Prayers of Mourning for Tisha B’Av

Tisha B’Av; the ninth day of the biblical month of Av, begins tonight at sundown. This is the day upon which the first and second Temples were destroyed and many other tragedies throughout history have befallen the Jewish people.

 Although this day is marked by a 25 hour fast **, involving complete abstinence from food or water, it is also a day of prayerful reflection and mourning of the heart.

Below are two prayers that I have come across over the past year, which I believe are quite beautiful and pertinent for this day.  The first, remarkably, is a prayer composed by Pope John Paul II during his trip to the Holy Land in 2000. When visiting the Western Wall, the Pope inserted this prayer, written on a piece of paper, into a crack in the wall — a traditional custom.  I find it to be most pertinent for Tisha B’Av to be recited during the sixth benediction of the Amidah, for forgiveness.

 God of our fathers,
You chose Abraham and his descendants
to bring your Name to the Nations:
we are deeply saddened
by the behaviour of those
who in the course of history
have caused these children of yours to suffer,
and asking your forgiveness
we wish to commit ourselves to
genuine brotherhood
with the people of the Covenant.

Another prayer which can be recited after the fourteenth benediction for the rebuilding of Jerusalem is found in the Noahide Siddur; Service from the Heart, Communal Prayers (free exerpt here).

 Console, LORD, our God, the mourners of Zion and the mourners of Jerusalem, and the city that is destroyed, debased and desolate.  She sits without her children with her head covered in shame like a barren woman who has never given birth.

 Legions have devoured and possessed her and they have put Your People, Israel, to the sword, and they have willfully murdered the pious ones of the Supreme One.

 Therefore, Zion weeps bitterly and Jerusalem gives forth her voice, “My heart!”

 My heart grieves for their murdered!  For You, LORD – with fire did You consume her and with fire You are destined to rebuild her, as it is written, “I , says the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.”  (Zechariah 2:5)

 Blessed are You, LORD, Who consoles Zion with the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

 Blessed are You, LORD who rebuilds Jerusalem.

[**Noahide Theology does not require Gentiles to participate in the full 25 hour fast, but permits such observance if one desires, as long as the intention is to show unity with Israel.  In general, modern rabbinic authorities allow flexibility for those faithful of the nations who would identify with and support Israel in her mourning; including the observance of a partial day fast, a one meal fast and/or the giving of charity in place of fasting. The Apostle Paul admonished the mixed (Jewish and Gentile) Roman congregation of believers to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15)].

 May all those who participate, well-over the fast.

Soul Mourning During the Nine Days

This past Monday (Rosh Chodesh Av) began the days of heightened mourning  leading to the fast of Tisha B’Av.  To increase the mourning experience observant Jews refrain from traveling for leisure, swimming, bathing for pleasure, and eating meat or drinking wine (except on Shabbat).  Yet, one of the lesser known and more subtle of the mourning customs involves refraining from wearing freshly laundered garments during this time.

This prohibition is based on the Mishnah  (Ta’anit 26b) that states on the week in which the Ninth of Av falls it is forbidden to “cut hair or wash clothes”.   Rashi and Rambam understand this washing of clothes to be the same as the common practice of a mourner.  Although a mourner may not launder clothing during the mourning period they are permitted to wear clothes that were washed prior to it.  Therefore, the prohibition of washing clothes as related to Tisha B’Av is the same.  One refrains from laundering during the period of heightened mourning surrounding this day but is permitted to wear clothing washed prior to this time. [1]

The Ramban adds a further stipulation to this custom, that of refraining from freshly laundered garments.  In other words, clothing laundered prior to the heightened mourning period of the Nine Days cannot be worn if it is completely fresh. This is the majority view accepted by the Shulchan Aruch. [2]

Observing this prohibition means refraining from laundering during the Nine Days (Ashkenazi) or the week in which Tisha B’Av falls (Sephardic) and insuring that clothing washed prior to this time is not worn in a completely fresh state.  This is accomplished by pre-wearing freshly laundered clothing for 10-15 minute intervals prior to the heightened mourning period. 

When considering all of the traditions of mourning during the Three Weeks and the Nine Days surrounding Tisha B’Av, the prohibition of freshly laundered garments seems odd indeed.  Unlike the customs of refraining from eating meat, drinking wine, listening to instrumental music, and bathing – which hold symbolic and practical meaning as related to the Temple — refraining from wearing freshly laundered garments has no connection to the Temple itself or its worship which is remembered and mourned at this time. 

