guide to the jewplexed

Mourning and Meltdown--Countdown to The Nine Days


The nine days convergence is almost upon us--the nine days before Tisha B'Av overlapping with nine days until U.S. Debt meltdown. Will we soon have more reasons to mourn?

First up are the nine days we as a nation are already counting: the nine days before our national debt melts down on August 2 if the debt ceiling has not been raised. When, on Monday, July 26, Pete Kasperowicz, in his "Floor Action Bog," announced, "Monday, Nine Days Left," I began to count.

Then there is "The Nine Days" on the Jewish calendar. Beginning the evening of July 31, it is the days before Tisha B'Av when observant Jews and others begin reflecting on the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of both Temples by cutting back on celebrations and by going meatless and abstaining from alcohol except on Shabbat.

As August 1 approaches and the possibilities of an alarming convergence between the two nine day periods begins to form in my mind, a summer period that I have had trouble getting into begins to take on new meaning.

Until now, Tisha B'Av which memorializes the destruction the first and second temples as well as many other Jewish tragedies seemed so distant. In a summer time of vacations, barbeques and late sunsets over a glass of wine, those tumbling walls seemed like so much ancient history.

But today, due to the political impasse and gridlock, with so many aspects of my daily life about to tumble and fall, I find it easy to sit on a low seat and fall into a dark, somber mood.

Good-by retirement investments. Hello higher credit card and loan interest. And what about members of our community and my own family who receive Social Security and Medicare?

Are you holding out hope that the walls won't fall?

debt


Even former Secretary of the Treasury during the Bush Administration Hank Paulson said in a recent statement: "Failing to raise the debt ceiling would do irreparable harm to our credit standing, would undermine our ability to lead on global economic issues and would damage our economy..."

The countdown clock to a convergence of mourning is ticking. How did we get here?

Well, if confronting The Nine Days means doing a little soul searching about the debt crisis, then I have a confession--my family is responsible.

Here's how we boosted the bill:

In both my wife's family and mine, we had grandparents, who during the Great Depression eeked by through working on federally funded programs. My parents received social Security and Medicare.

Cha-ching!

Then there are the relatives, who because of the recession are out of work, and are being assisted through unemployment insurance. My children received also federally guaranteed student loans while in college. I take a mortgage deduction each year, and I easily spent all my tax rebates.

Cha-chingers!

Oh, and somewhere in there were a couple of recent wars, that like many of you through ambivalence, I kind of supported, kind of didn't.

Cha-Ching times 2.

With the coming Nine Days Convergence, is it too late for me to stop having such a wild time with everyone's hard earned money?

And our Representatives in Congress, how will they observe the coming meltdown? By not playing to narrowing self-centered constituencies? How about refraining from performing like actors in a locked and windowless room reminiscent of Jean Paul Sartre's play, "No Exit?"

From a traditional Jewish perspective, the Temple mourned on Tisha B'Av was destroyed because of the sin of baseless hatred, sinat hinam, of Jews hating Jews, and I am wondering as I watch our "No Exit" players, Democrats and Republicans pounding mercilessly away on each other as time runs out, that this human failing will somehow be punished again.

Mostly, I hope that by the time you read this the Nine Days Convergence clock will be turned off, and a debt ceiling agreement reached. When Tisha B'Av finally does come around, I already have enough to mourn for.

 

Edmon J. Rodman has written about making his own matzah for JTA, Jewish love music for the Jerusalem Post, yiddisheh legerdemain for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, a Bernie Madoff Halloween mask for the Forward, and what really gets stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits for the Los Angeles Times. He has edited several Jewish population studies, and is one of the founders of the Movable Minyan, an over twenty-year-old chavura-size, independent congregation. He once designed a pop-up seder plate. In 2011 Rodman received a First Place Simon Rockower Award for "Excellence in Feature Writing" from the American Jewish Press Association."