Lamentations and the Ninth of Av
When you compare the Old Testament, as it is arranged in the Jewish Old Testament, with the Old Testament, as it is arranged in our Bibles, you will find the same books, but arranged differently.
For example, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 Minor Prophets, are grouped together. Notice the absence of Lamentations and Daniel. Daniel is grouped with Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles. Lamentations is grouped Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, and Ecclesiastes, which are referred to as the Five Rolls (Megilloth).
The five books of the Five Rolls are all associated with Jewish feasts. The Song of Songs was read at Passover. Ruth was read at the Feast of Weeks. Esther was read at the Feast of Purim; Ecclesiastes at the Feast of Tabernacles, and Lamentations was read on the 9th of Av.
The book of Lamentations is a collection of 5 songs of lament—5 songs; five chapters. The songs lament the destruction of Jerusalem and the calamity that befell the people of Judah in 586 bc. No summary of mine can do justice to the poignancy of the entire inspired text. You must read it for yourself to be immersed in the misery that emanates from its pages. I recommend you read it in one sitting.
Like a snow ball rolling down a mountain and attracting more snow, the nineth of Av collected other tragic memories, some of which occurred on the nineth of Av, also referred to as Tish B’Av which means “the Fast of the Ninth of Av.”
The Mishna, a collection of Jewish traditions, mentions 5 such “misfortunes”:
On the ninth of Av it was decreed that our fathers should not enter the [Promised] Land, the temple was destroyed, the first and second time, Bethar was captured and the city [Jerusalem] was plowed up.
The reference to the Temple being destroyed “the first and second time” is to the destruction of the Temple in 586 bc and in 70 ad. The feast associated with this day and the reading of Lamentations is primarily associated with the two times the Temple was destroyed. This day is characterized as follows:
The restrictions on Tish B’Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah. Work in the ordinary sense of the word is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on this day. Many of the traditional mourning practices are observed: people refrain from smiles, laughter and idle conversation, and sit on low stools.
In the synagogue, Lamentations is read and mourning prayers are recited. The ark (the cabinet in which the Torah was kept) is draped in black.
This should help us to see how significant the destruction of the Temple was in 586 BC—even to this day. When I read and re-read Lamentations in preparation for the current series, I often feel like I have not yet tapped into the emotional or psychology dimension of the poems. I may never tap into it.
I asked the class at the Heritage Park last Monday morning: “What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘lament?’” One woman said, “It is a suffering that is more than words.” What I took from her comment is that lament is suffering not in word alone. It is a suffering that reaches to the heart, to the marrow of the bones. I think she is right. Many of us have felt that kind of sorrow or pain. And, when you read Lamentations, you will find it there as well.