Av: Lamentations & Celebrations

Av is one of the most challenging months on the Jewish calendar. Either, because you are truly mourning the destruction of the Temple — or because you just can’t relate to this. In the past I’ve proposed a third way, one that reflects on what was lost (the Temple) and rejoices in what was found (modern Judaism via the Diaspora). Av is the month to deal with all the bad and good that has made us who we are as a people and that is not always fun.

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Av: Where do We Find Strength to Heal?

Av is a month for us to tear down our walls, both physical and emotional, to prepare for Elul and the coming High Holidays.

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Rethinking Tisha B’Av

We (Jews) have an upcoming holiday, called Tisha B’Av. It’s traditionally a holiday of mourning because pretty much everything bad that’s ever happened to us as a people happened on that day. I’m actually all for a collective day of mourning. I think there can be a lot of power in that, but I really find that my thoughts about the central element of Tisha B’Av, the fall of the Temple, are very different than everyone else’s. This is one of the few places that I really haven’t heard anyone talking about where I am on this. Oddly, it was this post about iPods as a metaphor for the body of Christ that made me me want to share my thoughts on this. The post talks about the difference between God being held in the Church and God being in the world, at least that’s how I’d explain it. Here’s the thing. On Tisha B’Av we’re supposed to be mourning the exile of the Shekhina. So the story goes, when the Temple was destroyed, which was the “home” of the Shekhinah, she was exiled out into the world. But that just doesn’t make sense to me. I see her as being freed to infuse the whole world now. It may have sucked at first for the Jews to be exiled from Israel, but I don’t see every last one of us making aliyah. I like where I live. I can’t mourn the last thousand years of my people’s history. Yes, the destruction of the Temple and Diaspora have been challenging, but that’s made us who we are as a people today. It’s just like the “exile” from Eden. I don’t see it as an exile. It was time for Adam and Chava to grow up and move out on their own. Life changes. We go through different phases of life, and some can be very painful. Growing up can suck. Moving out on your own is more than a little challenging, but the other...

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