Renewal in Tisha B'Av

Today's Readings:
Waskow:
"Burnt Offering -- Tisha B'Av"
"Afterword and Foreword"
Driver, "Appendix B"

Tisha B’Av acts as both an ending and a beginning in the cycle of the Jewish year. It consists of mourning for the destruction of both temples and for the day that, out of needless fear, the Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land. In time, Tisha B’Av has transformed into a day of mourning for all of the Jew’s internal sins that led to external woes. For three weeks before Tisha B’Av, Jews avoid weddings, haircuts, buying new clothes, and general celebration. Just before the fast starting on the eve of Tisha B’Av, Jews eat a traditional meal of mourning. All throughout the evening and morning services of the holiday, Jews perform intense prayers of mourning without the joys of wearing tallis and tefillin. Later in the day, congregants rejoin in afternoon service to pray for the Messiah with a more hopeful tone. After breaking the fast in the evening, they perform the service of kiddush levana, hoping for the day when the Messiah will come, and the moon will gain equal status with the sun. Between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Hashanah, seven weeks of comforting Shabbat celebrations exist, and in this time, the lingering hope for the coming of the Messiah remains. Each year, this lingering hope can inspire a renewed drive for betterment among Jews, and thus, another year of existence in the Book of Life. With its lamentation of tragedy, Tisha B’Av celebrates the Jews’ ability to hope, and thus, to consistently renew their existence.

With its emphases on hope and renewal, Tisha B’Av truly reflects Driver’s criticisms Victor Turner’s views of ritual. Turner defines ritual as “prescribed formal behavior for occasions not given over to technological routine, having reference †o beliefs in invisible beings or powers regarded as the first and final causes of all effects” (Driver 236). As Driver argues for, Tisha B’Av prays for hope and change, and thus, constant transformation of Tisha B’Av is necessary. On Tisha B’Av, Jews use ritual to discover their sins, and thus, to create new ritual. There is no “first and final cause” for Tisha B’Av. In order to inspire change for the better, Tisha B’Av must follow a strong dialectic and must constantly move in and out of the liminal, constantly changing itself. Perhaps, if we constantly renew Tisha B’Av, and thus, our own selves, we can improve the world enough to bring us closer to a Messianic Age.