"How do Reform Jews understand Tishah B’Av?" By Rabbi Mark Washofsky
The observance of Tishah B’Av (literally the 9th day of the month of Av) poses some interesting questions for Reform Jews. The day is one of fasting and mourning, for the destruction of both the First and the Second Temple in Jerusalem is said to have taken place on that day. While other tragic events in Jewish history may have coincided with the ninth of Av, it is the Temple’s destruction (churban habayit) that dominates the day’s ritual and liturgy. Reform theology has not generally looked upon the loss of the Temple and the expulsion of the people of Israel from its land as a catastrophe to be lamented by liberal Jews.
Some Reform prayerbooks do not acknowledge Tishah B’Av altogether; others have gone so far as to transform the day into one of joy as well as sadness, for on the day when the Temple was laid waste and the Jewish people was scattered over the face of the earth, Israel accepted the religious mission to disseminate the knowledge of God to all mankind. Since some Reformers regarded this as the essence of Israel’s eternal religious mission, they saw the destruction of the Temple and the sacrificial cult as a progressive and positive moment in our history as a people. This point of view was never a unanimous one. Other Reform thinkers emphasized that, however much we feel at home in our Western lands and however little we feel the need to pray for a restoration of sacrificial worship, the tragedies and sufferings of Jewish history cannot be erased by the experience of but a few years of Enlightenment and Emancipation. The ninth of Av is a moment of great power in the Jewish calendar, the time when we give voice to our sadness as a people for the calamities that have befallen us.
- Above are a few of the many tragic events that are associated with these 2 days.
We read our own story in the context of the larger Jewish story. How do these events resonate with the kind of losses that we are experiencing today? In our own lives? In this country? In Israel?
Let's dive into it!
(א) אֵיכָ֣ה ׀ יָשְׁבָ֣ה בָדָ֗ד הָעִיר֙ רַבָּ֣תִי עָ֔ם הָיְתָ֖ה כְּאַלְמָנָ֑ה רַבָּ֣תִי בַגּוֹיִ֗ם שָׂרָ֙תִי֙ בַּמְּדִינ֔וֹת הָיְתָ֖ה לָמַֽס׃ {ס} (ב) בָּכ֨וֹ תִבְכֶּ֜ה בַּלַּ֗יְלָה וְדִמְעָתָהּ֙ עַ֣ל לֶֽחֱיָ֔הּ אֵֽין־לָ֥הּ מְנַחֵ֖ם מִכׇּל־אֹהֲבֶ֑יהָ כׇּל־רֵעֶ֙יהָ֙ בָּ֣גְדוּ בָ֔הּ הָ֥יוּ לָ֖הּ לְאֹיְבִֽים׃ {ס} (ג) גָּֽלְתָ֨ה יְהוּדָ֤ה מֵעֹ֙נִי֙ וּמֵרֹ֣ב עֲבֹדָ֔ה הִ֚יא יָשְׁבָ֣ה בַגּוֹיִ֔ם לֹ֥א מָצְאָ֖ה מָנ֑וֹחַ כׇּל־רֹדְפֶ֥יהָ הִשִּׂיג֖וּהָ בֵּ֥ין הַמְּצָרִֽים׃ {ס} (ד) דַּרְכֵ֨י צִיּ֜וֹן אֲבֵל֗וֹת מִבְּלִי֙ בָּאֵ֣י מוֹעֵ֔ד כׇּל־שְׁעָרֶ֙יהָ֙ שֽׁוֹמֵמִ֔ין כֹּהֲנֶ֖יהָ נֶאֱנָחִ֑ים בְּתוּלֹתֶ֥יהָ נּוּג֖וֹת וְהִ֥יא מַר־לָֽהּ׃ {ס} (ה) הָי֨וּ צָרֶ֤יהָ לְרֹאשׁ֙ אֹיְבֶ֣יהָ שָׁל֔וּ כִּֽי־יְהֹוָ֥ה הוֹגָ֖הּ עַ֣ל רֹב־פְּשָׁעֶ֑יהָ עוֹלָלֶ֛יהָ הָלְכ֥וּ שְׁבִ֖י לִפְנֵי־צָֽר׃ {ס} (ו) וַיֵּצֵ֥א (מן בת) [מִבַּת־]צִיּ֖וֹן כׇּל־הֲדָרָ֑הּ הָי֣וּ שָׂרֶ֗יהָ כְּאַיָּלִים֙ לֹא־מָצְא֣וּ מִרְעֶ֔ה וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ בְלֹא־כֹ֖חַ לִפְנֵ֥י רוֹדֵֽף׃ {ס} (ז) זָֽכְרָ֣ה יְרוּשָׁלַ֗͏ִם יְמֵ֤י עׇנְיָהּ֙ וּמְרוּדֶ֔יהָ כֹּ֚ל מַחֲמֻדֶ֔יהָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָי֖וּ מִ֣ימֵי קֶ֑דֶם בִּנְפֹ֧ל עַמָּ֣הּ בְּיַד־צָ֗ר וְאֵ֤ין עוֹזֵר֙ לָ֔הּ רָא֣וּהָ צָרִ֔ים שָׂחֲק֖וּ עַ֥ל מִשְׁבַּתֶּֽהָ׃ {ס} (ח) חֵ֤טְא חָֽטְאָה֙ יְר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם עַל־כֵּ֖ן לְנִידָ֣ה הָיָ֑תָה כׇּֽל־מְכַבְּדֶ֤יהָ הִזִּיל֙וּהָ֙ כִּי־רָא֣וּ עֶרְוָתָ֔הּ גַּם־הִ֥יא נֶאֶנְחָ֖ה וַתָּ֥שׇׁב אָחֽוֹר׃ {ס}
(1) aChaps. 1–4 are alphabetical acrostics, i.e., the verses begin with the successive letters of the Heb. alphabet. Chap. 3 is a triple acrostic. In chaps. 2–4 the letter pe precedes the ‘ayin.
Alas!
Lonely sits the city
Once great with people!
She that was great among nations
Is become like a widow;
The princess among states
Is become a thrall. (2) Bitterly she weeps in the night,
Her cheek wet with tears.
There is none to comfort her
Of all her friends.
All her allies have betrayed her;
They have become her foes. (3) Judah has gone into exile
Because of misery and harsh oppression;
When she settled among the nations,
She found no rest;
All her pursuers overtook her
bMeaning of Heb. uncertain.In the narrow places.-b (4) Zion’s roads are in mourning,
Empty of festival pilgrims;
All her gates are deserted.
Her priests sigh,
Her maidens are unhappy—
She is utterly disconsolate! (5) Her enemies are now the masters,
Her foes are at ease,
Because the LORD has afflicted her
For her many transgressions;
Her infants have gone into captivity
Before the enemy.
(6) Gone from Fair Zion are all
That were her glory;
Her leaders were like stags
That found no pasture;
They could only walk feebly
Before the pursuer.
(7) All the precious things she had
In the days of old
Jerusalem recalled
In her days of woe and sorrow,
When her people fell by enemy hands
With none to help her;
When enemies looked on and gloated
Over her downfall. (8) Jerusalem has greatly sinned,
Therefore she is become a mockery.
All who admired her despise her,
For they have seen her disgraced;
And she can only sigh
And shrink back.
The wall of Fair Zion;
dI.e., He made His plans.He measured with a line,-d refrained not
From bringing destruction.
He has made wall and rampart to mourn,
Together they languish. (9) Her gates have sunk into the ground,
He has smashed her bars to bits;
Her king and her leaders are eLit. “among the nations.”in exile,-e
InstructionfHeb. torah, here priestly instruction; cf. Jer. 18.18; Hag. 2.11; Mal. 2.6. is no more;
Her prophets, too, receive
No vision from the LORD. (10) Silent sit on the ground
The elders of Fair Zion;
They have strewn dust on their heads
And girded themselves with sackcloth;
The maidens of Jerusalem have bowed
Their heads to the ground. (11) My eyes are spent with tears,
My heart is in tumult,
gLit. “My liver spills on the ground.”My being melts away-g
Over the ruin of hLit. “the daughter of my people”; so elsewhere in poetry.my poor people,-h
As babes and sucklings languish
In the squares of the city.
