Rabbi Diana's Weekly Message

Dear Hevre,

Yesterday re-opened my eyes to where we are in Jewish time on the yearly calendar. It was not July 6 that did it but rather the 17 of Tammuz, which reminded me to re-orient myself to the Jewish calendar.

We have entered the time period called the Three Weeks (bein hameitzarim/between the straits) leading up to Tisha B’Av. Scholar Dr. Erica Brown, in her book In the Narrow Places, says that this “snatch of mid-summer anxiety” is often unrecognized by communities that are not traditionally observant. And it’s true: I wager that very few of us fasted yesterday to commemorate the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple.

Yet it’s important to know that this is a significant time period of mourning leading up to the most sorrowful day on the Jewish calendar. As I learned from Rabbi Alan Lew (z"l) Tisha B'Av leads us to the Days of Awe and beyond. In his book This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared, Rabbi Lew teaches, “Tisha B’Av has a hot tip for us: Take the suffering. Take the loss. Turn toward it. Embrace it. Let the walls come down.” 

Dr. Brown connects Tisha B’Av to Yom Kippur by saying, “The Day of Atonement’s repentance is personally cathartic. Tisha B’Av mourning is nationally cathartic. It allows us to grieve as a unit and then move on, strengthening our national identity by rebuilding from the ashes of memory.”

Tisha B’Av reminds me of the resilience of our people who lost our Temples in Jerusalem, the place where we most connected to the Divine. Yet through mourning and the creative re-imagining of our tradition by the rabbis, we were thrust from the devastation into the rabbinic Judaism which is the basis for how we live as Jews today. It helps me remember that when there is complete loss and destruction we must grieve, and only after we have grieved are we are free to renew.

This year, on the evening of Wednesday, July 26 at Tiferet Israel in Bensalem, we will observe Tisha B’Av with several other Bucks County synagogues.

A few weeks later, the month of Elul begins. We will meet every morning (except Shabbat) on Zoom to blow the shofar and share some teachings, preparing our hearts and souls for the Days of Awe.

This year Erev Rosh HaShanah falls on Friday evening, September 15, and Kol Nidre is the evening of Sunday, September 24. We are already looking for volunteers to be greeters, ushers and for people to help us set up for services inside and outside the sanctuary. Of course we will offer access on Zoom. There will be family services (in-person only) as usual.

If you are interesting in helping, please contact Ritual Chair Lew Scheindlin at: lewscheindlin@gmail.com.

Here are a couple of resources about the Three Weeks:

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-three-weeks/

https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/122086?lang=bi

I hope that you have a peaceful Shabbat.

We will be meeting at KHN at 7:00 pm with Anita and I co-leading.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Diana