Holidays of Av: Tisha B'Av
Commemorating Destruction
Nine days after the New Moon of Av, we commemorate the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem. The First Temple crumbled on Tisha B’Av (which translates directly to “the ninth day of the month of Av”) in 586 BCE at the hands of the Babylonians. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Yes, as cosmic coincidence would have it, both Temples were destroyed on Tisha B’Av, hundreds of years apart. Tisha B’Av also marks a number of other unfortunate events in Jewish history, which is how it earned its name as the saddest, heaviest day of the Jewish year. (Historically, tough things that have happened on Tisha B’Av include: The capture of Bethar, the final defeat of Bar Kokhba’s rebellion against the Romans, the Romans’ destruction of Jerusalem, King Edward I’s signing of the edict that the Jews of England had to leave the country, the Jews’ expulsion from Spain, and the start of World War I. Yikes. Was Tisha B’Av good for the Jews? Not so much.
When it stood, The Temple was the Jewish people’s holiest place. Today in Jerusalem, The Temple’s exterior walls still stand; one is famously known as the Western, or Wailing Wall. For thousands of years, Jews from all over the world made pilgrimages to visit this wall. And Jews in diaspora have (those not living in Jerusalem) traditionally turn their hearts and feet in the direction of this holy wall during specific prayers to better connect with each other and the Divine.
“Make me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within/among you”
The Divine famously commands the Israelites to “Make me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within/among you” (Exodus 25:8). That building wasn’t only a dwelling place for the Divine’s presence; The Temple itself acted as a metaphor for the Divine’s presence in the world. Within its walls, one could open a direct connection from the physical to the spiritual plane. And when those walls crashed down, it is said that the Divine went into hiding, in diaspora with the rest of the Jewish people.
According to the beliefs of the kabbalah, all the pain and the suffering in the world comes from the rift between the Divine and the physical realms that came into existence when The Temple’s walls burned. (Kabbalah is a mystical, esoteric, and hip strain of Jewish spiritual thought. Yes, Madonna did study it that one time — that’s how we heard about it when our Hebrew School teachers never mentioned the text before!) This destruction also tore apart individuals and communities and thus from that higher, interconnected Oneness that rules the cosmos. Kabbalah says our work in life is to tirelessly work to repair that divide.
What does the mess of Tisha B’Av have to do with my wellness?
Jewish sages offer a teaching that the Holy Temple was a mirror for our human bodies. Like the structure of The Temple, our bodies are vehicles to house the neshama, the soul, which is the Divine essence humans carry within. The Temple’s destruction can also be taken as a metaphor for the chasm we create between our bodies and our souls. At The Well is hard at work to help reestablish this important connection between our physical forms and the Divine spark that we each harbor within.
Honoring Tisha B’Av
Traditionally, this day of mourning is marked with a fast, and by reciting ancient tragic poetry (along with any and all other expressions of deep sorrow and grief). Regardless of how you choose to observe Tisha B’Av, pay attention! You might notice yourself a bit more reactive, short tempered, and generally low today. (Tisha B’Av begins at sundown on July 21st this year on the Roman calendar.) Listening and finding time to be reflective might help you make it through this cosmically and emotionally charged moment.
One thing you might do on Tisha B’Av: Meditate on the disconnectedness we as individuals feel from our bodies, souls, and communities. Each of us is a bit broken. Often, we run away from that reality because it can be hard to acknowledge the lack of personal harmony our brokenness reveals. This month, don’t run or distract yourself from this. Allow yourself to feel all your feelings, look clearly and squarely at your disharmonies, and do so without blaming yourself, or anyone else.