Posted on August 1, 2025 by Rabbi Noah Diamondstein
Dear Temple Beth-El,
We are beginning the book of D’varim this Shabbat–a book that is almost entirely made up of an extended speech by Moshe recapitulating the Israelites’ journey in the Torah and the many mitzvot they have been commanded to observe. The Vilna Gaon taught in his commentary on the opening of the book of D’varim that we are told three times in the first five verses that Moses spoke. Each of these three times, he suggested, refer to the book of Deuteronomy’s three sections, each of which are parallels to the books of Sh’mot, Vayiqra, and Bamidbar respectively. I’m excited to be diving back into the text alongside you all!
This Shabbat, however, is tempered by its immediate proximity to the Ninth of Av, or in Hebrew Tisha B’Av, which begins as Shabbat ends on Saturday night. Tisha B’Av is our tradition’s most somber day, on which we reflect on the many tragedies that have befallen our People, beginning with the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and extending into modern history. Tisha B’Av is a fast day, and a day for reading and studying the texts of lament from our tradition, most notably the biblical book of Eicha, Lamentations. (Click here to listen to Cantor Wallach chant Eicha.)
For a long time, many in the Reform movement chose not to observe this fast day. It commemorated the destruction of the Temples, and our movement has never desired the building of a Third Temple or the resumption of the ancient sacrificial worship of our forebears. This year, especially if this practice has been foreign to you, I want to urge you to consider observing the fast day (if health allows, of course).
While we may not wish for a Third Temple, the destruction of the Temples were some of the most horrifically violent moments in our People’s history. Our people were killed, sexually assaulted en masse, and many enslaved and exiled. We all know what it is like to live through Jewish history that includes horrific violence against Jews. The destruction was wrought by foreign powers (Assyria and Rome), but our tradition teaches that the real root cause of the destruction was sin’at chinam, senseless hatred, among and between the Jews themselves. We all know what it is like to live in a Jewish world too often factionalized, divided against itself.
As we are a People who know the meaning of bearing witness, I believe it is our responsibility to not let Tisha B’Av pass unobserved. Tonight at services, in lieu of a sermon, we will together sing songs and read poems of lament as we prepare for Tisha B’Av. I hope you’ll join me to welcome Shabbat and in reckoning with some of the pain in our history–it’s always easier to bear when we bear it together.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Noah Diamondstein
