Mourning and Joy, Hatred and Love

On the 9th of Av (the Hebrew month) we have a day of mourning, the culmination of three weeks of ruminating on the consequences of hate and loss. We mourn the various destructions of our people - temples, battles, loss of life. Judaism is good at creating sacred time and ritual for mourning, something of immense value during difficult times.

This year, the Shmita or sabbatical year, Secular Synagogue has been playing with the idea of taking a break from mourning and grieving, as we concentrate fully on rest and joy. Hear me out. Yes, there is a time to mourn and a time to dance (h/t Ecclesiastes) and this is our time to mourn. But things have been hard and heavy lately and we have grieved so much. Jewish calamities, yes, and also other disasters fuelled by hatred — the attacks in Ukraine, abortion bans, mass shootings, Covid - it goes on. We’ve had our time to mourn and mourn. This summer I propose we pause our mourning and lean into joy. We are being ground down and to keep building the world we want from a place of love, the antidote to the baseless hatred that we are taught led to our many destructions, we need to love. To love fully we need to be rested. We need to tap into joix de vivre. Less Tisha B’av energy and more Tu B’av.

Tu B’av, just 6 days after Tisha B’av, is a festival of love and fertility. Let’s go out into the fields and dance and play. Let’s touch grass and immerse in water and join hands and hearts. Let’s hold each other - literally, metaphorically - let’s embrace.

This summer I say we need less Oy and more Joy. Get after it!