Mourning on Cue: The Talmudic Perspective on Tisha B’Av

Days dedicated to national mourning don’t always turn out to be universally somber and reflective. If you’ve ever been to a Memorial Day barbeque that was more about kicking off summer with good eats than commemorating soldiers who gave their lives to defend their country, you’ve seen that firsthand. The Talmud sees great value, however, in requiring Jews to observe a day of mourning for the destruction of both Temples as well as other disasters in Jewish history, some of them already more than a thousand years in the rear-view mirror by the time the Talmud was compiled. In this class, My Jewish Learning will explore what the rabbis wrote about Tisha B’Av and reflect on what it means to have a day of compulsory mourning.