Tisha BAv

My first year of study into Judaism, I attended a Tisha B’Av service at my shul. I came home, fully intending to fast and immediately ate some Oreo cookies. Last year is slipped by, this year it didn’t slip by, but I don’t really observe it.

However, after reading the Velveteen Rabbi’s post today, I might reconsider in the future.

“Tisha b’Av asks us to stop distracting ourselves, stop putting a good face on things, stop focusing on the bright side and actually allow ourselves to be aware of how much we can hurt. It demands a willingness to face suffering. It insists that there is theological and spiritual importance in the reality that our lives contain pain. That facing what hurts is a necessary prerequisite to the spiritual work of discernment and transformation that we are called to do. On Tisha b’Av we’re supposed to see what hurts.”

You really must read her entire post on facing our brokeness–both internally and externally.