Today begins the three-week period in which the Orthodox focus on the tragedies that culminated with the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and the commemoration of Tish’a b’Av (this year, the evening of Wednesday, July 29 through July 30). Today, July 9, Tammuz 17, is a fast day specifically mourning the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem. As opposed to Yom Kippur, the “Great” fast, they abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, not a 24-hour period. Weddings and other joyous events aren’t held through Tish’a b’Av.
And all of this is to remember our tzoris, our troubles, which were inflicted upon us by not only the Babylonians and Romans, but the Greeks, the…ah, you know the list. We commemorate our afflictions at certain times during the year and lump them together as well, saying that so much happened to us on the 9th day of Av, one year or another.
A year ago, one of my first articles dealt with this mindset. For all intents and purposes it drives me crazy especially because we have such a tendency to focus on the negative yet forget that ours is a joyous faith, celebrating festivals that have enriched us, rituals that highlight our freedom; we’re even told that on Succot we should “Be happy!” Imagine a Torah commandment to rejoice!
I believe I’ve written for Beth El – I know I’ve written it for my Wilmington congregation numerous times – that without celebrating our festivals and holidays (ignoring them, in fact), our emphasis on the High Holydays can be counterproductive. Now this isn’t a Wednesday My (Holyday) Word!, I know, and this year surely is a different situation altogether, but when we focus on the heaviness of RH and YK, especially Yizkor (sometimes ONLY Yizkor), we’re like the Orthodox with their three-week obsession with the heavy stuff of our tradition. I realize that it’s NOT the same as if we focused on the destruction of the Temples, but if we think about it, how did we feel about the holydays in our youth? Were you forced to go? Were you forced to fast on YK? Were you bored with the service? Were you incapable of sitting for so long? Now let’s be honest…we could ask those questions as adults. We could go on with the negative, for surely there’s little, if any, fun on the holydays for just about any Jew just as there’s little, if any, fun for the Orthodox during those three weeks!
I’m not mourning for the Temples’ destruction. There are too many losses for which we can legitimately mourn as Jews or simply as mortals. I’m advocating for a different perspective on our outlook on the special days we do – or should – commemorate.
(Speaking of mourning, an efficiency expert dies and was carried to his grave by six pallbearers. As they approached their destination, the lid of the coffin pops open and the efficiency expert pops up and says, “If you put this thing on wheels you could lay off four people.”)