"How lonely sits the city that once was filled with people. She has become a widow. She cries alone at night, and tears scar her cheeks. None of her beloved are left to comfort her...The lips of the nursing child are parched with thirst; children ask for bread, but there is none to give them... Our possessions have been claimed by strangers, our homes by foreigners... We are orphaned." (Book of Lamentations)
For
a thousand years, the Temple was our protection, our refuge. Until its
final destruction in 70 CE, the Temple in Jerusalem was the heart and
soul of the Jewish people. It was in the Temple that the Jewish people
gathered, bringing their gifts of grain, fruits, animals and wine to
thank God for the land's bounty. At the Temple they sought comfort tin
their mourning and healing for their sick, celebrated the birth of a
child and even went to search for an object they had lost. It was from
the Temple that the leaders of Israel ruled; where Jews sought the
presence of God and one another's company.
Much like Congregation Micah. How fortunate we are to have our
beautiful synagogue and the community that fills it. It is at Micah that
we come together to celebrate and to mourn, to learn and to grow, to
seek the presence of God and one another's company. The holy day of Tisha B'av,
which formerly begins this Saturday at sundown and lasts a full day,
commemorates the destruction of our Temple in Jerusalem. It is most
appropriate that we honor this day of memory with gratitude for all that
we have in Congregation Micah. We come together weekly to share in our
traditions and to be together as a family
This Friday at 6pm, we welcome our member and mayoral candidate Linda
Eskind Rebrovick as she speaks to us from the bima. Please join us!
Reference: first paragraph - excerpt from the Book of Lamentations; second paragraph - excerpt from "The Tapestry of Jewish Time: A Spiritual Guide to Holidays and Life-cycle Events" by Nina Beth Cardin; third and fourth paragraph written by Rabbi Laurie.
