On Tisha B’Av, we remember the greatest tragedies of our history. We fast for 25 hours from sundown to nightfall and retell the story of the suffering of our people through the chanting of Eikha, the Book of Lamentations. At the end of a day of fasting and mourning, we step out of our collective darkness with a renewed sensitivity to loss, and belief in the possibility of healing. We honor the past, feel the tragedies of the present, and commit ourselves to a vision of a more just and peaceful future.
SERVICES & PROGRAMS:
SERMONS:
“BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE: Why We Brought Our 14-Year-Old to Hevron” – R’ Sharon Brous
“Our Rabbis insist that we not only grieve the death and destruction but also consider how our own behavior contributed to the suffering. Reject the simple victim/villain analyses, they insisted. Instead, learn to see multiple layers of truth. Our recent community trip to Israel reinforced for me that there are always complicated and competing realities and that our children, and our community, are big-hearted enough to hold them. In the end, engaging competing truths serve us much better than hiding from them.”
TEACHINGS:
A Tisha B’Av Conception of Time – R’ David Kasher