Tisha B'Av

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

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We usually see Tisha B'Av as the quintessential day of Jewish mourning: two Temples in Jerusalem destroyed, the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, so many pogroms and disasters.

But some of the ancient rabbis connected this day and this alienation and this lament with which we bewailed our loss of our own sense of rightful place and honor in the universe, with that experience in all human beings.

We read in Midrash Rabbah about the word that gives its name to the holy book we read on Tisha B'Av, Eikha, or Lamentations:

Jewish Leaders Invoke Tisha B'Av in Philadelphia, Respond to Arrests

This statement was issued Thursday, Tisha B'Av, at a press conference held at the National Museum of American Jewish History (in Philadelphia). For further information ca

Shabbat Nachamu & Scorpions on parade

What is the comfort that comes from the Shabbat after Tisha B'Av, the anniversary of the Destruction of the Temple? What does it have to do with feeling comfortable, and what does it have to do with sco

The following is made available as a passage of "Kinot" (lamentations) for use on Tisha B'Av. — AW

WHEN A TEMPLE OF LIBERTY IS SHATTERED

When a society severs itself from justice and decency, disaster follows.

Last Shabbat the Jewish c

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Smoke and Ashes: Tisha B'Av

I have thrown love into the flames; my heart is scorched and burning.

I gasp its smoke, my throat rattles: I cannot breathe the Breath of Life.

My work, my holy work! Gone in a flash of light

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

The Burning Issues: Tisha B'Av
Rabbi Arthur Waskow *

Tisha B'Av: The Temples burn. No surprise: the Holy Temple is a microcosm of our universe, so it burns in searing dry midsummer when there is no rain, when the chamsin

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Three Weeks Before Tisha B'Av: Breaking Down the Wall
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For the three weeks from 17 Tammuz to 9 Av, we remember that in Tammuz the Babylonians broke through the walls that protected Jerusaalem. After three weeks of uncertainty, that breakthrough turned into destruction.

May we create a 17th of Tammuz in which the walls between peoples and betweenpersons are broken down -- and then the breakdown is used not fordestruction, but for creating new loving connections between us.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

From SEASONS OF OUR JOY

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Copyright © 1980 by Arthur Waskow.
Published by Beacon Press.
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The rhythm of the seasons as a spiritual path and the spiritual history and meaning of each festival are described in the chapters of this book.

Here they can be seen and heard in each of the Four Worlds of reality:
the actual details of celebration, including the different sensuous delicious foods and recipes for the different festivals;
the emotional sense of communal celebration and familial memory and hope;

Ann Metlay

Lamentations for the New Millennium

By Ann Metlay
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Alas
G-d's temple,
Once a bejeweled orb
Of sparkling greens and blue
Now lies in ruins at our feet,
Razed by the wrath of Hashem,
Consumed without pity.

Bitter toxins seep into our rivers,
Noxious gases turn rain to poisons.
Forests die. Fish die.
All that was beautiful has turned to dust.
Hashem's displeasure groans in thunder.

Clouds blackened by smoke
From rainforest conflagration,
Thickened by dust from mushroom clouds,
Hide Hashem's face from us,