Lamentations

by: Jeremy Burton

Thu Aug 07, 2008 at 10:25:41 AM EDT

This sunday, August 10th, is Tisha B'Av - a historical day of Jewish mourning, originally tied to the date of the temple destruction and then added in over the centuries with layers of mourning for tragedies of Jewish history (e.g. the expulsion from Spain, the Holocaust).

Every year I end up in conversations with my modern minded friends of diverse political persuasions who struggle with this day; its relevance to a politically empowered Jewish people; its Jewish-centered focus in the space of so much else that goes on in the world; its orientation of mourning for things lost that some may not wish to see returned (e.g. animal sacrifice).

For myself, I seek to connect its core with our contemporary experience, and to see the connection with how those who lived in lamentation 2500 years ago experienced their world, and how we experience the world around us.

Given my obession with coal miners, my friend Seth Winberg (a student at Chovevei Torah)  reminded me today of the passage from Eicha (Lamentations 4:8) describing the scene in the streets of Jersualem in the days of destruction of the first temple.

Their appearance has become blacker than soot, they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones, it became as dry as wood. 

The Talmud (Gittin 55b:56A) teaches that the temple was destroyed because of hatred between people. 

This passage from Eicha reminds me today of something more tragic  than hatred: Invisibility.  Invisibility of The Other, of the one not like us, of the one who may go unrecognize in the street - because of the grime in which they are covered or the life experience that we have not taken time to recognize as connected to our own.  It is mindfullness of The Other, of their stories, of their narrative, of their experience in the street... that I will be taking into my own reading of Lamentations this weekend.

p.s. For the latest in coal mining news check out this piece from the Louisville Courier-Journal about the ongoing battle, including at hearings of the Mine Safety and Health Administration this week, for increased regulatory protection of miners.

p.p.s. my apologies, I've been away from this page for a while. A lot of work travel and a little vacation have added up.  I'm looking forward to bringing my passions (obsessions?) back to these pages in the weeks ahead.