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PAGE 12 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE August 8, 1986
Tisha B’Av
The Jewish people’s day of mourning
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by Itzhak Sordo
Israeli shaliach, AJCC
Tisha B’Av (Aug. 14), has been
looked upon in the Jewish tradi
tion as the essence of all national
mourning. Three major disasters
occurred on that date in the land of
Israel before the exile of the people
of Israel:
• The destruction of the First
Iemple(586 B.C.E.) by Nebuchad
nezzar, the King of Babylon.
• The destruction of the Second
Temple (70 C.E.) by Titus, the
Roman Emperor.
• The falling of Beitar (135 C.E.),
a city near Jerusalem which sym
bolized the end of the rebellion of
Bar Kochba against the Romans.
Exactly a year later, a site of Jerus
alem was plowed under.
In addition to these major tragic
events, tradition sees other catas
trophes that happened on the same
day, after we were in exile (galut):
• The expulsion of the Jews from
England (1290)
• The expulsion of the Jews
from Spain (1492)
Tisha B’Av is dedicated to remem
brance and mourning, especially
for the falling of the sovereignty
and independence of the Jews in
their old homeland, which was
symbolized by the destruction of
the Second Temple. That put an
end to our national existence w hich
was reborn in 1948.
After reading and learning about
that particular day, 1 want to share
some Jewish thoughts and dilem
mas regarding Tisha B’Av:
The question of why? Why it
happened? There is a theory that
the First Temple was destroyed
because of idolatry, sexual immor
ality and bloodshed. It means that
individuals from Israel, by their
behavior, brought this disaster. It
is theorized that the Second Tem
ple was destroyed because there
was a lot of quarreling between
Jewish groups, and not only verbal
debates. Hatred among groups of
our people led to weakness of the
Jewish people and made it easier
for our enemies. We have to ask
remnant of our Holy Temple. Those
who are against keeping the same
traditions say that Tisha B’Av is
too irrelevant and disregarded, and
we can’t continue it as a day of
mourning as if nothing had
changed.
Those who think that we should
continue the customs say that Tisha
B’Av plays a role in keeping our
tradition—it’s part of the “collec
tive memory” of the Jews through-
‘Tisha B’Av is dedicated to remembrance and
mourning, especially for the falling of the sover
eignty and independence of the Jews in their old
homeland, which was symbolized by the destruction
of the Second Temple.’
ourselves w'hy, and if it’s relevant
today.
There is a legend that on Tisha
B’Av, the Messiah will be born.
The bond is between redemption
and disaster, between mourning
and happiness. This is the same
kind of bond that we find in the
faces of a bride and groom at their
wedding—the bridegroom breaks
the glass to remind us that even in
our joy, there is destruction. Even
in the celebration of the state of
Israel, we have it: Yom Hazikaron,
Memorial Day, is just prior to the
celebration of Independence Day.
Thus, we can’t forget those who
gave their lives, even when we are
celebrating.
In modern Israel, we ask our
selves if we should continue with
the same customs of Tisha B’Av as
we did before the rebirth of the
state of Israel (1948), and espe
cially after the reunification of Jer
usalem (1967). Since then, we came
back to the Western W'all, the
MIC
out the generations, and they say
that exile and destruction are not
yet finished even though the state
of Israel exists.
There are those who say that the
real exile (galut) means a spiritual
one, and it depends on each of us.
The question is how much do we
deal with values and meritorious
deeds that lead us to better exist
ence as Jews, or how much are we
alienated to those values; are we
too busy with practical and mate
rial needs? Can these values be
actualized in the diaspora?
In the last few' years, there has
been a debate in Israel about the
Bar Kochba rebellion. Professor
Yehoshefat Harkabi (in his book,
“The Bar Kochba Syndrome,” 1983)
declared that this rebellion, which
ended with the falling of Beitar on
I isha B’Av ! 35 C.F... was unrealis
tic. It would have been better not
to start it. In that time, it was clear
that all of the military forces of
Rome would be directed against
xfre.
Judaea. It was possible to sec in
advance the catastrophic outcome
of a rebellion against the Roman
Empire. Because of it, the main
concentration of Jews at that time
in Judaea came to an end. Romans
destroyed almost every settlement.
Harkabi’s practical reason for
writing the book is so that the past
can help us to see clearly and to
have an influence on current polit
ical behavior. Many don’t agree
with him, especially with how he
dealt with the martyrs. Bar Kochba
was seen during the generations as
a source of inspiration and as a
hero.
On Tisha B’Av, we read poems
of mourning (kinot). The last part
includes the kinot of Rabbi Judah
Halevi that says: “Zion, won’t you
ask if your prisoners have peace?”
He is one of our best poets; he lived
in the 1 1th century in Spain and
wrote many poems regarding Zion
and of his missing homeland. In his
last years, he did it! He went to
Zion (Israel) and died there.
I can’t forget seeing tens of thou
sands of Jews gathering to pray at
the Western Wall on the night of
Tisha B’Av. I was there once dur
ing my military duty; it was then,
and is now, clear to me that you
don’t need to be an observant Jew
to feel a part of a big and a wonder
ful heritage.
We now return to the first ques
tion of why? Why, in general, are
we in exile? One answer is: “Because
of our sins we w'ent into exile from
our land," so the responsibility is
on us. If we believe that “all Jews
are responsible for one another,"
w hat is your personal responsibil
ity to correct it?
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