Perhaps this prohibition is not occupied with practical or symbolic significance because it is focused upon the very soul or essence of the mourning period instead.  In an enlightening short essay on this topic, Rabbi David Lapin explains that the joy humans experience in things that are perfectly fresh and completely new is connected to the soul level.  In this imperfect world the delight one finds in the smell, feel and look of brand new items — as short lasting as such newness is — reflects the soul’s longing for a perfect state of existence.  Such a longing is partially and temporarily satisfied through the fleeting moments of near perfection that this life has to offer.  [3]

This reminds me of a friend who was a full time career woman and mother of two active pre-school age boys.  Naturally, she had difficulty keeping  the house neat and tidy for any length of time.  Every Thursday a cleaning service came to her home.  She once told me that it was well worth the fifty dollars a week she paid to have the house “perfect for 15 minutes”.  Such a statement doesn’t make any practical sense.  Fifty dollars for fifteen minutes of perfectly clean house is a ridiculous price to pay.  But perhaps the satisfaction of the soul outweighed the price due to the human desire for perfection no matter how fleeting.  

By denying oneself the simple and temporary pleasure of donning freshly laundered garments the soul itself engages in the realities of this season of mourning.  Although outwardly no one would notice that a shirt or dress was pre-worn for 15 minutes, inwardly this action makes a profound statement.  The perfection we crave in this life is an allusion; it is temporary and fleeting at best.  Our world is not as clean and fresh as we think in the same way as the perfectly fresh-looking shirt is really 15 minutes worn.  The destruction of the Temple is evidence of such fleeting and short-lived perfection which points to a future time, the Messianic age ahead, in which perfection in this world will be fully realized.  [4]

How interesting this is in light of Paul’s teachings in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4. Here, Paul speaks of our mortal bodies as a tabernacle and the longing and groaning desire for a resurrected state likened to being “clothed” in immortality.  The longing and burden that Paul describes is naturally highlighted during this time of year when remembering that a central reality of the Messianic age, the Temple, does not exist and has ceased to exist for almost 2000 years.

Remarkably, Paul introduces this topic of longing to be perfectly clothed with the resurrected body in 2 Corinthians 4:18;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (KJV)

The longing of the soul for a state of immortality as opposed to the reality of living in a state of imperfection (due to the non-existent Temple/Messianic age) is tangibly experienced through the act of purposely wearing only pre-worn clothing during the time of heightened mourning prior to Tisha B’Av.  Such clothing, not noticed or “seen” by the outside world, brings to the mind of the wearer inward realities regarding our current mortal and finite existence and eternal things that are yet to come.

 _____________________________________________

[1] Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon, Some Laws of the Nine Days, available here

[2]  Ibid.

[3]  Rabbi David Lapin, Parshat Devarim 5768: The Crisply Laundered Shirt, available here

[4] Ibid.

The Test of a False Prophet

During the three weeks between 17^th Tammuz and Tisha b’Av this year I decided to consider the synoptic accounts of Yeshua’s prophecy surrounding the destruction of the second Temple and the end of the age.  Taking Matthew 24:6-25:13, Mark 13:1-37, and Luke 21:5-36 divided into 21 short readings.  Interestingly, of the eleven occurrences of the term “false prophet” in the Apostolic Writings three are found in the Matthew and Mark accounts of Yeshua’s warnings regarding things to come after the destruction of the second Temple.  Even more peculiar is the lack of detail in Yeshua’s words regarding what a false prophet is or what a false prophet does amidst what is popularly understood as an unswerving assurance that the elect cannot be deceived by them.  Yet, in considering closely Matthew 24:24 two words that are employed in some popular translations (including KJV and NIV ) “it were” or “that were” are italicized, indicating that these words are not found in the most ancient manuscripts.  Instead of understanding the verse to say that if it were possible that the elect could be deceived by false prophets or if that were a possibility, in a negative sense, the most literal rendering states “if possible, they (false prophets) shall deceive the elect”.  In other words, the possibility exists that false prophets shall deceive, even the elect.  This is also confirmed by Yeshua’s words at the beginning of the discourse in which he warns his disciples to “take heed that no man deceive you”.  

In talking with a friend this past week I asked her what a “false prophet” is. Without hesitation she answered “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”.  A very biblical answer, but what does that mean?  How is one to determine when the wolf is in sheep’s clothing and a false prophet is in one’s midst?

