A SERVICE FOR
THE NINTH OF AV
TISHA B’AV
Prepared by Rabbi Lewis John Eron, Ph.D.
For Residents of Lions Gate C.C.R.C, Voorhees, NJ
(Based on Tisha B’Av Programs prepared by the Educational Staff of Cejwin Camps 1977-1980)
2012
OPENING MEDITATION
צִיֹּון בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָה:
Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
and those who return to her with righteousness. (Isaiah 1:27)
INTRODUCTION
Tisha B’Av is the ninth day of Av, the fifth month of the Jewish year. It is a day set aside by the Jewish people to remember the great tragedies which befell our people since the end of Jewish independence in 70 C.E. when the Romans destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. It is a day of national sorrow and mourning.
Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of Av, has been observed throughout our history by mourning and fasting, and by the recitation of special prayers and dirges known in Hebrew as kinot. On Tisha B’Av we remember all the sad and tragic events that confronted our people from the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of our people by the Babylonians over twenty-five hundred years ago to the destruction of European Jewry by the Germans in our century.
But in spite of our sadness, the Jewish tradition also calls on us to use Tisha B’Av as a time of hope – hope for the rebuilding of the land of Israel, the ingathering of the Jewish people, and the re-establishment of Jewish independence in our ancestral land – Miracles that we have seen with our own eyes in our own days!
In this way Tisha B’Av is a holy day of hope and of victory. On Tisha B’Av we look through our tears and see that we, the Jewish people, the children and grandchildren of Abraham and Sarah, as well as Abe and Sadie, survive and our vision survives for Jerusalem restored, the Jewish people secure and the world at peace.
עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי!
עֹד אָבִינוּ חַי!
Am Yis-ra-eil Chai!
Od avinu chai!
The Jewish people are alive
Our God is alive
Tisha B’Av Chronicle: The Path of Sorrows
וַהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ,
שֶׁלֹּא אֶחַד בִּלְבָד, עָמַד עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵינוּ,
אֶלֶּה שֶׁבְּכָּל דּוֹר וְדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵינוֹ,
וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם.
Ve-hee she-am-dah a-la-vo-tei-nu ve-la-noo
She-lo e-chad beel-vad a-mad a-lei-nu lechal-lo-tei-noo
El-leh be-be-chol dor ve-dor om-deem a-lei-nu le-chal-lo-tei-noo.
Ve-ha-Ka-dosh Ba-rooch Hoo ma-tzee-lei-noo mee-ya-dam.
This is the promise that has sustained our ancestors and us:
Not only once has an enemy risen up to destroy us,
But in every generation foes come forward to shatter us.
Yet, the Holy One of Blessings rescues us from their grip.
(from the Pesach Haggadah)
I - The Ten Spies
Sometime in the 12th century B.C.E., the people of Israel, having just escaped Egyptian bondage, began their forty years of wandering in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. The first tragedy our tradition associates with Tisha B’Av was one of our own making. It was our lack of trust and faith in Moses and his vision, which led us to build and worship a golden calf as we were encamped at the foot of holy Mount Sinai.
And it came to pass, as soon as Moses came near to the camp that he saw the calf and all the people dancing around it. Moses became extremely angry and he threw the stone tablets, on which the commandments were inscribed, at the calf and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which the Israelites had made, burnt it in a fire and ground the ashes into a powder. He sprinkled the powder on water and made the children of Israel drink from this water.
Just a short time later, as our ancestors prepared to leave the pasturage at the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses sent twelve leaders, one from each tribe, to spy out Canaan, the Promised Land. Although two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, returned with a favorable assessment, the other ten spies brought back a negative report. Full of fear, they told our ancestors that the inhabitants of Canaan were fierce giants who lived in massive fortresses and would swallow the Israelites alive. Terrified, our ancestors refused to enter the Promised Land. In light of their trepidation and lack of faith, God condemned our ancestors to wander for forty years in the wilderness until the generation of the slaves who left Egypt passed away. Only then could our people begin to take possession of the land promised to our Patriarchs and Matriarchs.
רְבָּעִים שָׁנָה אָקוּט בְּדוֹר
וָאֹמַר עַם תֹּעֵי לֵבָב הֵם
וְהֵם לֹא־יָדְעוּ דְרָכָי:
אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי בְאַפִּי
אִם־יְבֹאוּן אֶל־מְנוּחָתִי:
Ar-ba-eem sha-nah a-qoot be-dor
Ve-o-mar am lo-ei lai-vav heim,
Ve-heim lo yad-oo de-ra-chai,
A-sher neesh-ba-ti ve-a-pee,
Eem ye-vo-oon el me-noo-cha-ti
For forty years I argued with that generation
Until I finally said,
“They are a people with a wandering heart
who never understood my ways.”
