When will the sadness end?

Today is the 9^th day of the Hebrew month of Av (Tisha b’Av), a dark day in Jewish history. Tisha B’Av is an annual fast day in Judaism which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the Land of Israel. The day also commemorates other tragedies which occurred on the same day, including the Roman massacre of over 100,000 Jews at Betar in 132 CE, and over the years has come to include such events as the 20^th century Holocaust. Instituted by the rabbis in the 2nd-century, Tisha B'Av is regarded as the saddest day of the Jewish calendar.

On the eve of the holiday, we sit on the floor of the synagogue and read Lamentations, a compilation of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem, followed by some traditional elegies. In the morning, additional elegies are read, and many synagogues have programs throughout the day. Unlike the biblical holidays and the Sabbath, work is not prohibited, so many people work at least part of the day, although I always found myself becoming a bit foggy by the afternoon. It is afternoon now as I write this, and I hope it will be somewhat coherent.

When I was in my early twenties and first became more traditionally observant of Jewish laws and customs, I found the sensory immersion on this day, like that of so many Jewish holidays, to be very appealing. As we gather with friends and sit on the floor of the darkened sanctuary listening to the sad words, it is difficult not to feel the tug of heartstrings.

But the last couple of years, and particularly this year, I have had trouble with this. I know I keep returning to this same theme, but looking at the immense pain and suffering of the last few weeks I am more distraught and confused than ever at why we humans cannot get our collective act together and find a peaceful solution for this tiny strip of land.

Unfortunately, no matter how far back we go to try to sort out the conflict, someone else can go back one step before that and shift the perspective. Until, of course, we return to creation, when there was just one person, Adam, who had no sparring partner. But how long did it take for us humans to start killing each other? Just one generation, when Adam and Eve’s son Cain killed his brother Abel. I am no historian but it seems to me that we have been quite expert at killing each other ever since. We may think we are more sophisticated and civilized than our ancient ancestors, but at the end of the day, I fear we are not.

Although people often wish each other “an easy fast,” the traditional and perhaps more correct greeting for this day is “a meaningful fast.” Getting through these next 7 hours of the fast pales next to the more significant task we humans have at hand. I only wish we were as able to conquer that as I will be to hold off eating until dinner.

Love,

Rebecca