In considering parashah Shoftim this past week, Moses, in Deuteronomy 18, speaks of a prophet like himself who will come from the Jewish people.  G-d will place His words in the mouth of this prophet and he will speak everything that G-d commands him.  This prophet is to be hearkened and those that do not hearken to him will be held personally accountable.  On the other hand, a prophet who speaks in G-d’s Name that which G-d did not command him to speak is to be condemned to die.

Moses then addresses the logical question which would be raised by the Children of Israel.  How is one to discern if someone is speaking something that G-d has not commanded him to speak, for anyone can claim that they are speaking forth the Word of the L-RD?  Moses responds by saying:

 If the prophet will speak in the Name of HaShem and that thing will not occur and not come about – that is the word that HaShem has not spoken; (Deuteronomy 18:22a Stone Chumash)

 Taken at face value this test of a prophet seems pretty simple.  If what the prophet predicts comes to pass he is a true prophet of G-d.  If what he predicts does not come to pass he is a false prophet, a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” attempting to be something that he is not.  Yet, Maimonides in Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (Foundations of Torah) points out an interesting discrepancy in understanding Deuteronomy 18:22.  If the test of a false prophet lies solely on his predictions coming to pass, then Jonah by definition would be categorized as a false prophet and worthy of death.  For Jonah proclaimed to the city of Nineveh that in 40 days they would be destroyed. Of course the biblical record states that the people repented, G-d relented and the city was spared.  Therefore Jonah’s prophecy did not come to pass.

 When the calamity that Jonah predicted did not come to pass he became very disheartened and literally wished to die.  The classic understanding is that Jonah was depressed because the city of Nineveh, which was exceedingly wicked, had been spared via means of repentance and G-d’s mercy upon them. Yet, another understanding could be that Jonah was depressed because the prophecy he proclaimed did not come to pass and in essence this would define him as a false prophet, worthy of death.  Perhaps Jonah anticipated that which he understood to be rightfully his due.  Perhaps he saw in the gourd that sprouted up and gave him shade and relief from the scorching sun, but yet died and withered the same day, a dreadful symbol of his own situation.  For like the gourd, Jonah had made relief from judgment possible for Nineveh, yet, because his prophecy upon them did not come to pass he too would wither and die and feel the scorching heat of G-d’s wrath upon him.  In this way, Jonah pitied himself and his role as prophet and neglected to pity the people of Nineveh. 

 Maimonides points out that the answer to this apparent dilemma of Jonah, of a genuine prophet speaking forth the Word of HaShem that does not come to pass, is found in the book of Jeremiah.  For as Jeremiah prophesied national disaster upon Israel a rival “prophet”, Hananiah, prophesied only good saying that Babylon would be defeated and that within two years the current crisis would be over.  In 28:9 Jeremiah explains that the prophet who prophesies peace will be known as a true prophet only when his prediction comes to pass.  

 From this Maimonides understands that negative prophecy cannot be used as a test of a false prophet.  Negative prophecy cannot be undeniably refuted because G-d is a G-d of mercy and forgiveness and there is always room for repentance and turning away of the harsh decree.  If a negative prophecy does not come to pass it is impossible to discern if the prophecy was false to begin with or if the situation predicted was averted due to repentant hearts and G-d’s forgiveness.  Because human beings have free will the future cannot be unfailingly predicted because people have the ability to change and to repent.

 Therefore, only when a prophet predicts a positive vision and a blessing from HaShem can prophecy rightly be tested and a false prophet distinguished amidst the people. As Maimonides explains:

But if, however, the prophet decreed good things and his prediction did not come true, then he is definitely a false prophet, for whenever God makes a good decree, even if it is conditional, He does not revoke it. From here we see that a prophet is tested only with respect to good matters. (Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 10:4) [1]

The real test of prophecy is not bad news but good news.  When a prophet speaks forth a positive vision he is put to the test for G-d will not renege on a promise for good and blessing.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks elaborates further on Maimonides by saying that when it comes to negative prophecy and predictions of destruction and judgment, the prophet does not actually foretell, but instead warns.  The negative prophecy is a warning to encourage people to change their hearts and return to HaShem.  Therefore, if a negative prophecy is fulfilled the prophet is not justified and is not proven true because the purpose for his prophecy has not come to pass. In this way when Nineveh repented and was not destroyed, the purpose of Jonah’s negative prophecy was realized.  Positive prophecy, on the other hand, is a prediction, it is the speaking forth of something good that will happen regardless of man’s actions, but because of G-d’s promise.  If a prediction comes true it has succeeded, if a prophecy comes true it has failed. [2]

