and we get closer to the end, we start to change our perspective a little and look towards the future and the positive aspects of our lives. This is especially evident in the way we pray throughout the day. In the morning service, people traditionally don’t wear tallitot or tefillin because wearing a tallit symbolizes being embraced by God and that’s not something that Jews are feeling during Tisha B’av. Teffilin are made of leather, and are a sign of luxury and wealth, which is something that, like on Yom Kippur, many Jews chose to avoid during the day of mourning. However, at the afternoon service, people do wear their tallit and their teffilin, showing a distinct shift from the earlier part of the day. There is a sense that life continues, that even when there is horrible destruction, you can’t stop living your life in a productive way. While I personally struggle with the more traditional reasoning behind the holiday of Tisha B’av, after the session at Pardes I feel much more connected to the holiday. I learned a lot and will absolutely appreciate it much more next year.
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