Canaan Lidor
Times of Israel, Aug. 12, 2024
“Tisha B’Av invokes October 7 not because of the onslaught’s death toll — the highest of any massacre of Jews since the Holocaust — but because “our identity is now once again linked to pain, loss, and tragedy that makes Tisha B’Av one of deeper meaning, prayer, and purpose to both mourn and inspire change,” he said.”
Like thousands of Israelis, Adam Hajaj is still suffering from the Hamas onslaught of October 7, when terrorists abducted his cousin Rom Braslavski from the Supernova music festival in Re’im.
On Saturday, Hajaj told thousands of people about his family’s pain at the weekly rally for the hostages in Tel Aviv. But he began his speech by addressing events from almost 2,000 years ago, with the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem on the Hebrew calendar date of Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of fasting and mourning that begins, this year, on Monday evening.
For many, the scope of the October 7 tragedy and the fears it has raised about the Jewish state’s viability call Tisha B’Av to mind and imbue it with new significance as a warning against division and gratuitous hatred among Jews.
The link between Tisha B’Av and October 7 is shaping up to be a major theme of the day of mourning this year. Thousands of synagogues across all denominations are expected to incorporate texts about October 7 in their Tisha B’Av ceremonies, causing some to predict the onslaught’s eventual canonization in Jewish liturgy alongside other catastrophes.
“I want to talk to you about the destruction of the Second Temple,” Hajaj told the audience on Saturday after introducing himself. Since October 7, it “feels much closer to home and relevant” to read the biblical Book of Lamentations, known in Hebrew as Eicha, Hajaj said.…. [To read the full article, click here]