Tisha B'Av | The Blogs

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Yehuda L. Oppenheimer

Jul 8, 2018, 2:56 PM

Is Roe v Wade really about abortions? The Supreme Court and the Three Weeks

By the time you read this essay, we will all know the name of President Trump’s second Supreme Court pick. One thing, however, we already know with absolute certainty. The person, whoever they will be, will be strenuously opposed...

Jul 3, 2018, 1:46 AM

The Fast I Don’t Fast

In the heat of the summers of my youth, on the 9th day of the month of Av (Tisha B’Av) I would go to the synagogue, remove my shoes and sit on the floor and by the light of...

Joshua Gerstein

Jul 2, 2018, 11:15 AM

Dr. Theodor Herzl & Building the 3rd Temple

Yesterday marked the commemoration of the 17th of Tammuz, a day of fasting and reflection and the start of the "three week" mourning period culminating in the somber day of remembrance Tisha BaAv, the Ninth of Av. In addition...

Allen S. Maller

Jul 1, 2018, 8:41 AM

Pre 9 Av political advice from our sages

During the three weeks between the Fast of Tamuz and Tisha B’Av, the topic of the unrestrained hatred of other Jews (sinat khinam) should be carefully studied and talked about especially in Israel; for our sages say that both...

Jun 30, 2018, 9:57 PM

7 ways to keep Jews from fighting each other

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts, 1850. (Wikipedia/ Creative Commons)

We must work to listen to each other, to forgive each other, and to stick together, as the extended family we are

Jun 27, 2018, 10:31 AM

Parshat Balak and the Three Weeks

So, here are at the Three Weeks again and soon the nine days again. We go through the motions of mourning and pretending that we miss the Beit Mikdash (and maybe we want the 3rd Temple to restore God’s...

Allen S. Maller

Jun 25, 2018, 11:03 PM

Respond to balloon arson with 9 Av wisdom

Hamas plans to vastly expand its balloon arson attacks on Israeli crops. Before the IDF does something about it, during the weeks preceding 9Av, the Israel's political and military strategy planners should study the Talmud: Gittin 55b. “Because of...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Jun 8, 2018, 6:07 PM

The anniversary of the scouts’ journey begins on Tuesday

In Parshat Shlach, Bamidbar 13:25 we read: “They (the scouts) returned from searching the land, at the end of 40 days.” Rashi asks: But is not the land 400x400 parsaot (a parsa is about 2.2 miles) and the average person’s traveling...

Apr 24, 2018, 1:05 AM

On Syncing our Zikaron & Celebrations

When the 8th day of Pesach fell on Shabbat, something happened: the Torah reading in Israel, where there is no 8th day, proceeded to the Book of Leviticus, while those of us in “chutz-la’aretz” (outside of Israel) stayed one...

Allen S. Maller

Apr 19, 2018, 7:20 AM

Do mass extinctions negate God’s designs?

We all know that Dinosaurs disappeared with a bang; wiped out by a large meteorite impact on the Earth 66 million years ago. But their origins have been less understood. In a new study, scientists show that the key expansion...

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