Tisha B’Av
The Sigd Festival Comes Home to JerusalemWednesday, December 5, 2012 by Shai Afsai | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the Sigd, Ethiopian Jews would walk to a mountaintop and pray to return to Jerusalem. Now they are in Jerusalem, and the Sigd is a national holiday in Israel.
Ye Sacred MusesThursday, July 26, 2012 by Simon Gordon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Are Jewish mourners forbidden from listening to music? On the face of it, the prohibition is absolute. Certainly, it is forbidden for mourners to attend concerts, or performances in general. But what about liturgical music, the music of the synagogue?
Mourning, Memory, and ArtMonday, August 8, 2011 by Richard McBee | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
David Roberts (1796–1864) was a Scottish painter who in the late 1830's traveled extensively in the Levant and Egypt documenting "Orientalist" sites in drawings and watercolors. Among Roberts's paintings was a massive 1849 work, The Destruction of Jerusalem.
Tisha b’Av NowMonday, July 19, 2010 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Tomorrow is Tisha b'Av, the traditional day of fasting and lamentation for the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the sorrows of Jewish history. But ours is a moment of unprecedented Jewish sovereignty and unparalleled Jewish prosperity. And so, many are asking, why bother?
Editors' Picks
Ten Years after the Hebrew University Bombing Michael Simon, Northwestern Hillel. “July 31, 2002—the 22nd of Av, 5762—was a cruel twist in the Jewish calendar. Instead of nahamu, the comfort we all needed, we had our own Tisha b’Av.” (Addendum: “A Jewish narrative of pain and destruction is incomplete without an infusion of hope.”)
The Nugatory Nine Days Joshua Maroof, Vesom Sechel . By scrupulously observing the various restrictions of the Nine Days without internalizing the spirit of mourning that the law reflects, today's Jews embody the reason for the Temple's destruction.
Holding Fast to Tisha b'Av Zvi Leshem, Times of Israel. At what stage can we conclude that the Exile is over, and that we no longer have to torment ourselves with fasting?
How Much Should One Mourn? Eliakim Koenigsberg, Orthodox Union. Whereas personal mourning declines in intensity over time, our national mourning for the destruction of the Temple will increase over the next three weeks.