In considering Yeshua’s prophecies regarding the destruction of the Temple and end of days, it is easy to focus on the details that have taken place so perfectly.  The Temple was destroyed just as he said it would be. The personal devastation upon Jerusalem and its inhabitants occurred with historical precision. The persecution of the disciples led to martyrdom for all the Apostles except (traditionally) John.  False Messiahs have come and gone over the centuries, wars and rumors of wars have plagued every generation.  The horrible details and “tribulations” that have not yet occurred are generally considered inevitable and necessary in order for the return of the master to take place.  

Yet, the many negative prophecies that Yeshua related surrounding the Temple destruction and his future return are not meant only as items on a checklist or as a scorecard of accuracy.  For each negative prophecy represents the opportunity for repentance, return to HaShem, and relief from the harsh decree.  In essence, each negative prophecy which has come true has failed to achieve the purpose for which it was given.   

Yeshua will return some day, he will gather his elect from the four corners of the earth, and will set up his kingdom in Jerusalem to reign over the entire earth.  These positive prophesies will occur because they are based on G-d’s promise and not man’s actions.  But the atmosphere in which they shall occur can be one of doom and destruction or of repentance and mercy depending on the heart of man toward G-d.

. . . . . . . . .

What is a wolf in sheep’s clothing?  A sheep is a docile animal that is domesticated and follows the simple commands of its master.  It eats grass and is satisfied.  The wolf is wild and unable to be tamed.  It eats meat and destroys its prey.  The sheep symbolizes peace and good.  The wolf symbolizes destruction and doom.  A wolf in sheep’s clothing is an underlying message of destruction and doom that tries to present itself as something good and peaceful.  In the words of Jeremiah it is those who say “peace, peace” when there is no peace (just as Hananiah did). Yeshua considered such a dichotomous view a curse and pronounced woe upon Israel when “all men speak well of you” for this is the way of the false prophets of which their fathers approved (Luke 6:26).

The theme of Yeshua’s prophecies regarding the Temple destruction and the end of the age is to “watch” and “be aware”.  Does this mean that his followers are merely to realize the details that have already come to pass and be on the look-out for things yet to come?  As wars and earthquakes and other events are considered and contemplated as fulfillment of further prophetic tribulation are we then to rejoice in this as something good and necessary and be at peace with it?  Or should we instead recognize the opportunity for repentance in such things and avert the harsh decree?  

The test of the false prophet is found in what he predicts and understands to be good.  Who then is the wolf in sheep’s clothing?  Is it an outsider who tries to be something that he isn’t, a false believer who tries to sneak in and destroy the flock?  Or is he to be found right within our midst?  Within the possibility that Yeshua warned of, the possibility that even the elect could be deceived by understanding prophecy that is negative and meant to evoke repentance as something that is good and must be fulfilled?

 

[1] Maimonides, The Laws of the Basic Principles of Torah, Chapter 10, point 4, available at: http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker/MadaYHT.html

[2] Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Covenant and Conversation – Shoftim 5765, available at: http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical.aspx?id=715

A Woman’s Prayer for Tisha b’Av

One of the books I have read over the past month is Seyder Tkhines (The Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women) by Devra Kay. The Seyder Tkhines is the first known standard book of prescribed vernacular prayers for women originally printed in Yiddish in the year 1648, and incorporated into numerous Ashkenazic synagogue Siddurim in the mid 1600’s-1720’s.  Although from earliest times Hannah’s prayer had been seen as the model for Jewish women regarding private and spontaneous prayer as opposed to the male-oriented communal service, the introduction of the Seyder Tkhines provided women a means of participating in standardized prayer that went beyond the usual petitions of spontaneous supplication.  

