Tisha B'av: Make it Meanginful

This article first appeared in our July/Aug '25 edition of The Bulletin

Tisha B'av: Saturday, August 2 - Sunday, August 3

In some Jewish communities, this holiday involves a day of fasting and mourning the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem, as well as every other great catastrophe that befell the Jewish people. We sit on the floor and bewail our misery. It can be a beautiful moment and a heavy moment, but sometimes it misses the point for those of us who identify as Reform Jews.

In Reform Judaism, we focus more on choice through knowledge. It’s important to know that while Tisha B’Av on the surface is about sadness and heaviness and mourning, it is also about speaking truth to power. It is not solely about sadness befalling the Jewish people in every generation, it’s about a commitment to social justice and tikkun olam (repairing the world). It is not solely about punishment from God, but the natural consequences of greed, absolute power, and causing other people to feel shame. It is an elegy to a society dedicated to caring for each other and creating a world in which there is no sadness, no war, no affliction.

So, this Tisha B’Av, go feed the hungry (you can sign up to volunteer at Soup Kitchen today). Or, plant a tree. Or, write a letter to someone powerful about something you care about. Share important Jewish values like tikkun olam. Read important pieces that connect you to the rest of the world and consider ideas that seem foreign to you. Do something, anything, to relieve the shame, injustice, poverty, hunger, inequality, and brokenness that seems to surround us.

A blessing for Tisha B'av:

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who reminds us to speak truth to power, repair the world, and speak up for those who lack a voice. We were created in the image of God and just like God has power, we have power.