The Days of Av

Today is the first day of the Hebrew month of Av.

For Jewish people around the world, the month of Av begins in sorrow. The first nine days of the month are a time of mourning for the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (the original Temple on the Temple Mount) and the city of Jerusalem–the first by the Babylonians, the second by the Romans–on the 9th of Av (Tisha b’Av). Tisha b’Av is a fast day, a full night and day, the only one with the same ”soul afflictions” of Yom Kippur: food, drink, washing/anointing oneself, marital relations, and wearing leather shoes are not allowed.

We are told to “diminish our joy” as Av enters. Haircuts are not permitted. There are restrictions on laundry, and purchases of new clothes must be put off. Weddings cannot be held. Concerts, movies, and parties are nixed. Bathing for pleasure–swimming* or jacuzzis or long, luxurious baths–are not allowed either. Meat and wine, associated with both festive occasions and temple sacrifices, are reserved solely for Shabbat meals.

The “Nine Days” are considered an inauspicious time. Business deals between religious people wait for the following week; people wouldn’t close on a house, buy a car, or make another significant purchase. Travel abroad, except to Israel, is deferred.

As superstitious as it all seems, events that have been catastrophic for Jews have often been set into motion on Tisha b’Av: the First Crusade in 1095-96; the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290; the transports from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka in 1942.

On Tisha b’Av, our behavior is a reflection of mourning. We sit on the floor or on low benches, barefoot or in socks, slippers, or uncushioned sneakers. We read Eichah, the Book of Lamentations, bereft over the loss of the holy city. I always blow it–usually before I even make it into bed (with no pillow) that night–but people are not supposed to greet one another on Tisha b’Av, as part of the mourning pose.

I have to admit, though, that in the midst of all the sadness, I feel strangely hopeful. (Despite entreaties for a rebuilt Jerusalem, which are part of everyday prayers for Jews, such a thing would be so radically different from the religion I experience now.) Although the physical structure that really was the glue for the Jewish people was destroyed (twice!), somehow the “remnant” survived. Physically and spiritually. And adapted to changing times, mores, and locations.

Judaism, for all its head-banging argumentativeness, is thoughtful. Instead of dismissing, say, reproductive technology as “not for us,” some rabbis have engaged themselves into the smallest process details, adjusting and stretching ideas and thoughts into new shapes, but always with an eye on Halacha (Jewish Law). We are, of course, adjured to “live by” the laws, with all the messiness, the arguments, the family, and the LIFE that the living entails.

After Tisha b’Av, the rest of the month is for consolation as we set our course for the spiritual test of the Days of Awe, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, just two months from today.

* Most Jewish summer camps will continue swimming instruction (except on Tisha b’Av itself); knowing how to swim is actually mentioned in the Talmud as a critical life skill that parents are expected to teach their children.

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The Days of Av

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