The summer month of Tammuz starts this week and soon we turn to three weeks of lamenting over the fate of the ancient Temples destroyed in 586 BCE and then in 70 CE.
We have two fast days to commemorate these disasters, the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av, and I would like to turn our attention from the unavoidable tragedies of the past to the present – situations filled with challenges that we can overcome should we be able to work together better.
In the course of the next year we will be undertaking a series of conversations and events oriented around the reading from the Book of Isaiah that centers on “The Fast I desire”, from Chapter 58, verse 6.
We must turn our fast days, or lamenting, into actions. We must turn to our neighbors, especially the ones with whom we disagree, and aim for listening and learning in place of division and discord. Isaiah calls us to action, Judaism calls upon us to face difficulties everywhere, and I beseech all of you to join me in discussions that lead to change for the better.
We will commemorate the Ninth of Av on Saturday evening at 7:00 PM, on July 21, with a discussion of the material from Jonathan Haidt’s seminal work, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. Please talk about this with each other and invite friends and neighbors to attend this opportunity to listen and learn.
Our world needs us to lead, now more than ever. Let us join together and see how we are more than the sum of our parts.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week,
Jonathan