So I said in my anger,
“They will not come into my place of rest.”
from Psalm 95
II - The Destruction of the First Temple
After forty years of wandering we came into the Land of Promise and after years of exertion and struggle we took hold of our inheritance. Finally, King Solomon, Shelomo Ha-Melech, David’s son built for us in Jerusalem, his father’s city, a Holy Temple to honor our God. There our people gathered before our God three times a year.
There our kohanim, priests, led us in worship and sacrifice.
There our nevi’im, prophets, challenged us to follow God’s ways.
There our melachim, kings, were anointed to God’s service.
And there, in 586 B.C.E., the Babylonian armies pierced the walls of Jerusalem and burnt our Holy Temple and led our people into exile.
כֹּ֣ה אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֗ה
ק֣וֹל בְּרָמָ֤ה נִשְׁמָע֙
נְהִי֙ בְּכִ֣י תַמְרוּרִ֔ים
רָחֵ֖ל מְבַכָּ֣ה עַל־בָּנֶי֑הָ
מֵֽאֲנָ֛ה לְהִנָּחֵ֥ם
עַל־בָּנֶ֖יהָ כִּ֥י אֵינֶֽנּוּ.
Thus said our Eternal God,
“A cry is heard in Ramah,
Weeping, bitter weeping,”
It is Mother Rachel weeping for her children.
She is beyond consolation
Because her children are gone away.
Jeremiah 31 :15
And we settled in cities and villages of Babylon.
עַל־נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל
שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ גַּם־בָּכִינוּ
בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת־צִיּוֹן:
Al na-ha-rot Ba-vel
Sham ya-shav-noo gum ba-chee-nu
Be-zach-rei-noo et Tzee-yon.
By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and wept
When we remembered Zion.
On the poplars there we hung our harps
When our captors asked us for songs;
When our tormentors for their amusement demanded,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion”
How can we sing the Eternal’s song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem: let my right hand wither,
Let my tongue stick to the top of my mouth
if I cease thinking of you,
if I do not keep Jerusalem in my memory
even in my most joyous hour.
Psalm 137:1-6
III - The Destruction of the Second Temple
But we returned to our land and regained our inheritance. We reestablished our city and rebuilt our Temple.
Through sweat and blood we regained our freedom, step by step, brick by brick. We cheered at the victories of the Maccabees only to watch our liberty snatched away by the greedy hands of Rome.
Finally, the oppression was to great for us to stand, and we rose against Rome and declared our freedom.
But the Roman war machine slowly rolled over our armies and smashed our cities’ walls and on the 9th of Av in the year 70 C.E. put our Holy Temple to the torch.
Years later a Jewish poet would mourn this solemn day.
אֵלִי צִיּוֹן וְעָרִיהָ
כְּמוֹ אִשָּׁה בְצִיּרֶיהָ
וְכִבְתוּלָה חֲגֻרַת שַׂק
עַל בַּעַל נְעוּרֶיהָ
Ei-lee Tzee-yon v-a-ree-ha
Ke-mo en-shah ve-tzee-re-ha
Ve-che-vee-too-lah cha-goo-rat sak
Al ba-al ne-oo-rei-hah.
Weep for Zion and her towns.
Weep for Jerusalem who wails
Like a woman in childbirth,
Like a bride dressed in mourning
for her youthful groom.
from Ei-lee Tzee-yon
But our spirit was not broken. We fought for three more years until Massada, our last refuge fell. The oppression continued, and we fought again led by Bar Kochba, the “Son of the Star.” Once again the Roman war machine crushed our armies but not our spirit.
Even though on Tisha be-Av in the year 135 C.E. the Romans overran Bar Kochba’s fortress of Beitar, Jewish life continued in the teachings of our sages and in the towns and villages of Israel and wherever Jewish people were found.
IV - The Centuries of Exile – The Years of Wandering
And we wandered from land to land. In each resting place we planted our roots and Jewish life and culture sprouted and blossomed, then flourished and withered. And we were forced to move again.
On Tisha B’Av we remember:
We remember the year 1096 when the First Crusade brought death and destruction to the Jewish communities up and down the Rhine Valley.
We remember the year 1146 when the armies of the Second Crusade massacred Jewish communities in France and Germany.
We remember the year 1189 when the Third Crusade led to bloody anti-Jewish riots throughout England.
