The Banter Is Back

Oh, hi! Um, we'll I'm relieved you're still checking up on the blog despite my recent inactivity. I'll work on that. I'll have to do some jumping around chronologically and work backwards to catch everyone up, but at least this way I'll have plenty to post about.

I've gotten a number of questions about leading services (my favorite, "did the first one kill you, you never posted after that..."). I actually haven't led any services since that first one. Actually, we don't officially start leading services until next month, roughly. So it was a bit of a fluke and a combination of me arriving in Jerusalem super early and last year's students having already left. So I'll be sure to keep everyone posted (honest!) once that gets going for real.

In the meantime let me tell you all about Tisha B'Av and what it was like in the old city here in Jerusalem. Tisha B'Av literally means "the ninth of Av." Av being one of the months in the Jewish calendar, a lunar calendar that runs parallel with the ecclesiastical calendar. This infamous 9th day of Av is sort of the Jewish equivalent of Friday the 13th but with less superstition, and no Hollywood blockbusters.

Terrible things that have happened on the 9th of Av throughout history:
(Or at least retroactively having been attributed to the 9th of Av)
Courtesy of wikipedia and my memory...

In ancient times:

• According to the book of Numbers, chapters 13 and 14, Moses sent 12 spies out to observe the land of Canaan. Ten of the twelve spies didn't have good things to report about the future home of the Israelites when they returned. The majority report caused everyone to cry, panic and despair of ever entering the "Promised Land." For this, (despairing despite God's assurances that everything would be alright) they were punished. Thus ensues 40 odd years of desert wandering. Because of this lack of faith, God decreed that for all generations this date would henceforth be one of crying and misfortune.
• The First Temple built by King Solomon and the Kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and the Judeans were sent into the Babylonian exile.
• The Second Temple built by Ezra and Nehemiah was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and commencing the Jewish exile from the Holy Land.
  
• The Romans crushed Bar Kokhba's revolt and destoyed the city of Betar, killing over 100,000 Jews, in 132 CE.
• Following the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Roman commander Turnus Rufus plowed the site of the Temple and the surrounding area, in 133 CE.

In (relatively) modern times:

• The First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II in 1095, killing 10,000 Jews in its first month and destroying Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland.
• Jews were expelled from England in 1290.
• Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.
• On Tisha B'Av 1914 (August 1, 1914), World War I broke out, causing unprecedented devastation across Europe and set the stage for World War II and the Holocaust.
• On the eve of Tisha B'Av 1942, the mass deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka.
• The Jewish community center in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 86 and wounding 300 others, on Monday July 18, 1994, the 10th of Av.

What one does to observe Tisha B'Av (sundown to sundown):
(All restrictions are waived for any medical conditions)

• No eating or drinking from
  
• No washing or bathing
• No application of creams or oils
• No wearing of leather shoes
• No marital relations
• No studying Torah (scripture) except for Lamentations, Job, etc...
• Avoid work (we still had class...) :(

Here in Israel almost everything was closed. Restaurants, theaters, you name it. One really has to plan one's grocery shopping in advance here! It's also the tradition here to go to the "Kotel" or Wailing/Western Wall here in Jerusalem since it symbolizes all that remains of the great Second Temple.

Solomon's Temple was built on the site (the Temple Mount) in the 10th century BCE and was destroyed, as we've already discussed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Second Temple was completed and dedicated in 516 BCE. In around 19 BCE Herod the Great began a massive expansion project on the Temple Mount. He artificially expanded the area which resulted in an enlarged platform. Today's Western Wall formed part of the retaining perimeter wall of this platform. Again, Herod's Temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire, along with the rest of Jerusalem, in 70 CE.

So when in Rom... I mean, Jerusalem...

So of course I went to the wall. From what I gathered people go to the wall for two reasons on Tisha B'Av. One, of course to commemorate the destruction of the temples and to read the book of Lamentations. But, two, to celebrate that the Jewish people are once again allowed to pray openly in Jerusalem, at the wall, under their own sovereignty. So there is a peculiar bitter-sweetness to be had.

Here's a video panorama while standing next to the wall.



You can see that almost everyone is reading and/or studying from the book of Lamentations ("Eicha" in Hebrew). The large group in the corner was at times reading in a call and response pattern with a leader which is traditional for Lamentations, representing the call and response of the Jewish people with God. Ok, moving on ... you're probably just looking at the pictures anyway. :)

A view from a distance


I don't know if you can tell from the video, but there is an "inside" portion to the western wall next to the corner. I went in to see what was going on in there. It was full of other groups praying, each sitting around a rabbi or teacher and studying.

The view as I was leaving the inside portion

More people


I thought this was especially cool. Israel is a very politically intense place. Not only from pressures and sources outside the country but from various factions, VERY heterogeneous factions, within the country. One of the polar opposites that is often the source of heated debate is the relationship between Israel's ultra orthodox population, the "Haredim" who are exempt from military service and are often accused of sapping resources from the government, and soldiers, typically secular 18-21 year olds. Here you can see soldiers and them studying and praying side by side.

It reminds me that even though there are many different types of Jews (reform, conservative, orthodox, ultra-orthodox, reconstructionist, secular, post-denominational, Chabadnicks, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, etc etc etc) we are all a family. Family members don't always get along, they fight, argue, even go without speaking at times, and I suppose that's ok sometimes. But no matter what, you're always family, always connected.

Ok, well, as they say in Hebrew, "zehu," that's it. For now at least. I'm in my second week of Ulpan, 3 hours and 45 minutes a day of intensive Hebrew, four days a week for a total of six weeks. And we start at 8:30 am. Who thought that was a good idea?! Really, why not just push it back to 9 am? Oh well, so it's off to bed for me. Until next time!