n>Last year, it was hard to get into the mood for Tisha B’Av. It fell during the only week of the summer that all three of my kids were home in Pittsburgh and we had a little staycation: Segway tour around our town, visit to Picklesburgh, canoeing in Lake Moraine State Park, and, on the afternoon of Tisha B’Av, driving up to Chautauqua, New York, for two days. That evening, I chanted from the first chapter of the book of Lamentations—whose Hebrew name, Eicha, means literally “how,” as in “how is this possible”—at Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. Read Full Article »