(19) But You, Adonai, are enthroned forever,
Your throne endures through the ages. (20) Why have You forgotten us utterly,
Forsaken us for all time? (21) Take us back, Adonai to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old! (22) For truly, You have rejected us,
Bitterly raged against us.
Take us back, Adonai, to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old!
(11) As for you, because of the blood of the covenant, I will send your captives out of the dry pit. (12) Return to strength, you captives of hope; even today, I declare that I will give a double portion to you.
§ Having mentioned the prohibition against plastering, which is a sign of mourning over the destruction of the Temple, the Gemara discusses related matters. The Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta, Sota 15:11): When the Temple was destroyed a second time, there was an increase in the number of ascetics among the Jews, whose practice was to not eat meat and to not drink wine. Rabbi Yehoshua joined them to discuss their practice. He said to them: My children, for what reason do you not eat meat and do you not drink wine? They said to him: Shall we eat meat, from which offerings are sacrificed upon the altar, and now the altar has ceased to exist? Shall we drink wine, which is poured as a libation upon the altar, and now the altar has ceased to exist? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: If so, we will not eat bread either, since the meal-offerings that were offered upon the altar have ceased. They replied: You are correct. It is possible to subsist with produce. He said to them: We will not eat produce either, since the bringing of the first fruits have ceased. They replied: You are correct. We will no longer eat the produce of the seven species from which the first fruits were brought, as it is possible to subsist with other produce. He said to them: If so, we will not drink water, since the water libation has ceased. They were silent, as they realized that they could not survive without water.
כי לבעלי האבל מנוחה בבכים ועורר אבלם עד שיחלשו כוחותיהם הגופניים מסבול המקרה ההוא הנפשי כשם שלבעלי השמחה - מנוחה במיני השחוק.
for mourners find comfort in crying and in excitement till, the body has not sufficient strength to bear the inner emotions; in the same manner as happy persons find rest in various kinds of play.
This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation, Alan Lew
(41-2)Tisha B'Av comes exactly seven weeks before Rosh Hashanah, beginning the process that culminates on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Tisha B'Av is the moment of turning, the moment when we turn away from denial and begin to face exile and alienation as they manifest themselves in our own lives---in our alienation and estrangement from God, in our alienation from ourselves and from others. Teshuvah---turning, repentance---is the essential gesture of the High Holiday season. It is the gesture by which we seek to heal this alienation and to find at-one-ment; to connect with God, to reconcile with others, and to anchor ourselves in the ground of our actual circumstances, so that it is this reality that shapes our actions and not just the habitual, unconscious momentum of our lives....
(52-3)The natural event connnected to Tisha B'Av is the height of summer, the fullness of the year. Six days later, on the fifteenth of Av, the summer actually reaches its peak and begins to decline; the sap in the trees reaches its full strength and begins to turn toward dryness. The days reach their full length and begin to shorten. Fullness and decline are intimately linked. The end of one is the beginning of the other. Conversely, decline and destruction necessarily precede renewal; tearing down is necessary before rebuilding is possible. And all these things---fullness, decline, destruction, renewal, tearing down, rebuidling---are actually part of the same process, points on a single continuum, consecutive segments of a never-ending circle.
The time between Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur, this great seven-week time of turning, is the time between the destruction of Jerusalem---the crumbling of the walls of the Great Temple---and our own moral and spiritual reconstruction. The year has been building itself up, and now it begins to let go---the natural cycle of the cosmos, the rise and fall, the impermanence and the continuity, all express themselves in this turning. The walls comes down and suddenly we can see, suddenly we recognize the nature of our estrangement from God, and this recognition is the beginning of our reconciliation. We can see the image of the falling Temple---the burning house---that Tisha B'Av urges upon us so forcefully, precisely in this light.