Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

Tisha B’Av starts Saturday night. I would like to recommend five items for this commemoration.

First, for those who would like to learn the trope we have a tape of the cantillation of Eikhah (Lamentations).

Second, instead of the various copies of the Tanakh–that of course includes Lamentations—why not pick up a copy of The five scrolls, edited by Herbert N. Bronstein. The advantage of reading this is the short introductory/explanatory chapter about Eikhah itself.

Third, we have several copies of Siddur Tishah B’Av, a prayer book containing the complete service, readings for erev Tishah B’Av and for Tishah B’Av day, the full text of Eikhah, selected kinot with commentary, poetry, songs, as well as interpretive essays.

The fourth item is an issue of the biannual journal Focus dedicated to the holiday. It is titled “A Tisha B’Av Reader”, published by the Jewish Study Network in the Bay Area and is edited by Yisroel Gordon. If you want to you can download the whole volume from their website in PDF format. After a short preface and introduction it includes 6 high quality essays that combine scholarly accuracy with rabbinical insights. I just read and learned a lot from them. I encourage you to do the same. Here are the very brief abstracts of the essays.

• Rabbi Joey Felsen: From Tammuz to Av: Fixing the Tablets in Twenty-Two Days
  Details the five historical tragedies that happened on the 17th of Tammuz and how that dates starts the three week cycle of preparation for Tisha B’Av.
• Rabbi Yaacov Benzaquen: The State of the Union in Exile
  Analyzes and compares the reasons for the destruction of the two Temples, based on the Talmud. Hints: #1: idol worship, adultery and murder (Yoma 9b) , #2: baseless hatred.
• Rabbi Daniel Steinberg: It’s My Party… The Tragedy of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza
  Through the aggadah of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza we learn more about what baseless hated means. It is a fascinating exposition of a short cryptic Talmudic story.
• Rabbi Yisroel Gordon: Of Man, Temple and Divine Desire
  Explains the significance of the Mishkan and the Temple. Posits that G-d desired to live amongst us and the Shechina accompanies the Jews even in exile. Talks about what is needed for reconciliation.
• Rabbi Avi Lebowitz: Is it a Mitzvah to Live in Israel? A Survey of Rabbinic Responsa
  Provides halachic support, drawing from a variety of sources throughout the centuries of why living in Israel, particularly observing the mizvot there is a mitzvah.
• Rabbi Zev Jacobs: Mourning for Jerusalem: A Halachic Guide
  Guides us what to do in these in 9 chapters, 28 points and 59 footnotes. The chapters are: the three week leading up to Tisha B’Av, the first through the ninth of Av (”The Nine Days’), the day before Tisha B’Av, mourning on Tisha B’Av, bathing and footwear, Toray study, in the synagogue, talit and tefillin, The Tenth of Av.

The fifth book I would like point your attention to is Kenneth Roseman’s The Tenth of Av. It is an excellent book for young adults to learn about life in the first and second century. It starts with the day after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE and follows the path of people who survived it. They may opt to stay in the ruined city or escape to various parts of the then known world, including places like Egypt, Spain, Yavneh, Mesopotamia. They may meet and join famous rabbis. Or they may make different occupational choices. Some of them even change their religion. With all these varieties of lifestyles and places we get an overview of post-Temple life and a sense of what is lost with the dispersion.

Now, forget most of what I wrote in the previous paragraph. There are no real characters in the book, if we discount the historical figures, such as sages and rabbis. This book is a “Do/choose-your-own-adventure style book.” For those of you who are not familiar with this style: every page is a vignette size entry, that stands on its own. They describe an event, tell a story, or pose a moral dilemma. At the end of the page the reader can choose between 2-3 options what to do, depending on the temperament and understanding of the text read. This is a great tool to teach decision making, analytical thinking, and dealing with potential consequences. As the whole book is written in second person singular (”you”) if read correctly it becomes rather personal book. YOU make the choices and end up living with them.

(My only aversion wit the book is that about third of the possible paths include Jesus and Christianity one way or another. I am not sure whether that proportion is accurate for 1st/2nd century life. I thought that at that point in history the new religion was not as widespread as to warrant such a heavy representation in a volume about Jewish life.)

Let me close this post with a Talmud (Taanit 30b) quote,

“Those who mourn the loss of Jerusalem will be privileged to witness the city’s joy.”

May your fast be meaningful this weekend.