Av 5781 אב

Saturday, July 10, 2021.  Av comes early this year (it is usually in August) – and so we experience the lushness and greenness of summer in the Great Lakes. 

On Tisha B’Av, the 9^th day of Av, we fast, remember and lament this day of great tragedy in the history of the Jewish people.   We recite the book of Lamentations, a book of writings in the Tanakh (Bible) that gives voice to our overwhelming sadness at the loss of the first and second temples.  In his Evolve newsletter this month, Rabbi Jacob Staub notes the power of the lament to help us acknowledge and then heal from our sorrows, noting “we could be a lot better in the practice of lamenting”[1].   We shed tears and allow the fullness of our sorrow to engulf us – but allowing it, and showing it, are the keys to be heard in our sadness, to understand its source, and to be in a position to move beyond it and heal whatever needs healing, take whatever actions we might take.

What value is this day to us in our era?  This year, Rabbi Arthur Waskow and his group, The Shalom Center, a Jewish-influenced organization dedicated to healing the earth, note the parallels between the Temples of ancient Israel, and the Earth we call home[2].  Our source Mindy Ribner tells us of the place the Temples hold in our collective Jewish hearts and souls, forming a bridge between our earthly existence and the divine Shekhinah, or divine Presence.  This bridge was seen as having resonance beyond the Jews to the world at large, blessing the universe.  When the temple was destroyed, so was the bridge, resulting in the exile of the Divine Presence from our world.  Waskow and colleagues note that in our age, the earth itself is a bridge between our existence and the divine presence of the world. 

Our sages attribute the destruction of the temples to our hard heartedness and hatred toward each other.  Similarly, our hard-heartedness about the earth’s needs and health, as well as toward each other, can be seen to be leading toward earth’s destruction. If we succeed, the threat is indeed great, destroying our lives, our connections to each other, and the survival of future generations.  Perhaps this year, as we lament the destruction of the temples on the 9^th of Av, we can also have in our minds the destruction of this earthly temple we share.  Can we cry tears of sadness and lament, and then turn them into action for the better of all? — Kirby

We will honor the Full Moon of Av on Saturday, July 24.  And we will celebrate Rosh Chodesh Elul, the beginning of the month of Elul, on Monday, August 9.  Both walking meditations will be at 7:30 am, rain or shine.  Contact us for location.

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[1] https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/

[2] https://theshalomcenter.org/2-eichahs-today-resource-3-tisha-bav-temple-earth