Tisha b'Av

 Monday nights starts Tisha b'Av. It's one of only two sundown-to-sundown fast days in Judaism (the other is Yom Kippur), and is the saddest day of the year. We observe all of the same customs as when someone close to us has died, except this time we are mourning a string of devastating events that happened over the course of Jewish history. A friend said to me today that we've all had days since October 7 where we just want to sit and cry, and here we are, being handed a day when the whole country, and Jews around the world, will sit and cry together.

It has been hypothesized that, if Iran is going to attack, they will (knowing enough about Jewish history) do it on Tisha b'Av (hopefully all that diplomacy that's been coming to them has helped get them off the ledge and they won't do anything). But there is tremendous spiritual power in a nation that, as one, is fasting. So if you normally don't fast on Tisha b'Av, please consider it this year. And if you already do fast, join me in crying for everything and everyone we have lost this year and pray for a future we've been looking forward to for thousands of years. 

I have signed up to watch the video put out by Aish HaTorah that includes interviews with our neighbor, Jen Airley, whose soldier son Binyamin, was killed by a terrorist in Gaza in November. Here is the trailer for "October 7: Voices of Pain, Hope and Heroism". Jen is the first person who speaks in the trailer.

I appreciate all the supportive messages received after my last post, and all the helpful advice of additional products to place in the mamad. I've spent the better part of 1.5 weeks stocking up on a few things (okay, a lot of things), pretty much every time I go to the store (which is a few times a week, since we live so near the mercaz). But finally even *I* reached my limit. On Thursday, while shopping for Shabbat, I reached for a can of mandarin oranges.

Were they an ingredient in anything on the menu? No. Has anything with canned mandarin oranges been on the menu at any time in the last year? Nah. Do I even like mandarin oranges? Actually, I do ;). But as I reached for the can, thinking "maybe I should get one of these for the mamad, I found myself just about laughing out loud, and, wow, was that cathartic. Since then, I've found my tension level to be WAY lower (b''H). (Of course, each day that passes helps even more than mandarin oranges).

To try to end on a less somber note, have a chuckle looking at this. Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, tried to be super scary on social media. I'd say it failed because responses to his post are still coming out (my fave: "He should eat a diet higher in fiber"):

and this (if cross-dressing Israelis don't bother you :)):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mYScv8jOTQ