Tisha B'av

From Monday sundown until last night's nightfall was one of the major fast days in Judaism. This was my second time observing the Tisha B'av, and unlike last year (at Middlebury) I was on my own in the observation of the fast. Granted, when I was at Middlebury, there were not many who chose to attend services (such as they were) at Middlebury last year. There are any number of possible reasons why there were so few attendants, I am not going to analyze all of them. What I will say though is even with few attendants, the knowledge that there were others who would be observing the fast was a form of a comfort. Rationally, I know I couldn't have been the only person in Boston fasting yesterday, but it certainly felt like it. As with previous fasts, I found the last few hours (the last hour in particular) the hardest.

Since my first observation of Tisha B'av roughly one year ago, I have not re-read Eikha, The Book of Lamentations. Yesterday, as I was rediscovering the text, I was struck by the almost poetic quality in the words. At times, it almost reminded me of a dirge. There were verses from Eikha that even now I am reflecting on. Two of these are "'For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water; because the comforter is far from me, even he that should refresh my soul; my children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed'" (Lam 1:16) and "Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water, for the breach of the daughter of my people" (Lam: 3:48) (source for copy of Lamentations used may be found here ). In a book filled with strong imagery, these two passages just resonate with me. For the life of me, I cannot say why.

Since breaking my fast last night, I have done a little reading into modern opinions of Tisha B'av. I have found that there are some who argue for a discontinuation of the observance of such a holiday. While I see some of the logic in what these individuals argue, I personally will continue to keep the fast. What began as a mourning of the destruction of the Second Temple has become for many a mourning of the other calamities suffered by the Jewish people. It is in the context of the mourning of maladies that I choose to keep Tisha B'av. Although Israel has been restored, it is not at peace. Perhaps as my study continues I will arrive at a different conclusion about Tisha B'av. All I can say for the moment though is that keeping the fast this year, despite the difficulty associated with it, felt right.