On Saturday night we recognize the destruction of the First and Second Temples, with the holiday of Tisha B’Av, literally the 9th of the month of Av. Often not celebrated by the Reform Movement in decades past, recognizing Tisha B’Av has come to mean that we mourn not only the loss of the unification of the Jewish people in Jerusalem, but also many other dates throughout history in which calamities to the Jewish people occurred: King Edward I’s edict, sending the Jews out of England, Expulsion from Spain in 1492, and the start of WWI in 1914.
When Israel became a State in 1948, there was talk of stopping the recognition of this holiday, with some believing her statehood meant a restoration of our biblical Holy Land. However, this opinion was in the minority and commemorations continued.
On the saddest day of the year, we are called to abstain from activities that bring us joy as we mourn not only destructions of generations, past, but of the suffering that continues in the world today and continued acts of hatred against the Jewish people.
We invite you to sit in the sadness, quite literally, with others from the North Atlanta Jewish community, as our communities come together at Congregation Etz Chaim on Saturday night at 8:30pm.
If you’ve never been to a Tisha B’Av service, I encourage you to give it a try. There is much to reflect on this year as we contemplate the sinat chinam, the senseless hatred that still exists today.
As mourners for the day (which starts in the evening), we sit on the ground during the service, with a candle in our hand to light the words as a beautiful but mournful voice awakens the text from the Book of Lamentations.
Register here: https://www.etzchaim.net/event/tishabav2021
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rachael
