D’var Torah: Shall we weep in the fifth month?

Written by Rabbi Josh Levy — 21 July 2023

In 518 BCE, or thereabouts, a delegation of Jews who had remained in Babylon after the end of the Exile, came to Jerusalem. They came to ask the Prophet Zechariah a question:

“Ha’evkeh ba-chodesh ha’chamishi” they asked “Shall we continue to weep in the fifth month?”

It is the first known asking of a question that is still with us today:
What to do with Tisha B’Av, the fast day of mourning in the month of Av which we will mark this coming week, a practice which began with the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, which would come to also commemorate the destruction by the Romans of the second temple 600 years later.

The Jews of Babylon were asking, with the return of others to the land, with the construction of a new temple almost complete, was it still necessary to fast? As Jewish life flourishes anew, is it necessary to mourn for the loss of that which came before?

This question has returned at a number of periods in Jewish history.
It was a question asked by the Sages during the flourishing of rabbinic Judaism.
It was a question that had particular resonance for those creating a new Jewish presence in the land of Israel in the early 20th Century, and for those who now live in it.

For Progressive Jews the question of Tisha b’Av has been even more complex. We see Jewish life flourishing in different ways and in multiple places, especially away from the idea of temple cult. “Shall we continue to weep in the fifth month?” – for most of the last 200 years of Progressive Judaism the answer we have given is no.

So, how do we today answer the question first posed to Zechariah? What is the place of Tisha B’Av in contemporary society?

It is worth revisiting the answer given to that first delegation in 518 BCE.
Zechariah acknowledged that Tisha B’Av is not an eternal commemoration. Its observance, and that of all the fast days marking historical events, he said, is dependent on context. Zechariah tells us, that the fasts “shall become l’sasson v’simchah – occasions for joy and gladness – u’l’moadim tovim – for festivals of happiness”. That is, these days can be transformed as our situation changes.

This idea is reiterated in the Talmud: “bizman shyeish shalom, yihyu l’sasson v’simchah; ein shalom tzom” – “at a time when there is peace, they will be for joy and gladness; if there is not peace, for fasting.”

But that is not all Zechariah says. He also suggest how this transformation can happen:
“Execute true justice, deal loyally and compassionately with one another. Look after those who are vulnerable, do not plot evil against one another.”
These can be days of ‘sasson v’simcha’ of joy and gladness he says “if you love honesty and integrity’.”

And so, to today.
Is Tisha B’Av yet a holiday?
Early Progressive rabbis said yes: We are not sad for that which was lost, so this is not a day of mourning.
Some of those who returned to the land said yes: We are living once again in Israel, seeing a flourishing of Jewish life.

But, can we say that we are fulfilling the injunction of Zechariah?
Are we valuing honesty and integrity, dealing compassionately with one another?
With Israel in upheaval, its own government threatening its democracy, can we say that we as a people do ‘not plot evil against one another’ as Zechariah demanded?

“Ha’evkeh ba-chodesh ha’chamishi” – “Shall we continue to weep in the fifth month?”

The question from Babylon remains an important one.
There is a case to suggest that,with Zechariah in mind, we have never been more in need of a day of fasting.
Not a day to mourn that which happened, but a day to acknowledge that which we still struggle to be.
And in which we recognise that which, as Jews, we still, 2,500 years on, fail to do.