Monday, July 19, 2010 - Tisha b'Av edition

This is a brief edition to mark Tisha b'Av.

For those unfamiliar, the day marks the date that both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, causing some to refer to the day as the "saddest day in Jewish history." (and, unfortunately, there is lots of competition). Many other tragedies are said to have occurred on the same day, such as:

• the sin of the 12 spies (but not Joshua or Caleb) in disparaging the Promised Land of Canaan;
• the razing of Jerusalem in 70 CE;
• the failure of the Bar Kochba revolt;
• the declaration of the First Crusade, with disastrous consequences for the Jews of France and Germany;
• the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290;
• the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492;
• the start of World War I, which set the stage for World War II and the Shoah;
• (on the eve of Tisha b'Av) the start of the deportation of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto for the death factory of Treblinka; and
• the attack on the Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires, resulting in the death of 86 people and the wounding of 300 more.

Here are some links to sites appropriate for the day:

• YU Torah Online : Tisha B'av To Go
• Judaism 101: Tisha B'Av
• Tisha B'Av - OU.ORG
• Why I like Tisha Be’Av
• Israelis mark Tisha B’Av | JTA - Jewish & Israel News
• Tisha B'Av 2010 - Why Mourning AND Recovery are Sacred - Windows & Doors

(the infamous Umschlagplatz in Warsaw, where the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto were put on trains for Treblinka - I had nightmares about this place)

(the attack on the Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires)