CONTENTS. Announcement of Tisha B Av Services. Yehuda Halevi s Songs to Zion. What Happened in those Solemn Days? Observance and Prohibition

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2 CONTENTS Announcement of Tisha B Av Services 3 Yehuda Halevi s Songs to Zion 3 What Happened in those Solemn Days? 4 Observance and Prohibition 4 The Virtue of a Guilty Conscience 5 Introduction to Lamentations 6 The Lament of the Twelve Sisters 8 Love is a Choice! 9 Jerusalem and To Israel, In Exile 10 Six Reasons Why the Kotel is Holy 11 Sinat Chinam: Why? Still? 13 July-August Schedule of KCT Services 15

3 bafb hiwt Tisha B Av July 31-August 1, 2017 ~ 9 Av 5777 Monday evening - Tuesday Service: Monday evening, July 31 hkya tayrq J byrim Ma ariv and Reading of Megillat Eicha 8:15 PM In the KCT Bet Midrash Our sages teach that whoever mourns over Jerusalem will merit the future vision of her joy. As it is written in Isaiah (66:10): "Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn her." vlaw Mvlw Mylwvry PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM Yehuda Halevi s Songs to Zion Yehuda Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher, who died shortly after arriving in Jeruslem in He is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets, celebrated both for his religious and secular poems, many of which appear in present-day liturgy. My heart in the East and I at the farthest West: how can I taste what I eat or find it sweet while Zion is in the cords of Edom and I bound by the Arab? Beside the dust of Zion all the good of Spain is light; and a light thing to leave it. And if it is now only a land of howling beasts and owls was it not so when given to our fathers all of it only a heritage of thorns and thistles? But they walked in it His name in their hearts, sustenance! as in a park among flowers. In the midst of the sea when the hills of it slide and sink and the wind lifts the water like sheaves now a heap of sheaves and then a floor for the threshing and sail and planks shake and the hands of the sailors are rags, and no place for flight but the sea, and the ship is hidden in waves like a theft in the thief s hand, suddenly the sea is smooth and the stars shine on the water. Wisdom and knowledge except to swim have neither fame nor favor here; a prisoner of hope, he gave his spirit to the winds, and is owned by the sea; between him and death a board. Zion, do you ask if the captives are at peace the few that are left? I cry out like the jackals when I think of their grief; but, dreaming of the end of their captivity, I am like a harp for your songs..k.

4 Preparation Through Study Drawn from various sources... ancient, historic and modern... the following selection of personal study materials is presented by the editors with a view toward stimulating thought, study, discussion, agreement and disagreement, and evaluation approaching and leading into the days of the Three Weeks and Tisha B Av. What Happened on these Solemn Days? Shiva Asar B'Tamuz (the 17 th of Tammuz, this year on Tuesday July 11), begins a three-week period of semi-mourning which includes the first nine days of the month of Av (referred to as Bein HaM Tzarim, meaning "between the straits", because it says in Eicha (1:3): "... and her pursuers overtook her between the straits", referring to the calamitous events that befell the Jewish people during that period), and culminates with Tisha B Av (the 9 th of Av). The Mishna describes the tragedies that occurred at various points throughout that calendar period in the times of the two Temples and through our early history, and more contemporary rabbis have extended the categorization of the calamities... Five disasters are described in the Mishna to have occurred on Shiva Asar B'Tamuz: 1. Moshe descended from Mount Sinai, discovered the people worshiping the golden calf, and broke the luchot (tablets); 2. During the siege of Jerusalem before the destruction of the first Temple, the Tamid, the daily sacrificial offering, was suspended because the Kohanim could not get any more sheep for the sacrifices. 3. In the year 70, the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the second Temple 4. Apustumus the Wicked burned a Torah Scroll (in the First Temple; an event described in the Talmud, but we are unsure who he was. Some sources claim that he was a Roman general and that this event occurred just prior to the Bar Kochba revolt. Other sources claim that he was a general of Antiochus and that this event occurred around168 BCE.) 5. The Romans set up an idol in the courtyard of the Second Temple, thereby defiling the Temple (described in the Book of Daniel, 12:11.) In more recent times, many more such events occurred on this unique day in the Jewish calendar including these: In 1239, Pope Gregory IX ordered the confiscation of all manuscripts of the Talmud. In 1391, more than 4,000 Spanish Jews were killed in Toledo and Jaen, Spain. In 1559 the Jewish Quarter of Prague was burned and looted. In 1944, the entire population of the Kovno ghetto was sent to the death camps. In 1970, Libya ordered the confiscation of all Jewish property. On Tisha B'Av, five national calamities occurred, described by the Mishna: 1. During the time of Moses, Jews in the desert accepted the slanderous report of the Ten Spies, and the decree was issued forbidding them from entering the Land of Israel. (1312 BCE) 2. The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar. 100,000 Jews were slaughtered and millions more exiled. (586 BCE) 3. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, led by Titus. Some two million Jews died, and another one million were exiled. (70 CE) 4. The Bar Kochba revolt was crushed by Roman Emperor Hadrian. The city of Betar -- the Jews' last stand against the Romans -- was captured and liquidated, with over 100,000 Jews slaughtered. (135 CE) 5. One year later, the Temple area and its surroundings were plowed under by the Roman general Turnus Rufus. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a pagan city -- renamed Aelia Capitolina -- and access was forbidden to Jews. Other grave misfortunes throughout Jewish history occurred on the Ninth of Av, including: 6. The Spanish Inquisition culminated with the expulsion of Jews from Spain by King Ferdinand on Tisha B'Av in World War I broke out on the eve of Tisha B'Av in 1914 when Germany declared war on Russia. German resentment from the war set the stage for the Holocaust. 8. On the eve of Tisha B'Av 1942, the mass deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka..K. Observance and Prohibition The Mishna reminds all future generations of B nai Yisrael that as we increase our joy when the month of Adar begins, so do we diminish our rejoicing when the month of Av begins. We do so by limiting business transactions, and by not building or planting

5 for a joyous purpose. Engagements and marriages are prohibited, as is the eating of meat or drinking of wine until after Tisha B Av. The Three Weeks Generally, during the Three Weeks, although customs vary by community, visiting cinemas, theaters, concert halls or any other place where there is public entertainment is prohibited. With the exception of socks and undergarments, new clothes should not be purchased. Haircuts are forbidden during this time. According to some authorities, men who shave daily for business reasons may shave during this period; others allow their beards to grow. The Nine Days The intensity of the three week mourning period increases with the onset of Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av. So, in addition to those items mentioned above, during the days between Rosh Chodesh and Tisha B'Av, we are prohibited from: * Building or performing alterations in one s home, unless the work is important repair work. This prohibition includes painting, wall papering and other forms of home decorations. * Eating meat or drinking wine, except on Shabbat, or at a Seudah Mitzvah, such as a meal after a Brit Milah or a celebration after the completion of studying a section of Talmud (a Siyum ). * Giving clothing to or getting clothing back from the cleaners or doing laundry. Children s clothing, especially babies and infants, may be cleaned during this period. Also, this restriction doesn t apply to clothing warn directly against the body which requires frequent changing. * Weaving, knitting and needle craft work, with the exception of repairing torn clothing, is prohibited during this period. Tisha B Av The observance of Tisha B'Av begins with the Seudah HaMafseket, the last meal before the fast commences. In years when Tisha B Av falls out on Motzei Shabbat, there is no Seudah HaMafseket. The Seudah HaMafseket must be completed before sunset and resembles the meal that is served to mourners after a funeral. Thus it is customary to eat foods that are symbolic of mourning, such as eggs and lentels. At the evening service (Ma'ariv), the entire congregation sits on the floor and recites the Book of Eicha where the prophet Jeremiah weeps because of the destruction, and we weep with him. The morning of Tisha B'Av is the saddest part of the day. We recite Kinot, and do not put on tefillin at Shacharit, because Tefillin are called "Pe-ar," (Glory), and this is definitely not a day of glory for the Jewish People. Until Mincha on Tisha B'Av, the custom is to avoid sitting on a chair or bench. Instead, one may stand or sit on the floor, just like a mourner during the Shiva period. Beginning at Mincha sitting on chairs is permitted, and we reduce the intensity of the grief that has pervaded us so far. Also, tefillin are worn and we recite those tefillot that were omitted at Shacharit. The prohibitions on Tisha B'Av itself are similar to those of Yom Kippur. The fast on Tisha B Av lasts form sundown to sundown. In addition to not eating or drinking, we are not allowed to wash, anoint oneself or wear leather shoes. Sexual relations are prohibited. In a prohibition more stringent than on Yom Kippur, because study can bring great joy, the rabbis allowed only certain portions of the Tanach and Talmud to be studied on Tisha B Av that reflected the mood of the day, such as the Book of Job, parts of the Book of Jeremiah, and sections of the Talmud which tell of the destruction of Jerusalem..K. The Virtue of a Guilty Conscience Written by Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson, who is the rabbi of Beit Baruch in Belgravia (in West London) in the city of Westminster. According to the Talmud, while sitting in the special place in hell reserved for them, Korach s sons sat and sang praises to God, which, astonishingly, were included and immortalized in King David s Psalms. Take the opening verse to Psalm 87, for example: Of the sons of Korach, a song with musical accompaniment, whose foundation is in the sacred mountains. What merit brought Judaism s arch-violators out of the depths of Hell to grace the tops of sacred mountains? Despite the extent of their iniquity, the sons of Korach, as opposed to their co-conspirators, still managed to retain one virtue: During the dispute they had thoughts of teshuvah [repentance] in their hearts.

6 There it is, their saving grace: a guilty conscience. Now it s true that Judaism in general has little patience for unrealized lofty thoughts and feelings, and even less for empty feelings of remorse. Action is paramount is a basic Jewish teaching. And it s also true that nothing practical came of the regretful feelings harbored by Korach s sons. But that s precisely the lesson here: Do not underestimate the power of feeling contrite. Do not discount those sentiments, even when they keep coming up short of action, for they are the only real link between transgression and repentance. Without them the sinner doesn t stand a chance of reform. In the words of our Sages, Once a person becomes accustomed to a certain transgression, it becomes permissible to him. Conscience is the safeguard of proper human behavior. It was the functioning inner moral compass possessed by Korach s sons that distinguished them from the others, making only them worthy of redemption. The others had completely identified with the revolt against God and Moses, in deed and in heart. Korach s sons, on the other hand, remained in touch, if temporarily not in line, with right and wrong. What they lacked at crunch time was courage, not conviction, which meant that at least at heart they had never left the bosom of righteousness. One Jewish teaching has it that there is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. Shortcomings, then, are only human. How we respond to unfortunate flings with sin is a different matter. Even if our remorseful feelings continuously prove incapable of producing action, we must hold on to those sentiments for dear life, lest we become desensitized or immune to wrongdoing and eventually begin to identify with our foolish behavior. In one of his discourses, the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, paints the tragic scene of a man whose infected arm was just amputated, and who breaks down in bitter tears. Why does the man cry? Rabbi Schneur Zalman asks. He no longer feels his hurting arm! Ah, but that s precisely why he cries; because he doesn t feel his hurting arm... Hurting is a sign of connectivity; letting go of the pain of disconnection, however uncomfortable it makes our life, sadly means letting go of connection..k. An Introduction to Lamentations Written by Professor Emerita Adele Berlin, previously the Robert H. Smith Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Maryland. She taught at UM since 1979 in the Jewish Studies Program, the Hebrew Program, and the English Department. Her main interests are biblical narrative and poetry, and the interpretation of the Bible, having written seven books and numerous articles and essays. Lamentations, or Echah in Hebrew, is read liturgically, to a special trope or chanting melody, on Tishah B Av, the Ninth of Av, the day of public mourning and fasting that commemorates the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and of the Second Temple in 70 CE, and around which the commemoration of other Jewish destructions and catastrophes has coalesced. As part of the rites of mourning on this day, the reader and congregation sit on the floor or on low benches when Lamentations is recited by candlelight or dim light, during the evening service (and in some places also during the morning service). The Talmud refers to Lamentations as Qinot, meaning Elegies or Laments. Ancient tradition (b. Baba Batra 15a) ascribes the book s authorship to Jeremiah, who lived at the time of the Babylonian destruction and predicted it. Jeremiah is credited with composing laments already in 2 Chr 35.25, and the book of Jeremiah and Echah share some phrases. Modern scholars, however, believe that most ancient works were written anonymously and only later attributed to well-known figures; in this case, Chronicles ascription of laments to Jeremiah, the shared phraseology in Echah and Jeremiah, and the fact that Jeremiah lived in the appropriate time-period likely led to the book s ascription to him. According to modern scholars, the book was written after 586 BCE and before the end of the sixth century BCE, when the Temple was rebuilt, but the exact time,

7 place, and reason for its composition are unknown. Some see it as an outpouring of raw emotion, while others believe it had a liturgical role from its very beginning. Scholars also debate whether the book was originally a unified composition, or whether five independent poems were brought together to create the current book. The book is comprised of five poems about the destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem that occurred in 586 BCE. This was an unprecedented event that changed the course of Jewish history, both politically for Judah lost its independence and religiously for the Temple, the locus of sacrificial worship, was destroyed. Three major institutions: the priesthood, Davidic kingship, and prophecy were reshaped by the Temple s destruction. Lamentations is an outpouring of mourning and grief over this catastrophe, but even more, it is a commemoration, a memorialization, of that event. It eternalizes the experience the siege, the destruction, the exile probing it from different perspectives and preserving it with astonishing vividness and immediacy. Lamentations helps to make the destruction a central event in the Jewish memory. Ancient empires, especially Assyria and Babylonia, engaged in wars of conquest to expand their territory and to increase their resources, and so it was that Babylonia attacked and defeated Judah. A common tactic was siege warfare. Since cities were walled for protection, they could not be easily defeated initially by a direct attack and were therefore besieged or blockaded until the population that had taken refuge inside was decimated by starvation and disease. At the same time, the attackers employed various technologies (ramps, battering rams, projectiles) to weaken the city walls. Eventually, when resistance from within diminished, the walls could be scaled or breached by the enemy. The people who survived the siege and the attack became captives of war, and many were deported to the conquering empire. This is the historical reality underlying the poetic expression of Lamentations. Each of the five poems has its distinctive tone and theme, and offers a different perspective on the catastrophic defeat. In Chapter 1, Jerusalem, the lonely and shamed city, grieves for her lost inhabitants. Feminine imagery is especially prominent in this chapter, conveying the shameful and the shamed woman, abandoned by her lovers (her supposed allies), emptied of all she holds dear, mocked by passers-by, mourning and deprived of comfort. Chapter 2 depicts the siege of the city and all the horror of starvation and disease that accompanied it. Chapter 3 speaks in the voice of a lone man who experiences the deportation into exile. Chapter 4 portrays the degradation that has befallen the population in the last days before destruction. Chapter 5, sounds like a prayer by those who remained in Judah after the destruction, when it had become a Babylonian possession. Chapters 1-4 are alphabetic acrostics, a literary device found elsewhere in the Bible (e.g., Pss. 111; 112; 145; Prov ), in which each verse begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Chapters 2, 3 and 4, however, have reversed the ayin and peh, an order known from ancient inscriptions ) Chapter 3 is a triple acrostic. Chapter 5, although not an acrostic, contains twenty-two verses, replicating the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. In Lamentations this formal device encapsulates the enormity or totality of the destruction (extending from A to Z ). It also structures the incomprehensible events and the amorphous pain that engulfed Judah and its inhabitants. The alphabet helps to render order out of the chaos of destruction, to let the inexpressible be expressed. The book s language is highly poetic and extraordinarily moving. Even though often stereotypical, it effectively portrays the violence and suffering of the events. The experiences of warfare, siege, famine, and death are individualized, in a way that turns the natural into the unnatural or anti-natural brave men are reduced to begging, mothers are unable to nourish their children and resort to cannibalism. The book s outpouring is addressed to God, so that God may feel the suffering of his people, rescue them, and restore them to their country and to their former relationship with him. The entire book may be thought of as an appeal for God s mercy. Yet God remains silent.

8 If the book fails to move God, it fulfills another function, that of public mourning which both relives, commemorates, and attempts to understand a catastrophe of incomprehensible proportion. Lamentations does not create a new theology. Like Jeremiah, it accepts the theological view that the sin of disloyalty to God, that is, idolatry, leads to divine punishment and exile. God has brought about the disaster; the Babylonians (never mentioned by name in the book) are merely divine agents, although not altogether blameless. God, whose power is not diminished despite the Temple s destruction, is called upon to bring about the return from exile. Repentance, the antidote to sin, is mentioned but is not central; rather, the idea in Lamentations is that the punishment, though deserved, outweighs the sin (see similarly Isa. 40.2). The immediacy of the disproportionate punishment drowns out everything else..k. The Lament of the Twelve Sisters Written by Rabbi Dr. Jill Hammer, the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion, a pluralistic rabbinical and cantorial seminary in Yonkers, NY. At AJR, she specializes in ancient and contemporary midrash, mysticism, ritual, and contemporary spirituality. This essay rests on the midrash quoted by Rashi, that with each of the sons of Jacob was born a twin sister. On Tisha b Av twelve ancestor-sisters gather to weep. On other days it is only the One-who-Mourns who weeps over the sorrows of the world, but on this day, the day the Temple was destroyed, they all gather on the Mount of Olives to remember the razing of Jerusalem and the suffering of exiles all over the world. Nisan was born first, but she is the youngest. She wears innocence in a locket a gift from her Mother but she is no innocent. Her girlish heart breaks open for children who cannot learn their language because the conqueror forbids it, who do not own their land because it was stolen from them. She weeps for child slaves, child prostitutes, girls who cannot read, infant brides, boys who cannot expect a future. The second of the sisters is Iyar, the midwife, her thick hair piled in a wrap so it is out of the way while she heals the wounds of the world. This day she weeps for the stillborn babes and the listless toddlers, the folk with cholera and hepatitis, the amputees, the mothers in ambulances that cannot reach the hospital. She weeps for the toll taken by poverty and war. Sivan is the prophetess, with a long braid, strong fingers, and a drum. She is the gadfly of the world, awakening the rhythms of change. She weeps for all the prophet-folk slain as they work for justice: the nuns of South America, the peacekeepers, the Gandhis and Kings, the Joans-of-Arc, the demonstrators and the women in black. She speaks forth poems and hymns, raising a lament for those who raised their voices and gave their lives. She mourns also for those who prophesy and are not heeded. Mother Tammuz lifts her immense breast from the mouth of the world for a moment, so she can remember all the mothers like her, all those who have no bed to lay their children down and no food to feed their little ones. Mother Tammuz lets her tears roll down for the mothers who lose their children to prisons and interrogations, and the mothers who have to leave their children to earn bread. Mother Tammuz wants peace, and enough soup to go around. Av is the wisest of them all. She is large-boned like the ancient mountains. She carves traditions as if from wood. Tonight her gaze is sad and thoughtful. She mourns the ones with faults that led to tragedy: carelessness, timidity, pettiness, faulty knowledge, inattention at the wrong moment. She mourns the priests and prophets who let Jerusalem burn because they were feuding with one another. She knows they do not sleep well in this world or any other. The sixth sister, Elul, is the keeper of the altars and the sacred fires, everywhere on earth. She spills her bright red curls on the sacred stones of the holy places of the world, weeping for all the holy places defaced and destroyed by zealots. She weeps for the clergy of the fields and trees, deposed by the conquerors. She weeps for the lost, bent, distorted traditions of traumatized people. She weeps for the stones of the Temple. Tishrei is the warrior-queen, crowned and in armor. On most days she rides forth to the battle between self-delusion and self-reflection. She takes her stand

9 within the human heart. Today, she is mourning those who lost the battle and succumbed to narcissism and wrong deeds. They too need to be mourned, and she is perhaps the only one with the fortitude to do it. She knows she too could do evil, if she let herself. She remembers this always. Marcheshvan is She who Mourns. Today is her day, the day when all turn their attention to the work of grieving. She takes only a little comfort in this. Today she mourns that tomorrow the world will turn its attention away again. She will be left alone to witness the forgotten ones of the world. She rubs her red eyes and looks toward the horizon. If the Messiah ever comes, she is the one who will notice first. The shamaness with dreadlocks and ragged cloak, that is Kislev, the ninth sister. On Tisha b Av, she mourns for the magic all the lost faith that happens when one is surrounded by callousness and cruelty. She opens the book of signs and symbols and points, knowing only a few of the exiles will look back. She is willing to be a teacher, if only a student will appear among the refugees. She believes in the power of re-invention. Tevet s head is shaved and she holds a begging bowl. She is the seeker and has walked barefoot for millennia on the roads that lead from one country to the next. She grieves for those whose hearts are broken, who cannot accept, who cannot mourn, who cannot let go, who cannot hold another ounce of pain. She offers to hear the pain, to absorb the blows, to help peace enter. Shevat is the One Who Loves. Full-hipped and wide-mouthed, she walks among the people, sowing the seeds of love, shaking the earth, bringing change to societies and hope to whole generations, for love conquers all. On this day she is mourning for all lovers separated by war: soldiers away from their families; partners torn apart because of religion, family, or nationality; lovers unfairly divided by death. She mourns whenever there is hatred on earth. The laughing one, Adar, stands aside telling jokes. The other sisters are angry with her, but she means no disrespect. This is Adar s way of mourning. She laughs till she cries, using her humor to lift the spirits of all who are sad. She works to bring life back to bodies and souls that have lost their vital spark. No one can turn aside the Fool s healing breeze. She lopes into the desert or the refugee camp, and that place is never the same. Adar was born last, but she is Eldest. On Tisha b Av the twelve ancestor-sisters gather to weep, and the One-who-Mourns leads them in lamentation. The Weaver their Mother does not weep. Serenely she goes on working the threads of time across the loom, adding another color, another pattern. She is the Temple, falling and being rebuilt. She is life in its frail frantic majesty. She is so beautiful that the weeping ones rejoice in her even as they mourn for all the sorrows of the world..k. Love is a Choice! Love is a Choice... How to Stop Treating Your Fellow Jews as the Enemy was written by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller, who earned her PhD. In International Relations from the London School of Economics. She lives with her family in Chicago, where she is an adjunct Professor of Political Science, and has lectured internationally on Jewish topics. The Torah commands You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18). The famous Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva singled out this commandment, calling it a great principle of the Torah. We ve seen examples of the power of this central mitzvah: a world in which people go the extra mile for each other in which they leap up to help one another, to invite them over, to make them feel loved and valued and secure. We have also seen in our brief interactions with neighbors, the opposite: a world in which people are loath to help, in which they begrudge their time, in which they withdraw into themselves. Jewish tradition teaches that our central, holy Temple in Jerusalem the one place where all Jews worshiped together in ancient times was destroyed two thousand years ago because of this attitude: because we refused to stand together, failed to reach out to each other, because we allowed ourselves to feel sinat chinam, causeless hatred of our fellow Jews. But this attitude can also change in a moment. We can make the supreme effort to regard even those we don t know with the same warmth and concern we show to our friends, and help rebuild the Temple in the process. We re presently in the period called The Three Weeks. This distinctive period in the Jewish

10 calendar, commemorating the beginning of the Roman siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple twenty days later, is a time to work on loving our fellow Jew and eradicating the insidious sinat chinam, baseless hatred that we allow to creep into the fabric of our lives. Here are five strategies to begin connecting with people around us today. 1. Smile! The Jewish sage Rabbi Shammai used to counsel receive everyone with a cheerful face. Greeting others with a warm hello can alter an entire conversation, transforming any interaction into a chance to truly connect with another person. 2. Judge others favorably. Remember that we don t know all the circumstances behind another person s actions. Perhaps that difficult person you re dealing with is ill, or has a problem at home. 3. Examine your own actions. When I was growing up, my mother always used to tell me that people see in others what they know to be true of their selves: we re all more attuned to challenges that we have, and often have a shorter fuse about issues we personally struggle with. Years later, I found the source of this advice was none other than the Talmud. The world is like a mirror, in which the faults we see in other people are meant to remind us to address them in ourselves. 4. Make the first move. Sometimes the dividing line between people we think of as friends and strangers whom we don t care about can be frighteningly thin. In some circumstances, all it takes is an invitation to meet up to transform and acquaintance into someone we truly care about and are connected to. 5. See challenges as opportunities. Judaism teaches that we re each given specific circumstances to help us grow. Once we start looking at our setbacks, tough situations, and even the difficult people in our lives as chances to train ourselves to be better people, we re often better able to handle them. Try looking at the obstacles in your life as opportunities to transcend your circumstances, to react with grace, and to come closer to the person you are truly capable of being..k. Please ask about arranging for Memorial Plaques in the KCT Memorial Alcove Thoughts to Carry With Us as We Return to Life After Tisha B Av... By Yehuda Halevi JERUSALEM Beautiful heights, city of a great King, From the western coast my desire burns towards thee. Pity and tenderness burst in me, remembering Thy former glories, thy temple now broken stones. I wish I could fly to thee on the wings of an eagle And mingle my tears with thy dust. I have sought thee, love, though the King is not there And instead of Gilead s balm, snakes and scorpions. Let me fall on thy broken stones and tenderly kiss them The taste of thy dust will be sweeter than honey to me. TO ISRAEL, IN EXILE O Sleeper whose heart is awake, burning and raging, now wake and go forth, and walk in the light of My presence. Rise, and ride on! A star has come forth for you, and he who has lain in the pit will go up to the top of Sinai. Let them not exult, those who say, Zion is desolate! for My heart is in Zion and My eyes are there. I reveal Myself and I conceal Myself, now I rage, now I consent but who has more compassion than I have for My children? KCT Dedicatory Opportunities Expand We are delighted to note that the Kehillah provides a range of dedicatory opportunities for those wishing to ensure the programmatic and fiscal health of the Kehillah, both in the short-term and long-term views, both quietly and more noticeably. While more evolve constantly, the exciting opportunities include a holiday service a special Kehillah mailing the annual High Holiday mailing a scrumptious Shabbat or Yom Tov Kiddush a Shabbat or holiday Scholar-in-Residence the KCT website, listserv, library, podia... Please ask about these and other exciting possibilities for your generous support!.k.

11 From the Editors: It does appear that never in our lifetimes, has the Kotel (the western foundational wall of the historical Temple structure and grounds) been more the center of passionate dispute and claims of territorial dominion, than in the five decades since the City s reunification in Much has been written and many a dispute has spilled over into social media, the press and diningroom table conversation. We will leave to the reader the task of forming his/her own opinions. Readers are cautioned, though, to be mindful that the Kotel was never a Synagogue nor is it now. What it actually is, is the subject of this essay, presented below not as a resolution, but as a layout of some of the historical and lasting underpinnings of why the Kotel has such powerful and varied significance for all of the Jewish people. Six Reasons Why the Kotel is Holy Written by Rabbi Shraga Simmons, an Israeli journalist and filmmaker involved in Jewish adult education and pro-israel activism. He is the co-founder of Aish.com and JewishPathways.com, educational websites. This essay is based partly on "The Western Wall" (by the Israeli Ministry of Defense) Six Reasons Why The Wall Is Holy: The Western Wall is at the Root of the Jewish Nation. 1) Site of the Holy Temple... It is here, on Mount Moriah, that Isaac was bound for sacrifice. And it is here that his son Jacob dreamed of the ladder ascending to heaven. Although other parts of the Temple Mount retaining wall remain standing, the Western Wall is especially dear, as it is the spot closest to the Holy of Holies, the central focus of the Temple. 2) Eternal Symbol... The Sages prophesied that even after the Temple's destruction, the Divine Presence would never leave the Western Wall, and that the Wall will never be destroyed. The Wall is endowed with everlasting sanctity, as the Talmud says: "And I will make your sanctuaries desolate" (Leviticus 26:31) this means that the sanctuaries retain their sanctity even when they are desolate. Jerusalem was destroyed and rebuilt nine times. And through it all, one symbol remained intact: the Western Wall. In establishing the eternal covenant with Abraham, God promised that the Jewish people will never be destroyed (Genesis 17:7). In this way, the Wall is a symbol of the Jewish people: Just as there have been many efforts to destroy the Wall and yet it remains eternal, so too the Jewish people have outlived its enemies and remain eternal. The Wall thus became the symbol of both devastation and of hope. As Mark Twain wrote: "...Other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all... All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?" The Western Wall is a surviving remnant of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Temple was the center of the spiritual world, the main conduit for the flow of Godliness. When the Temple stood, the world was filled with awe of God and appreciation for the genius of the Torah. Jewish tradition teaches that all of creation began in Jerusalem. The epicenter is Mount Moriah, known by mystics as "the watering stone." The name "Moriah" is actually a play on words: "Moriah is the place from which Torah instruction (horah) goes forth; from where fear of heaven (yirah) goes forth; from where light (orah) goes forth."

12 3) Place of Pilgrimage and Tears... Three thousand years ago, King David purchased Mount Moriah and made Jerusalem his capital. His son Solomon built the Holy Temple, and the entire Jewish nation gathered together three times each year on the pilgrimage festivals. Jerusalem became the focus of the non-jewish world as well. Ancient maps show Jerusalem at the epicenter of Asia, Europe and Africa. Non-Jews, drawn by a magnetic spiritual power, brought offerings to the Temple. When King Solomon built the Temple, he specifically asked God to heed the prayers of non-jews who come to the Temple (1- Kings 8:41-43). In the words of the prophet Isaiah, this was "a house of prayer for all nations." The service in the Holy Temple during the week of Sukkot featured a total of 70 bull offerings, corresponding to each of the 70 nations of the world. In fact, the Talmud says that if the Romans (who destroyed the Temple) would have realized how much benefit they received from the Temple, they never would have destroyed it. During the 1,900-year exile, Jews would travel to Jerusalem at great expense and danger, just to have the chance to pray at the Wall. In the face of disease, lack of water, and marauding bandits, the Jews refused to abandon Jerusalem. Barred by law or wiped out by Crusaders, the Jews always returned. The Talmud teaches that when the Temple was destroyed, all the Gates of Heaven were closed, except for one: the Gate of Tears. At the Wall, Jews have always poured their hearts out to God. Thus it became known as the "Wailing Wall" because of the centuries of endless tears, shed by Jews yearning to rebuild Jerusalem. 4) Focus of Prayers... Three times a day, for thousands of years, Jewish prayers from around the world have been directed toward the Temple Mount. Kabbalistic tradition says that all prayers from around the world ascend to this spot, from where they then ascend to heaven. The Talmud says: "If someone is praying outside the Land of Israel, he should direct his heart in the direction of Israel. When praying within Israel, direct the heart toward Jerusalem. Those in Jerusalem should direct their hearts to the Temple. Throughout the millennia, Jews from far reaches of the globe have turned in prayer toward Jerusalem. At each Jewish wedding, the groom breaks a glass to commemorate the destruction of the Holy Temple. And we close each Passover Seder with the resonating words "Next Year in Jerusalem." As Rabbi Judah HaLevy poignantly said: "I am in the west, but my heart is in the east (Jerusalem)." 5) Built with Love and Dedication... A popular Jewish legend records: When the Temple was being built, the work was divided among different sectors of the population. The building of the Western Wall fell to the poor, and they worked hard to construct it, as they could not afford to hire laborers to do their work for them. When the enemy destroyed the Temple, the angels descended from on high and spreading their wings over the Wall said: "This Wall, the work of the poor, shall never be destroyed." (from "Legends of the Land of Israel") 6) Site of Jewish Heroism... When the First and Second Temples were destroyed, and during the Bar Kochba revolt, Israel's heroes fought like lions for every stone of the Temple. When the Maccabees defeated the Syrian-Greeks, the first thing they did was to purify the Temple and light the holy Menorah. This has served as the example of Jewish bravery ever since. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when the ceasefire lines were drawn, Jerusalem was divided and Jews were once again banished from the Western Wall, permitted only to gaze across the barbed wire from afar... across the endless expanse of time. In the Six Day War, Israeli paratroopers entered the Old City through the Lion's Gate. "Har Habayit b'yadeinu!" came the triumphant cry "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" Amidst shofar blasts, grown men wept and danced at the Western Wall. After 2,000 years, Jerusalem was finally united under Jewish control, with free access for all. The Western Wall is no mere historical asset. It is the Jewish root the deepest roots that any people has. Elsewhere, we grope for insight. At the Western Wall, as we water the Wall with our tears and melted the stones with our kisses, we achieve clarity and define who we are, as God's eternal nation..k.

13 Sinat Chinam... Why? Still? And After All These Years? The hatred that flows freely or hidden, from no basis or foundation, with no remedy or purpose, for individual or collective, that grows and expands as it takes root the fuse that traditionally is credited with igniting the tragedies over the last two millenia of Jewish life is still with us today, live and well, poisoning generation after generation Sinat chanam.. that drives conflict and genocide across many continents, and fuels the conversations while disrupting the dialogue clouds the celebration of Jewish diversity in favor of destructive strategy and manipulative corruption of authority that spreads at the speed of electronic transmission, to unsuspecting and receptive alike, to easily corrupted and to willingly driven that teaches that we are better off without you, that fosters the arrogance of ungodliness that fosters a worldview that we have no obligation but to ourselves that replaces We and Us by Them and Otherness, that separates and tears irreparably, that replaces optimism and hopefulness by cynicism, fearfulness, doubt and anger But Rather, Ahavat Chinam In the words of Rav Kook (Abraham Isaac Kook, ), the first Ashkenazic chief rabbi of British Mandated Palestine... If we were [to be] destroyed, and the world with us, due to baseless hatred, then we shall rebuild ourselves, and the world with us, with baseless love ahavat chinam. (Orot HaKodesh Vol. III, p324) And further.. Listen to me, my people! I speak to you from my soul, from within my innermost soul. I call out to you from the living connection by which I am bound to all of you, and by which all of you are bound to me. I feel this more deeply than any other feeling: that only you all of you, all of your souls, throughout all of your generations you alone are the meaning of my life. In you I live. In the aggregation of all of you, my life has that content that is called life. Without you, I have nothing. All hopes, all aspirations, all purpose in life, all that I find inside myself these are only when I am with you. I need to connect with all of your souls. I must love you with a boundless love... The time is now... the place is right here... the ones we await are ourselves! Tisha B Av 2017 ~ 5777

14 Jeremiah weeps and we weep with him, because if we are thoughtful and perceptive we can see all of Jewish history in the dirges of Eicha. This is the challenge of Tisha B Av. Can we realize that this is not merely a day of tears, but of challenge and hope? The book of Eicha calls Tisha B Av a day of Jewish rendezvous with God and we don t recite Tachanun because it has elements of a festival. Rendezvous with God? Festival? On a day of destruction and suffering? Yes, because Tisha B Av proves that God is not indifferent to Jewish conduct. We matter to him. And since we do, we know that He awaits our repentance and that there will be a third Temple, an eternal one. The Sages say that the Messiah will be born on Tisha B Av. Let us read Eicha with the prayerful hope that he has already been born and that this day next year will be a day of joy..k. Hashivenu Hashem Eilecha V nashuva Chadesh Yameinu KeKedem ~... And Looking Forward Bring us back to you Hashem, and we shall return, renew our days as of old. Ameyn KEHILLAT CHOVEVEI TZION ROUTE 25A AT NICOLLS ROAD, EAST SETAUKET, NY (631)

15 SERVICES CANDLE LIGHTING SHIVAH ASAR B TAMMUZ (THE FAST OF THE 17 th OF TAMMUZ) TUESDAY (DAYTIME ONLY) JULY 11 3:42 AM - 8:58 PM 5777 JULY - AUGUST SCHEDULE OF SERVICES SHABBAT MATOT-MASEI FRIDAY JULY 21 6:45 PM 8:00 PM SATURDAY JULY 22 9:00 AM ROSH CHODESH AV SUNDAY EVENING - MONDAY JULY 24 SHABBAT DEVARIM FRIDAY JULY 28 6:40 PM 7:54 PM SATURDAY JULY 29 9:00 AM TISHA B AV MONDAY EVENING JULY 31 8:15 PM (The fast begins at 8:09 PM and ends Tuesday evening at 8:39 PM. Tuesday Tisha B Av services available at neighboring synagogues). SHABBAT VA ETCHANAN FRIDAY AUG 4 6:35 PM 7:47 PM SATURDAY AUG 5 9:00 AM SHABBAT EKEV FRIDAY AUG 11 6:25 PM 7:35 PM SATURDAY AUG 12 9:00 AM SHABBAT RE EH FRIDAY AUG 18 6:25 PM 7:28 PM SATURDAY AUG 19 9:00 AM KEHILLAT CHOVEVEI TZION ROSH CHODESH ELUL MONDAY EVENING - WEDNESDAY AUG SHABBAT SHOFTIM FRIDAY AUG 25 6:10 PM 7:18 PM SATURDAY AUG 26 9:00 AM SHABBAT KI TETZE FRIDAY SEPT 1 6:00 PM 7:07 PM SATURDAY SEPT 2 9:00 AM KEHILLAT CHOVEVEI TZION ROUTE 25A AT NICOLLS ROAD, EAST SETAUKET, NY (631)