After they had traveled for the waxing and waning of three moons, on the third new moon the Children of Israel reached Sinai. And if you have ever walked with God you know how it is to pass through light and shadow, shadow and light again before you reach the holy hill. God came to them in smoke and fire to give them his Law. But Israel said to Moses, “Let God speak to you and you may speak to us and declare what the LORD has said.” And God said that if anyone but Moses and Aaron stepped on Mount Sinai they would die. He said they must not approach the mountain lest his power break out and destroy them. So Moses made aliyah, that is, he ascended into the darkness alone to meet God.
Now after a time the Children of Israel, in fear, said “Where is the God who let us out of Egypt, where is Moses. He must be dead.” And so they petitioned his brother Aaron the high priest who made the Golden Calf, or the Golden Mask. And Aaron built also an altar for it, and the people worshipped this Golden Calf, and this was the Ninth Day of the month of Av, Tisha B’Av, which begins the last season of the Jewish Year. It is not wise to blame Aaron for providing a God Israel could see, nor is it just to blame the Israelites. Moses was goen, he was lost in dark cloud. They were all alone.
Often I have felt alone and abandoned of God.
How often have we all turned to Golden Calves?
Every time we do, quailing in fear, it is the Ninth of Av all over again.
And this was the first time Israel turned from God, and God smote them. Av means father, and he is the Father, and his children had disobeyed. Hebrew Fathers do not forgive, and they do not forget.
They punish.
So Tisha B’av is a time of retribution and sorrow.
After Tisha B’av comes Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the year. But Tisha B’av is the time of mourning when Israel celebrates how far he has gone form God, and all the times of separation and sorrow. Tisha B’av is a three week Ash Wednesday. The first day, the Ninth of Av—which fell this year on August 14th, is a day to eat raw vegetables and boiled eggs rolled in ashes. Jews never do a thing by halves. The entire Book of Lamentations is read. The whole nation is given up to sorrow. And as a Kabbalist, I celebrate… no… to commemorate this time: Tisha B’Av.
Tisha B’av is the time of the destruction of the Temple. When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem six hundred years before Jesus, it was on Tisha B’Av, and seventy years after Jesus, when the Romans destroyed the Temple again, this was also Tisha B’Av. So Tisha B’av is the destruction of the Holy Temple, and the scattering of the Holy people.
Ah, but it is also the beginning. Every destruction is a beginning, or why celebrate it? Modern Judaism would not exist, sadly, if the Temple had not been destroyed and the diaspora occurred. And it is true that Judaism really would not have begun if not for that first exile under the Babylonians. This was when most of the Tanakh and much of what is now called Judaism took a solid form.
And the meaning of this? A deep meaning, for in these three weeks as my life goes from one thing to another, I am heartily aware of my own temples and idols that must be destroyed, have been destroyed, and of all the things that are lost. We have all felt the sting and the smite of God’s hand. Now is the time to deal with this. And now is the time to make aliyah, like Moses, and rise into the dark cloud to meet what we feared. God said, “”They will die if they touch the mountain! But if they do not touch the mountain they will never know God. That is much worse. They will spend their life chasing calves.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
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4 comments:
Interesting. I find the Jewish faith fascinating and I really don't know enough about it. How many Jews still recognise Tisha B'Av? Ash wednesday isn't often seen as an important day in many christian churches so I wonder if the same thing is happening to Judaism? It's a pity, as what it is about is self reflection, and as you say, we sometimes need reminders that perhaps from time to time our priorities in life are a bit off course and it's time to make some changes. (Jenny)
Jenny,
I don't know about other countries, but I know in the United States there is something happening with Judaism. After years of sort of playing at being Christians, getting Christmas trees and the lot, Jews who grew up in secular ways are going back to the old stuff to see what their parents and grandparents left behind. There is an increasingly large population of practicing Jews now in all the different traditions. So that's very good news. The information I got from the library is all very new, the synagogues are growing and drawing in all sorts of people, and there is also a large body of Christians who are drawn to the study of it. As for Tisha B'Av, it has also become a Holocaust memorial day, so that has brought back it's importance.
A thing to remember is that unlike Christianity which has two relatively close seasons and then a whole year in which not much happens (an unbalanced wheel) Judaism (and Celtic traditions like Wicca, traditional witchcraft and Druidry) operate on an eight spoked wheel of feasts. So when you're a practicing Jew, you're one all year. You don;t "come back to it" at Lent, and, of course, Jews have more than this time of three weeks to make penitence. So a practicing Jew would always be making renewal.
This is really interesting - thanks Chris - I hope you keep writing about all these things - i find them fascinating.
Keep on reading and I'll keep on writing !
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