We remember the year 1290 when King Edward expelled the Jews from England.
We remember the year 1305 when Philip the Fair, King of France, banished the Jews from his realm.
We remember the year 1348 when frenzied mobs slaughtered Jews whom they blamed for the Black Death.
We remember the year 1492 when Fernando and Isabelle expelled the Jews from Spain.
We remember the year 1559 when Pope Paul IV established the Ghetto in Rome.
We remember the year 1648 when Chmielnitzky’s hordes massacred tens of thousands of Polish Jews.
We remember the year 1670 when Leopold cast the Jews out of Vienna.
We remember the year 1882 when the Czarist government instigated pogroms in the Jewish areas in Russia.
We remember the year 1929 when scores of Jewish men, women and children were slaughtered by Arab rioters in Hebron.
We remember the year 1942, in the midst of the dark days of World War II, when as part of their unrelenting slaughter of our people, the Nazis opened the killing factory of Trebinka.
We remember the year 1994 when the Arab terrorists bombed the AMIA Building (Asociación Mutua Israelita Argentina) in Buenos Aires in Argentina.
But we also remember that throughout all the centuries and throughout all the world, in times of trouble and in times of peace, our ancestors never forget “you, O Jerusalem!”
“My Heart is in the East”
לִבִּי בַּמִזְרַח וְאֲנֹכִי בְּסוֹף מַעֲרַב
אֶיךְ אִטִעֲמָה אֶת אִשִׁר אֹכֵל וְאֶיךְ יֶעֱרַב
אֵיכָה אִשַׁלֵּם נִדֶרֵי וֶאֱסַרֵי בְּעוֹד
צִיּוֹן בְּחֶבֶל אֵדוֹם וְאֲנִי בְּכֶּבֶל עֲרָב
יִקַל בְּעֵינַי עֲזוֹב כָּל טוּב סֶפָרַד,
כְּמוֹ יִכַר בְּעֵינַי רְאוֹת עַפרוֹת דְּבִיר נֶחֱרַב
My heart is in the east
But I am in the uttermost west.
How can what I eat have taste or be sweet?
How can I keep my vows with Zion
While still in Edom’s bonds and I in Arab chains?
It would be as easy in my sight
To cast off all the splendor of Spain
As it would be dear to my eyes to see
The earth beneath our devastated sanctuary.
Yehuda ha-Levi (c. 1075-1141)
V - The Years of Darkness and of Light
And we remember the tragedy of the last century, the systematic slaughter of 6 million of our brothers and sisters by the Germans and their henchmen in the dark war years of 1939-1945. Without mercy they destroyed families and communities, villages and cities and brought to end a way of life, a vibrant, thriving Jewish culture.
Out of the ashes of Europe, our people were reborn. Three short years after the end of the Nazi assault on our people, we established the State of Israel, the first Jewish state in the land of Israel for almost two thousand years. Through courage and determination our brothers and sisters in Israel defended and built the Jewish homeland. Today, we remember their sacrifices as well as their victories.
Asa, my uncle, died at the wall, –
In a city called Lublin, he died at the wall
With twenty-six others
The SS shot them all
For him, and for them, I weep at the Wall.
Sara, my cousin, died at the wall,
In a chamber at Auschwitz, she died at the Wall
With a child at her breast
So hungry – so small
For her and the child,
I weep at the Wall.
Sholom, my brother, died at the wall,
On the Syrian border, he died at the wall
Of the house he had built, he was rugged and tall.
For my brother Sholom,
I weep at the Wall.
O God of my fathers, I fought for this Wall
For my uncle and those who fell with him – for all;
For my cousin, her baby, so hungry, so small;
For my brother Sholom – rugged and tall;
Now let my tears win the right – just to fall.
VI - The Season of Hope
Our prophets of old dreamed of a time when our fast days would be festivals and our mourning would be turned to rejoicing.
They envisioned a era when Jerusalem would be a fountain of peace and when Torah would flow out of Zion.
Our ancient prophets dreamed great dreams, but our modern visionaries taught us:
That if we will it, it will be no dream.
How many of our dreams have come true?
How many of our hopes are now our realities?
Can we who have seen wonders that our ancestors could only imagine
On this day of remembrance remember their dreams as well as their sacrifice.
Those who walked in darkness did not lose faith
Will we who have seen the light give in to despair?
Our years of wandering, our seasons of trials,
Have taught us to cherish our people’s great dreams:
That Israel be a light unto the nations,
That Jerusalem be the foundation of peace,
That our Holy Temple be a place of prayer for all people,
That swords will be forged back into plowshares,
That people will study war no more,
That the messianic period should dawn upon us,
And that we should all walk in the light of our God.
אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בֶּאֱמוּנָה שְׁלֵמָה
בְּבִיאַת הַמָּשִֽׁיחַ אֲנִי מַאֲמִין,
וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁיִּתְמַהְמֵֽהַּ,
עִם כָּל זֶה אֲחַכֶּה לּוֹ בְּכָל יוֹם שֶׁיָּבוֹא.
A-nee ma-a-meen be-e-moo-na she-lei-ma
Be-vee-at ha-ma-shee-ach a-nee ma-a-meen.
Ve-af al pee she-yeet-ma-mei-a
Im kol zeh a-nee ma-a-meen.
I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah.
Even though he may delay, I still believe that he will come.
Moses Maimonides 12th Principle of Faith
VII - Memory and Hope
We conclude our service with words of praise to God,
Words recited in the memory of martyrs and loved ones,
Words recited in thanksgiving for their insights and dreams,
And for the sacred heritage they bequeathed us,
The words we know as the Kaddish.
יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא. בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ, וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ בְּחַיֵּיכוֹן וּבְיוֹמֵיכוֹן וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל. בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן:
Yitgadal v'yitkadash sh'meih raba. B'al'ma di v'ra chiruteih, v'yamlich malchuteih b'chayeichon uv'yomeichon uv'chayei d'chol beit yisra-eil, ba-agala uvizman kariv, v'imru amein.
יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא:
Y'hei sh'meih raba m'varach l'alam ul'al'mei al'maya.
יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח, וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרוֹמַם וְיִתְנַשֵּׂא וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל שְׁמֵהּ דְּקֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא;
Yitbarach v'yishtabach v'yitpa-ar v'yitromam v'yitnasei v'yithadar v'yitaleh v'yithalal sh'meih d'kudsha b'rich hu,
לְעֵֽלָּא מִן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא וְשִׁירָתָא, תֻּשְׁבְּחָתָא וְנֶחֱמָתָא, דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן:
l'eila min kol birchata v'shirata tushb'chata v'nechemata, da-amiran b'al'ma, v'imru amein.
:עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו, הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם, עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל כָּל יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן
Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya-aseh shalom aleinu v'al kol yisra-eil, v’al kol yoshvei teivel, v'imru amein.
May God’s name be made great and holy in the world, which God created according to His will. May God’s dominion become real in your lives and throughout your days and in the life of all Israel, and may this happen speedily and soon, and let us say, “Amen!”
May God’s exalted name be blessed in this and in all worlds forever!
May the Blessed One’s holy name be blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, proclaimed, glorified, elevated, and lauded beyond all the words of blessing, song, praise and consolation that we can utter in this world and let us say, “Amen!”
May there be abounding peace and life from heaven for us and for all Israel, and let us say, “Amen!”
May the One who creates peace in the heavens above, grant us the strength, wisdom, courage and love to make peace for us, for all Israel and for all who share this world, and let us say, “Amen!”
May God’s name be made great and holy in the world, which God created according to his will.
May God’s dominion become real in your lives and throughout your days and in the life of all Israel and may this happen speedily and soon and let us say, “Amen!”
God’s exalted name be blessed in this and in all worlds forever!
May the Blessed One’s holy name be blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, proclaimed, glorified, elevated, and lauded beyond all the words of blessing, song, praise and consolation that we can utter in this world and let us say, “Amen!”
May there be abounding peace and life from heaven for us and for all Israel, and let us say, “Amen!”
May the One who creates peace in the heavens above, grant peace to us, to all Israel and to all who share our small globe, and let us say, “Amen”
HATIKVAH
כָּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה,
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה.
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח קָדִימָה
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיִּה.
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם,
לִהְיוֹת עָם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.
Kol od be-lei-va pe-nee-ma
Ne-fesh Ye-hoo-dee ho-mee-ya
Ool-fa-a-tei miz-rach ka-dee-ma
A-yeen le-zee-yon tzo-fee-ya.
0d lo av-da tik-va-tei-noo
Ha-teek-vah she-not al-pai-yeem
Lee-yot am chof-shee ba-ar-tzei-noo
E-retz Zee-yon Ye-roo-sha-lai-yeem
So long as the heart of the Jew beats
and the Jewish eye is turned to the east,
So long does our ancient, two thousand year old hope live;
The hope to be a free people in our own land:
The land of Zion and Jerusalem!