Thoughts on Tisha B’Av and Hope
This week, on Monday evening and Tuesday, we observe the major fast day of Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av. This date, or at least this month, is already mentioned in the Book of Zechariah as “the fast of the 5th month” (counting from Nisan in the spring.) In the time of the prophet, this fast was associated only with the destruction of the first Temple in 586 BCE and the exile to Babylon. Zechariah lived in the latter part of the 6th century BCE, at the time of the return from the Babylonian Exile.
According to the Mishnah (early 3rd century CE), the sages note five tragedies that are commemorated on the ninth of Av. Not only do we recall the destruction of the first Temple, but also of the second Temple in the year 70 CE. To this the rabbis add the defeat of the Bar Kochba revolt at Beitar in 135 CE and the plowing over of Jerusalem by the Romans in the following year. In addition, they link this day with the decree against the Israelites in the wilderness in Moses’s day, following the evil report of the spies who had been sent to investigate the land of Canaan. On this day, because the people wept without cause, the Torah says they were punished and forced to spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness until a new generation arose to enter the land. Because of that weeping without cause, say the rabbis, God decreed that there would be ample cause to weep on this date in future years.
It is not at all clear that all of these events actually occurred on the 9th of Av. Professor David Roskies suggests that rather than multiply days of fasting and mourning, the sages sometimes clustered several tragic events around a single date. Having declared the month of Av an inauspicious time, other tragedies were linked to Tisha B’Av, whether or not they occurred at this season or precisely on this date
Among the events linked either to the month of Av - many specifically to the 9th of Av - include the beginning of the First Crusade in 1096 in which some 10,000 Jews were massacred (Av 24). In 1290 on the 9th of Av, the Jews were expelled from England. In 1301 on the 10th of Av, the expulsion of the Jews from France was ordered and in 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain on the 7th of Av. More recently, World War I began on the 9th and 10th of Av n 1914. The order for the Nazi “Final Solution” was signed on the 9th of Av in 1941 and in 1942 the order to evacuate the Warsaw Ghetto also was issued on the 9th of Av. In 1994, the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires was bombed on the 9th of Av with significant loss of life. Some of these tragedies were intentionally scheduled for this date by their perpetrators.
Looking through the Kinot, the liturgical dirges recited on Tisha B’Av, one finds other events recalled whether or not they took place at this time of year. While there are several dates that are used to commemorate the Shoah throughout the year, many people include the events of those years in their remembrances on this day and one will find kinot written to mark the Shoah. Thus it is not surprising that some people have suggested that this year we need to add the catastrophic loss of life on September 9 to the list as well even though it did not occur in Av. Unfortunately, even as we continue ten months later with the war in Gaza against Hamas, many Israelis are concerned and the military is on high alert once more, concerned that reprisals for the recent assassinations of leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, may be coming from Iran and its clients this year on Tisha B’Av, next week.
What is unique about Tisha B’Av, however, is that it is not simply a day of mourning and weeping for what we have suffered in the past and for the people we have lost through the ages. Going back to the passage mentioned in Zechariah, the prophet speaks of a day when these fast days will become days of celebration, “occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah.” The sages, building on this prophecy, tell us that in fact the Messiah was born on the 9th of Av. They imagine him sitting and waiting for the word from the Almighty to come and redeem his people. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi is sent by Elijah the prophet in one story to inquire of the Messiah when he is coming. Of course, as we read these stories, we need not accept them on a literal basis. Rather they are reminders that out of destruction, we can find hope and begin to rebuild a better future.
According to Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Tisha B’Av is both a fast day and a day of mourning. In its latter sense, it is a day which calls for comforting. Some of the prayers and rituals of the afternoon make that clearer. The observance of this date as a day of national mourning is not simply an occasion for reflection on the past, but rather it is a day of hope for the future. We who recall this long history of past calamities remain firm in our faith in a better future, recognizing that in spite of all this, we are still here. In spite of human flaws and shortcomings, we are convinced that the day is coming when the world will be perfected under the kingdom of God, that is with the values which we attribute to the divine. At the end of every service, we quote Zechariah again, “On that day, the Lord shall be One and His name One.” This is not magical thinking. It requires work. It requires vision. It requires leaders who act in the best interests of their people. Often it seems like a distant goal, yet we maintain hope. The the national anthem of the State of Israel is Hatikvah, the Hope. May that day soon come for us and for all the world.
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