Tisha B'Av: A Time to Weepഉദാഹരണം

A Time to Weep

Tisha B'Av, literally, the ninth day in the Hebrew month of Av, is the darkest day on the Jewish calendar. We read the Book of Lamentations, which begins, “Eicha,” literally, “How can it be?”

We lament the dramatic change that the Jewish people underwent when they were exiled from their land and the Temple was destroyed. Jerusalem, once the city of joy, had been transformed into a city of mourning. The Jewish people, once admired, esteemed, and a great spiritual people, had been reduced to exiles, poor and helpless. Most tragic of all was the shattered relationship with God, where at one time, the Jews enjoyed a unique and powerful connection to the Lord.

We cry out, “How can it be?” How did such a dramatic turnabout occur? How can it be that over 2,000 years later, the Jewish people are still suffering so deeply? How can it be that after so many years, we still haven’t restored our relationship with God? As we read in Lamentations, “This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears.” On this one day a year, we cry for every tragedy there has ever been.

As we will learn in this month’s Fellowship Study, Tisha B’Av is a day with ancient roots, usually occurring in July or August on Western calendars, that goes back before the destruction of either Temple. It’s a day that has reverberated throughout history in the most tragic manner. The Jewish sages teach that with every generation that has not seen the Temple restored, it is as though that generation destroyed it. To that end, we will also explore what spiritual sin caused the destruction of the Temple and how we might earn the privilege to see it restored in our lifetime.