Offering a Pleasing Sacrifice in Einhorn's Waste-Places of the Ages: Reclaiming and Renewing Tisha B'Av for a Theologically-Consistent Progressive Judaism

Non-orthodox Jews, especially Reform Jews, tend to have an ambivalent relationship with Tisha B'Av for a variety of reasons.  But in our time and place, it would seem that a structured time set aside for lamentation is a healthy spiritual practice.  There is so much to lament--much more at least than there seemed to be a handful of years ago, when two previous versions of this piece appeared on the URJ blogs and the website of The Society for Classical Reform Judaism, respectively.  Perhaps even a more traditional and rigorous observance than the manicured, genteel recasting I previously granted is in order.  Be that the case or no, here is the general precedent regarding Tisha B'Av in progressive Judaism:

Despite the numerous ways in which Tisha B’Av and its underlying narrative and purpose seem to conflict with fundamental assumptions of progressive Judaism (such as rejection of the concept that we are still in exile from the Holy Land and the desire to reëstablish the Temple and sacrificial cult), it has nevertheless developed a noble, moving dimension over the centuries.  The Rabbis of the Talmud held that the scattering of our People after the destruction of the Temple was a punishment for sinat chinam—a Hebrew term for “baseless hatred”.  For traditional Jews, exile from the Land of Israel is the ultimate punishment from God.  Traditional Jewish narrative is full of stories of horrible, agonizing, collective punishment (such as the forty-years' sojourn in the desert and being given over into the hands of numerous enemies) for infidelity to the commandments of God.  However, it is extremely significant that even in traditional Judaism, the ultimate punishment was brought about because of “baseless hatred”—not failure to observe the Sabbath perfectly, not failure to uphold the minutiae of dietary restrictions, and not even for blasphemy or disrespect for God.  We were punished most severely, according to legend, for hatred and unkindness toward other people.  Toxic behavior, and not ritual infraction, was what finally made God angry enough to exile the Jews from the Holy Land.  For this reason, many progressive Jews have sought to reclaim Tisha b’Av as a meaningful observance highlighting the razor-sharp ethical focus of Jewish Tradition throughout the ages, as well as mourning tragedy.  It should not be surprising that in our postmodern age, many see fit to reclaim traditions previously rejected in an attempt to embrace modernity as fully as possible.  Many of us who would call ourselves "classical" Reform Jews respectfully disapprove of the scope and content of some of those postmodern "reclaiming" endeavors.  It may be a stretch for many dyed-in-the-wool Classical Reform Jews to conceive of observing the Ninth of Av, but most don’t know that the precedent for such observance goes back to the foundational history of progressive Judaism.

Very early in Reform history, there was a significant, but now nearly-forgotten, attempt to build an authentically Reform practice for Tisha B’Av.  In the mid 19th century, Rabbi David Einhorn included in the rubric for weekday worship a lengthy reading and prayer “For the Anniversary of the Destruction of Jerusalem.”  This was highly “unorthodox” for Reform at the time, but in genius fashion, it turned the whole concept of Tisha B’Av on its head, expounding a positive theology of the Diaspora as a providential development so that we might be a “Light unto the Nations.”  The diaspora can be thought of in much the same way that traditional Judaism regards the various plagues in the Exodus narrative—we can mourn the loss of innocent life while simultaneously celebrating the overall impact of the historical event.

It is no accident that Rabbi Einhorn titled his radical Reform prayerbook Olat Tamid—“A Perpetual Offering.”  It is likened to the burnt sacrifice and its “odor pleasing to God” (Numbers 28:26).  This was the ultimate symbolic and rhetorical proclamation that authentic Reform Jewish worship was indeed a substitutionary sacrifice of the offerings of our lips in prayer—a permanent replacement of and superior form of worship to the animal sacrifices in the Temple.  I would like to see the development of a new Reform liturgy and ritual for Tisha B’Av along the lines of Einhorn’s beautiful experiment more than 160 years ago.  Rather than merely emulating the traditional sense of mourning for the loss of the Temple, monarchy, and Priesthood, or God forbid, desiring their reconstitution, we should focus on the perils of sinat chinam, and in the words of Einhorn, we should be gravely thankful that “the one Temple in Jerusalem sank into the dust, in order that countless Temples might arise to God’s honor and glory all over the wide surface of the globe.”

And so, if you're any flavor of monotheist and happen to read this post on or near Tisha B'Av, which in the Gregorian year 2019 C.E. falls on Sunday, August 11, I ask you to pray with me Einhorn's closing prayer from his 1858 mini-service for Tisha B'Av, penned by him in Hebrew, translated by him into German, and retranslated into English in 1895 by Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch of Sinai Temple in Chicago.  Let's hope that our prayer together might be worthy to be as the incense in the Temple of Old: a sweet and pleasant odor, acceptable before God, fumigating the stench of evil--the evil of others and our own wrongs as well!

Thou, O King, didst reveal Thyself on Mount Zion to Thy holy people; they heard Thy majestic voice, Thy holy word, out of flames of fire; Thou didst appoint them to make known Thy way in the Earth and among all nations Thy help. Give triumph to Thy people Israel! Let them be wrapped in beauty and not be garmented in sackcloth and ashes. Give unto them joy for mourning: courage for despondency. Build Thou Thy house—the house of prayer unto all the nations. Establish speedily Thy throne and reign Thou over the whole Earth. Praised be Thou, O God, Who rebuildest the waste-places of the ages!