Tisha B’Av, commemorating times of destruction in our people’s history, offers us a vehicle for collective grief. In this Virtual Tisha B’Av box, we share insights that help us acknowledge the past and face the present and future. As we watch, listen and read, may we find comfort together, and dig deep for strength to pass through mourning, rise from the ruins, and walk together into the future.
Tisha B’Av begins the evening of July 29, 2020.
Further Tisha B’Av resources can be found here.
The Virtual Shabbat Box will return next week.
Rabbi Alan LaPayover chants selections from chapters 1, 3 and 5 of Megillat Eicha, the book of Lamentations, which is traditionally read on the evening and morning of Tisha B’Av.
The events of Tisha B’Av are understood as having caused historical trauma to our people. Loss and destruction in the past impact us today. Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg discusses with Rabbi Deborah Waxman her interest and expertise in the varieties of trauma, as well as how trauma has informed Jewish experience on the individual and collective levels. With this awareness, they explore ways to move beyond trauma and cultivate resilience. Sourced from Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience
In Moses’s shattering of the tablets that were made by the hand of God, the ancient rabbis discover a story of human empowerment. Rabbi Helen Plotkin teaches how, in the Jewish story, what is built on the ashes is often more precious than what was lost. Sourced from Recon Connect Beit Midrash
Rabbis Tamara Cohen and Arthur Waskow build on mourning for the ancient Temples in Jerusalem, striving toward hope for a transformed future for the endangered Earth as our Temple. Sourced from Ritualwell
Rabbi Robin Podolsky’s lament provides the opportunity to mourn for the suffering of our people and suffering throughout the world. Sourced from Ritualwell
These resources were drawn from:
Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement
Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis
Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues
Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives
