The Ninth of Av

July 30, 2009 - 10:37 AM by

avTisha B’Av (the Ninth of Avi) is one holiday that’s grown on me. I had never heard of the fast day growing up in the US, but in Israel, it’s a soul-searcher right up there with Yom Kippur.

The holiday, which commemorates the tragedies and disasters that have befallen the Jewish people on that date in history, including the destruction of the Temples, the expulsion from Spain, and so on, continues to have relevance in modern day Israel, despite some claims that there’s no longer a reason to mourn since Israel has been re-established.

But you don’t have to be religiously observant and yearning for the building of the third Temple to realize that there’s no lack of shortcomings in our society that need to be addressed. Like in the rest of the world, homelessness, murder and crime are increasingly common, accepted aspects of life here. Maybe Tisha B’Av is the day people can think about the kind of society they want for the country and make decisions to work toward that goal.

The prophets say that the Second Temple was destroyed due to the senseless hatred within the Jewish people, and there’s also certainly no lack of that today. The haredim hate the secular, the secular hate the religious, the religious hate the Reform, the Right hates the Left and vice versa, and lets not even get into the situation with the Arabs.

Anyone who thinks that there’s nothing left to mourn about on Tish B’Av just needs to pick up a newspaper.

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Comments

2 Comments on The Ninth of Av

  1. Marcia Ribeiro on Thu, Jul 30th 2009 5:10 PM

    2. Simple and to the point. Excellent! I couldn’t have said so better myself…

  2. PinkDevora on Thu, Jul 30th 2009 7:38 PM

    3. Hear, hear. Sinat Chinam is a terrible thing. My family tries very hard to get along with all types of Jews (and people). It hurts so much to see dislike and hatred for no reason other than “they’re different from us”.

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