The rabbinic sages tried to imagine the most intense mourning rituals, the most profound acts of sadness, to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, on Tisha B’Av (the 9th of Av). So they banned Torah study. Because they couldn’t conceive of anything more joyful than studying Torah, for this one day on the calendar, it was prohibited. While they backtrack just a bit to allow for study of the ‘sad parts’ of the Torah, this clues you in to just how devastating they imagined this day on the calendar to be.
Even today, Tisha B’Av is commemorated in synagogues across the world with dim lighting, somber melodies, and reading of the book of Eicha (Lamentations). We still only study certain parts of the Torah, parts that we may find meaning in but that do not bring us joy. Many people will sit on the floor, mimicking the posture of someone during the week of shiva. (We’ll be joining together this Saturday night at 9:15, and especially if you’ve never joined for Tisha b’Av, I encourage you to join us.)
What I find most fascinating is that even amidst all of this sadness, the tradition weaves in small seeds of joy and hope. Seeds, because they point to the future and growth and potential joy and happiness. The Talmud teaches us that the 9th of Av will also be the birth date of the Messiah. That necessarily means that even on the saddest day of the year, there will be a time where it will be inextricably linked to a joyful, peaceful, celebratory time.
Our tradition knows that there will always be hard, sad times. There will be low points in our experience as individuals and also as a larger Jewish community. And yet, in the way it connects the birth of the Messiah with the 9th of Av, it’s reminding us that even if we can’t see it, there can be ways to find joy even when life feels devastating. The tradition isn’t telling us that we shouldn’t feel sad; in fact, with all of the mourning rituals in place we are actually asked to embrace the painful and devastating and express that pain. But we are also still meant to look for the kernels of joy. Those are not easy to find, but they are woven into the fabric of our lives. I hope that even amidst hardship, we’re able to find them.
Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Sarit
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