The month of Av has two big moments: Tisha B’Av and Tu B’Av. Tisha B’Av, Hebrew for the 9th of Av, is a holiday which honors our collective grief over the loss of the Temple in Jerusalem and other massive Jewish historical traumas. Tu B’Av, the 15th of Av, is an ancient Jewish love holiday, something not unlike a Jewish Valentine’s Day.
Interesting how one month can be known by two (pretty intense) emotions: grief and love.
We are holding so much grief. Hasn’t it always been so for us Jews? Like our ancestors, we too need ritualized moments to come together and express our grief. Judaism gives us a language for these rituals, like Tisha B’Av, but can one day hold so much pain?
The ability to come together, to express our grief together, is its own form of love. I remember gathering online in the summer of 2020 for a virtual Tisha B’Av program. That night we shared personal stories and communal grief related to the pandemic and the lockdown which was still so new. Today, almost two years since October 7th our personal and communal losses once again hold us together. We Jews are skilled at holding grief and love together; this theme being both ancient and modern all at once.
Av leads into Elul, our month of teshuvah before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Teshuvah, the act of turning inward to reflect on the past year and to see where we could have done better, takes time and reflection. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was true repentance. It’s tempting to walk into synagogue the morning of Yom Kippur with the demand that we be changed. It's only natural to expect to be moved by the ancient melodies, and that the words of prayers (and the rabbi’s sermon) will make us into a different person, a lighter soul in the new year. But we can’t expect a momentous change to take place within our soul if the first time we come to terms with the past year happens only in the span of Yom Kippur Day. It’s possible, but not very likely. For a meaningful High Holy Day season, the real work begins now before we even step inside the synagogue. True repentance is painful, and it is also an act of love.
So let's get to work.
There are two interesting programs happening in Av to help guide you through this month of grief and love as well as prepare for the High Holy Days. The first is hosted virtually through the nonprofit At The Well. This is not a Kehilat HaNahar event, just one that looks interesting and that I wanted to pass along to you.
The second is a Kehilat HaNahar event, a three part series held in-person in August.
Grief & Love: Jewish Healing Wisdom August 6 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. Cost $18 to support At The Well At The Well in partnership with Shomer Collective to explore what grief means and how we can heal together. In this special gathering, featuring a panel discussion, we will unpack the different ways grief shows up in all of our lives and what Jewish wisdom and ritual has to offer us as we navigate the grieving process. Learn more here
Forgiveness and Judaism: An Adult Ed Class with Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz August 10,17, 24 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Leading up to Yom Kippur, Jews seek forgiveness from one another and from God. Yet many people struggle to forgive themselves, forgive others, or both. Using Biblical and Rabbinic texts, Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz will lead us to uncover the answer to the question: What, exactly, is forgiveness? Registration is required, please register here
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Janine Jankovitz
Kehilat HaNahar 85 West Mechanic St. New Hope, PA 18938
