Observing Tisha B'Av
08/12/2024 02:58:08 PM
Aug12
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What is Tisha B'Av?
Tisha B'av begins this Wednesday, July 26 at sunset. A day of mourning for the Jewish people, Tisha B'av (the 9th of Av) marks the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem in the 7th Century B.C.E. and the 1st Century C.E. The 9th of Av was also infamously the last day Jews were allowed to live as Jews in Spain according to the 1492 edict of expulsion. This edict ended 700 years of residence and the most populous Jewish community of the Medieval era. Thus, the work of Tisha B'Av is commemorative, a time for collective reflection on the disasters of history.
A time of collective mourning
From sunset to sunset, there is a period of intense mourning in which one abstains from food and drink, wearing leather, sex, washing one's body, and using perfumes, lotions, or ointments of any kind. On Erev Tisha B'av, it is customary to read the Megillat Eicha (the Book of Lamenations), which describes the post-destruction Jerusalem of the 6th Century B.C.E.
Mourning as the precondition of a history beyond trauma
Rabbi Alan Lews has observed that Tisha B'Av can be seen as the beginning of the High Holiday season. Before teshuvah - before we can return to our most righteous selves - we must first sit with, acknowledge, and mourn the brokenness within and without. Such acknowledgment is the precondition upon which teshuvah becomes possible; that without which change cannot occur. As Rabbi Lews writes in his philosophic, psychoanalytic-inflected exploration of the High Holidays:
“There are two ways of looking at the way our tradition has collapsed history on this day, two ways of thinking about the conflation of calamity. We can regard the ninth of Av and the weeks surrounding it as a cursed time... or we can regard the ninth of Av as a time when we are reminded that catastrophes will keep recurring in our lives until we get things right, until we learn what we need to learn from them.” (This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared, p. 41)
What is catastrophic can and has been in the hands of the Jewish people an occasion for the resilient reinvention of our practices and our understanding. Rabbinic Judaism, centered around communal worship and Torah Study, emerged from out of bereavement, a way to continue worship in the absence of the Temple.
Do we know how to mourn?
This year, amidst a catastrophe with no end in sight, there is much to mourn. But I hope that Rabbi Lews words can serve as a reminder that the transformation of history is in no one's hands but our own and that such a transformation is conditional upon our own cultivation of the capacity to mourn - to grieve even in the face of the seemingly intolerable. For the alternatives - a desire for vengeance; numbness; ignorance - these do not lead into a genuine future, i.e., one freed from the repetitive traumas of history.
“Comfort, comfort my people”
The mourning that begins on the 17 of Tammuz and reaches its height on the 9th of Av comes to a close on the Shabbat immediately following Tisha B'Av. Shabbat Nehamu - so called because the Haftarah that days begins with the words “nahamu nahamu ami” (“comfort, comfort my people”) - begins a period of comfort that leads up to Rosh Hashanah and the joy of the new year
The mourning that begins on the 17 of Tammuz and reaches its height on the 9th of Av comes to a close on the Shabbat immediately following Tisha B'Av. Shabbat Nehamu - so called because the Haftarah that days begins with the words “nahamu nahamu ami” (“comfort, comfort my people”) - begins a period of comfort that leads up to Rosh Hashanah and the joy of the new year
Mon, July 7 2025
11 Tammuz 5785
All Events
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Thursday ,
JulJuly 10 , 2025
Thursday, Jul 10th 5:30p to 7:30p
All LJCC members are invited to be a part of creating our community mural with local artist Dave Loewenstein! This will be our second working meeting with Dave. -
Saturday ,
JulJuly 12 , 2025
Shabbat, Jul 12th 10:30a to 1:00p
Alyssa Appelman and Barry Shalinsky lead with a kiddish lunch to follow. Please let us know in the notes section what you can bring. -
Sunday ,
JulJuly 13 , 2025
Sunday, Jul 13th 3:00p to 4:00p
An afternoon of show & tell of family heirlooms and other Judaica! We will be joined by Abby Magariel, curator of the Michael Klein Collection at the Temple B'nai Jehudah. Snap a photo of your piece(s) in advance and send to Lara, so that Abby can research the provenance of these vintage and historical items before we get together. -
Friday ,
JulJuly 18 , 2025
Friday, Jul 18th 5:30p to 7:00p
Join us for an early family-friendly nosh and Shabbat. We'll Nosh and then Shabbat with Religious School Director Rachel Downs-Doubrava and teacher Benjamin Rosenthal leading a musical services beginning at 6:30pm. The LJCC will provide a main. Potluck contributions are encouraged. If possible, let us know in the notes section what you will bring. -
Friday ,
JulJuly 25 , 2025
Friday, Jul 25th 7:00p to 9:00p
Friday Night Services with a potluck oneg to follow. Daniel Smith of Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center joins as part of our summer speaker series. -
Sunday ,
JulJuly 27 , 2025Fragments of Sinaiism: a conversation with Sam Brody & Ken Lassman
Sunday, Jul 27th 4:00p to 5:30p
In advance of Tisha B'Av, Professor of Religion Sam Brody will speak about his new piece for the Halachic Left, "Sinaiism." -
Thursday ,
JulJuly 31 , 2025Summer Trivia at the LJCC: Singo Fundraiser!
Thursday, Jul 31st 7:00p to 9:00p
Join us for a night of Singo - musical bingo! All proceeds go to support the LJCC Religious School. -
Sunday ,
AugAugust 24 , 2025Blintz Rolling!
Sunday, Aug 24th 10:00a to 12:00p
Participate in one of the longest running and deepest LJCC traditions: rolling blintzes together for the Annual Blintz Brunch! Come work with chef extraordinaire Michael Hennecke to prepare this special treat for sale at our annual fundraiser. -
Sunday ,
SepSeptember 7 , 2025Blintz Rolling!
Sunday, Sep 7th 10:00a to 12:00p
Participate in one of the longest running and deepest LJCC traditions: rolling blintzes together for the Annual Blintz Brunch! Come work with chef extraordinaire Michael Hennecke to prepare this special treat for sale at our annual fundraiser. -
Sunday ,
OctOctober 5 , 2025Blintz Rolling!
Sunday, Oct 5th 10:00a to 12:00p
Participate in one of the longest running and deepest LJCC traditions: rolling blintzes together for the Annual Blintz Brunch! Come work with chef extraordinaire Michael Hennecke to prepare this special treat for sale at our annual fundraiser.
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Mon, July 7 2025 11 Tammuz 5785
Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation
917 Highland Drive
Lawrence, KS 66044
785.841.7636
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