On Monday evening, well over 100 community members gathered in CBI’s sanctuary to commemorate Tisha b’Av, the day that is historically most solemn on the Jewish calendar. The whole point of having this one day, within this one three-week mourning period, as a catch-all for every calamity that has befallen our people is so that we don’t let the rest of the year weigh us down in sorrow.
Life and joy are the messages of our tradition; we are fueled by a life of purpose, the pursuit of peace and fulfillment, mitzvot, and making every moment count. This single three-week period contains all of our collective sorrow, compartmentalized, freeing up the rest of the year. It’s referred to as bein ha’meitzarim, the period of narrowness. We feel it, but then we emerge from it.
This year, though, has not every day of these last 10 months felt like a Tisha b’Av day? Since October 7th, it certainly has for me. It’s been very painful, difficult, sad, lonely, scary. This year, the brief three-week narrowness has been enduring, almost ceaselessly.
How can we emerge from it? I don’t fully know. But I do know that our best shot at emerging from this tekufah, this challenging time for our people, is by doing it together. Unity (achdut), togetherness is our best shot at finding some way to come out the other side.
It was so inspiring, therefore, that on Monday evening we gathered together as multiple synagogue communities. Beth El, Oheb Shalom, Kol Rina, and B’nai Israel. We were together under one roof. We joined in learning, prayer, and song. It’s unity that will enable us to even attempt to find the glimmer of light.
What we will discover is that bringing different synagogues together for meaningful collaborations will occur at a greater pace than ever before. Already, TBAY and CBI’s morning minyans have begun to collaborate twice a week.
On September 17th, TBAY, TBJ, and CBI will join together for a program on combatting antisemitism, hosted at CBI.
On September 28th, no fewer than seven synagogues, CBI included, will join forces for a moving ushering-in of the High Holidays, a communal Selichot service.
Making compromises to find common ground which enables us to gather in greater numbers will ultimately strengthen us, bring us comfort, and will sustain us. It certainly worked powerfully on Monday evening for Tisha b’Av, it worked for the morning minyan, and it will continue to benefit our endeavors moving forward.
Rabbi Ari Isenberg
