Tisha B'Av
We cannot eat, but Tisha B'Av offers much food for thought and group activity.
VJ offers a selection of readings.
The Body of Man | It Was Here | The Two Brothers | The City to be Punished | God Was Moved | Carnage | The Children Lie | Yossel Rakover's Appeal | Mourning Merits Joy | Return Our Captivity | "Kaddish" |
The Body of Man
From the Midrash
The body of man is a microcosm, the whole world in miniature, and the world in turn is a reflex of man. The hair upon his head corresponds to the woods of the earth, his tears to a river, his mouth to the ocean. The world resembles the ball of his eye, the ocean that encircles the earth is like the white of the eye, the dry land is the iris, Jerusalem the pupil, and the Temple the image mirrored in the pupil of the eye.
It Was Here
By Elie Wiesel
Remember that according to Scriptures we are supposed to be a nation of priests. What does that mean? Remember: once upon a time the High Priest prepared and purified himself all year long just to pronounce one single word - God's name - just once, in once place: in the inner sanctum of the Temple, on the Day of Atonement. He who wishes to follow in his footsteps must learn to say the right word at the right time and in the right place.
The Two Brothers
Legend
Two brothers who dearly loved each other lived on neighboring farms, tilled their fields together and shared its harvest. The one brother was married and had three children; the other was unwed.
When the crop was reaped, the produce was divided equally between the two brothers. But the one bethought himself: "It is not fair that I share equally with my brother. He has a wife and three children and needs more than I." So he loaded a donkey in the middle of the night and secretly carried some of his grain to his brother's field. In the meantime the other said to himself: "My brother is alone. He will have no-one to support him in his old age. He needs a bigger portion of the harvest than I." So, he loaded a donkey and brought some of his grain to his brother.
In the morning each brother looked at his share and found that it still looked too large. Each decided that he had not returned enough to his brother. Hence, the following night they again secretly carried grain to each other. But the morning after found the situation still the same, so each determined to be more generous.
That night, the two brothers with their loaded donkeys met midway. Realizing what had happened, they embraced one another and wept.
The spot where they met was chosen as the site for the building of the Temple.
This is the City to be Punished
I Kings 9:3-7
(The Lord said to Solomon:) I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you made before Me; I have hallowed this house, which you have built, to put My name there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. And as for you, if you will walk before Me, as David your father walked, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever; but if you shall turn away from following Me, then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them: and this house which I have hallowed for My name, will I cast out of my sight.
God Was Moved
From the Midrash
God Himself was deeply moved by the destruction of the Temple, which he had abandoned that the enemy might enter and destroy it. Accompanied by the angels, he visited the ruins, and gave vent to His sorrow; "Woe is Me on account of My house. Where are my children, where are My priests, where are My beloved? But what could I do for you? Did I not warn you? Yet you would not mend your ways."
"Today, " God said to Jeremiah, "I am like a man who has an only son. You seem to feel but little sympathy with Me and My children. Go summon Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses from their graves. They know how to mourn."
Lord of the world," replied Jeremiah, "I know not where Moses is buried."
"Stand on the banks of the Jordan," said God, "and cry: 'You, son of Amram, arise, see how wolves have devoured your sheep.'"
Carnage
Josephus
Carnage on the ninth day of Av:
"One would have thought that the hill itself, on which the Temple stood, was seething hot from its base, it was so full of fire on every side; and yet he blood was larger in quantity than the fire, and those that were slain were more in number than those that slew them. And the ground was nowhere visible for the dead bodies that lay on it."
The Children Lie
Nelly Sachs. (Translated from German by Ruth and Matthew Mead)
The children lie
On all the roads of earth
Torn by the roots
From mother earth.
The light-extinguished love
Has fallen from their hands.
Wind fills the empty hands.
When evening, father
Of all orphans, bleeds
With them from all the wounds
And their trembling shadows
Mimic the heartbreaking fear
Of their bodies
They plunge suddenly into night
As though into death.
But at dawn in the hills of pain
They see their fathers and mothers
Dying again and again. |
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Yossel Rakover's Appeal to God
Zvi Kolitz
Three stanzas
I am happy to belong to the unhappiest of all peoples of the world, whose precepts represent the loftiest and most beautiful of all morality and laws. These immortal precepts which we possess have now been even more sanctified and immortalized by the fact that they have been so debased and insulted by the enemies of the Lord.
I believe that to be a Jew is an inborn trait. One is born a Jew exactly as an artist. It is impossible to be released from being a Jew. That is our Godly attribute that has made us a chosen people. Those who do not understand this will never understand the higher meaning of our martyrdom. If I ever doubted that God once designated us as the chosen people, I would believe now that our tribulations have made us the chosen one.
I believe in You, God of Israel, even though you have done everything to stop me from believing in You. I believe in Your laws even if I cannot excuse your actions. My relationship to You is not the relationship of a slave to his master, but rather of a pupil to his teacher. I bow my head before your greatness, but I will not kiss the lash with which you strike me.
Mourning Merits Joy
Mishnah Ta'anit 4:6-7
The rabbis have said:
Everyone who mourns for Jerusalem merits to share in her joy,
And anyone who does not mourn for her will not share in her joy.
Return our Captivity
| Psalm 126, in Grace After Meals
Return our Captivity, O Lord
Return our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the dry land.
They who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy. | |
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"Kaddish"
Charles Reznikoff
"Upon Israel and upon the Rabbis,
And upon their disciples
And upon all the disciples of their disciples,
And upon all who engage in the study of the Torah
In this place and in every place,
Unto them and unto you
Let there be abundant peace, grace, lovingkindness,
Mercy, long life, ample sustenance and salvation,
From their Father who is in Heaven.
And say, Amen."
(Kaddish Derabanan)
"Upon Israel and upon their children,
And upon all the children of their children,
In this place and in every place,
To them and to you
Life!"
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