What’s it like to experience a cultural, historic day of mourning during a pandemic and quarantine, twinned with protests against systemic racism and an armed federal crackdown?
Ideally, this question would be unthinkable. This year, it arises — and the answer points to wisdom that can guide us all through these dark days.
On Wednesday night and Thursday, for Jewish Americans, the troubles of this time will overlap with Tisha b’Av: the date of the destruction of Judaism’s First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE by ancient Babylon, and on the same day, the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Roman Empire. The occasion is one of fasting, softly singing dirges and contemplating these historic traumas.
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