An interesting conjecture regarding the appearance of the earliest Seyder Tkhines in 1648 is related to the Messianic fervor of the mid-1600’s.  In 1648 (5408 in the Hebrew calendar) Jewish kabbalists predicted the first coming of Messiah based on the gematria value of the phrase “end of days” which in Hebrew numerically calculates to 5408. [1]  Christian writers including Isaac de la Peyrere (Du Rappel des Juifs) and Pierre de la Fons also predicted 1648 as the date the Christian Messiah would return. When the redemption did not take place in that year, both Jewish kabbalists and Christian millenarians set the next year of salvation as 1666. [2]

In this atmosphere of great Messianic expectation the Seyder Tkhines was published. The title page of the original edition explains the purpose of women reciting the tkhines as a means of gaining entry into the Holy Land through the coming of the Messiah. [3]  One of the fast day tkhines includes an extensive prayer composed for the ninth of Av.  Devra Kay points out a pertinent parallel between the ninth of Av tkhine and the book of Lamentations (traditionally read during the ninth of Av) in that both express grief as voiced by a female narrator, for in the book of Lamentations the voice of grieving Jerusalem is initially described in the feminine (“her”). [4]

Although the ninth of Av is a time of repentance and mourning regarding the destruction of the first and second Temples, the sages take notice that within this most sad day is contained a seed of hope.  Historically (according to Talmud Ta’anit 29a) the fire that destroyed the second Temple began toward evening on the ninth of Av and reached it fullest and most destructive force on the tenth of Av.  Yet, the halachah of the ninth of Av begins exceedingly mournful and then eases as the day progresses. Men do not wear tallit or tefillin for shacharit but don the tallit for minchah. One sits on low stools or on the floor until mid-day, at which time one can sit on regular chairs. Work is prohibited (including preparation of food) until mid-day after which the prohibition is lifted. Fasting ends at nightfall and scrupulous individuals who desire to commemorate the total destruction of the Temple on the tenth of Av abstain from eating meat or drinking wine, bathing and laundering until mid-day on the tenth.

In a manner that seems to contradict the logical liturgical order of the day, on the ninth of Av mourning lessens as the historical time the fire and destruction of the Temple is understood to have become heightened.  The most extreme grieving takes place during the morning hours becoming less extreme at night and during the following day (when the Temple was actually consumed in flames and burned to the ground).  Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller explains this seeming contradiction as incorporating the principle that at the time of greatest destruction and despair, the hope of redemption is born. [5]  It is at times when the impossible happens and the greatest disasters take place that one feels an uncanny closeness to G-d and redemption becomes “real” and longed for.  From this the rabbis developed the concept that “on Tisha b’Av Mashiach is born”.  In this way everything that brings about Mashiach’s coming has the possibility to be “born within us” at this time. [6]

Therefore, the mourning of Tisha b’Av lightens as the historical time of the destruction increases. Because the historic time encompasses the most extensive details of disaster this time also provides the greatest opportunity for the hope of redemption to be realized and the seeds of redemption to be planted.  With this in mind some women of the Chabad tradition will begin to scrub floors and clean house after mid-day on the ninth of Av in anticipation of the awaited redemption. [7] 

Similar concepts are seen in Yeshua’s teachings regarding the destruction of the Temple and his second coming (Matthew 24:6-25:13, Mark 13:1-37, Luke 21:5-8).  In Mark 13:32-37 watchfulness regarding the second coming is likened to a servant who is placed in charge of the home of his master who has taken a long journey to a far away county. The home must be kept in order for the servant does not know when the master will return. If the master’s return is likely of course the servant will make sure that the house is clean.  

The three synoptic accounts relate awesome and unbelievable physical changes in the sun, moon, stars, and heavens to occur prior to the Son of Man’s return.  In Luke 21:28 Yeshua says:

 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. (NKJV)

 Is Yeshua merely saying that when such signs take place that one should look up toward the heavens in order to physically witness his coming?  When a person is in mourning his face is downtrodden and his head is bowed.  When one is in grief it is difficult to look another person in the face.  When one is hopeful their demeanor changes.  This is seen in the popular phrase “things are looking up” to describe a situation of renewed hope and anticipation.  At the time of greatest physical distress and perplexity ever known upon the earth, a time when “men’s hearts fail them from fear” (v. 26), Yeshua literally says “things are looking up”.  One’s focus and face should be uplifted as an expression of the hope and reality of redemption being born out of a time of greatest disaster.  

Yet, upon close reading Yeshua admonishes his disciples to “look up and lift up your heads” “when these things begin to happen”.  These things, which Yeshua has been speaking of, begin with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, in which “not one stone will be left upon another”.  

With this in mind, and with Tisha b’Av understood as a day of great sorrow in which the hope of redemption takes root in reality, I provide the tkhine for the ninth of Av below as translated into English by Devra Kay.  May this prayer inspire women to grieve in the uniquely feminine voice through a historic standardized prayer composed with a focus upon redemption and the coming of Messiah.

 

To be said on the Ninth of Av

 

Judge of all the world,

Your judgment is right and true,

And without injustice.

You are our true judge forever.

 

On this day our forefathers,

Those who You led out of Egypt

Through Your servant Moses and Aaron,

Committed many misdeeds.

 

Again they did not trust in the promise

That You made to our forefathers,

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

So they were not permitted to enter the Holy Land,

Where Your Divine Presence rested

At all times, and where Your Name

Was murmured by Your true servants.

 

And on that night they all cried,

And their eyes ran like spring water,

And they did not trust in Your assurances.

 

And when they discovered

Through Your servants Moses and Aaron

That the gift was also to be withheld from their children,

As it happened through Your truth,

They cried many tears on this day.

 

On this day of Your great splendor,

Both Temples were destroyed and wiped out.

The crown fell to earth,

And we can no longer bring sacrifices

To the offering stool

In honor of Your holiness,

And can no longer go three times a year

To see the beauty of Your Divine Presence.

 

With our faith and conviction

In the great happiness

With which the Holy Divine Presence

Rested among the cherubim

And spoke with Your children

On the High Holy Days

In the face of great bravery,

Against great wealth,

And against great hope

Everything was burnt in a fire from Heaven,

And they chose crooked ways, not good ones.

 

And women and children who were gentle and educated

Were taken into captivity,

And the maidens were shamed.

And the young men had to drag

Millstones around their shoulders and necks.

And the chains around their feet made them stumble.

 

And they craved bread in their hunger,

And had no water to quench their thirst.

There was great and bitter frustration

For all the people,

And for this city,

And all lands,

One city that was above all the others

Suffered great and bitter frustration.

 

And they called out for mercy

To overturn his hatred.

They called out to their Friend for help,

But no one answered them

Except with evil,

Mocking their Sabbaths and Festivals,

Extinguishing their candles,

And creating darkness.

 

Lord of all the world,

I stand before You

With a sad heart,

Wailing and weeping,

My eyes run like spring water,

And my heart sighs and cannot be free

Of the memory of the disruption

Of Your children Israel

In the broken city of Yehuda,

And Israel

And their Kingdom.

 

So they went into captivity,

And the Priests who worshipped in Your House,

And the Levites who sang and beat on all sides

Playing the holy songs,

Are now dispersed,

And all the holy vessels

Have come into unclean hands.

 

May Your Name be merciful.

My eyes are swollen with great weeping,

And my heart is weak with sighing before You,

And my strength deserts my body,

And the marrow forsakes my bones,

And my limbs are feeble with great lament

For your children Israel.

 

Who can heal them like you?

You are the One who heals all sickness under Israel,

And you are one Lord over all lords,

Who forgives transgressions

In Your great mercy and compassion.

 

Turn Your ears toward the cries of Your people Israel,

And open Your eyes and see the plight of Your holy city

Where Your voice called out to them,

And hear how Your children are mocked and shamed among the peoples,

Where their goodness is lost with all their hope.

 

Give your strength to them,

And let the strength of others come to nothing,

And may they be shamed,

And tremble in awe before the grim severity of Your holiness.

And help us, and gather us together

From all four corners of the world,

From among the peoples,

So we are happy again.

 

And free us from the pain You gave us,

And remember the covenant with our forefathers.

Let it not be lost to us among the peoples,

And rebuild the holy city again with Your continuity.

 

As the prophet said:

In honor of You

I wish to receive Your mercy and compassion.

For you forgive the misdeeds of Your people Israel

Out of love

When our eyes and our hearts are faithful to you,

And when we serve You

You are our consolation.

 

Therefore console us in our unhappiness

And protect us from further sadness,

And send us Your beloved

Who will beg only for the good of Your children Israel.

 

And on this day, may we celebrate,

And praise Your Name,

And tell of Your great wonder.

And may You save us now

As You saved us from Egypt,

So we may soon rejoice,

In our day.

 

Amen. [8]

 

[1]  Devra Kay, Seyder Tkhines (The Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women), The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 2004, p. 34.

[2] Ibid. p. 35

[3] Ibid. p. 45

[4] Ibid. p. 166

[5] Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller, Feeling the Churban, available at:  http://www.naaleh.com/viewclass/705/single/

[6] Ibid.

[7] Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, Order of the Day (A Step by Step Guide to Tisha b’Av Observance), available at:  http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/144576/jewish/Order-of-the-Day.htm

[8] Devra Kay, op. cit. pp. 166-169.