Guiltapalooza

Since today is the 9th of the Jewish month of Av (Tisha B'Av), I thought I would dedicate this post to Jewish guilt.  Tisha B'Av is all about guilt.  It is one of only two fast days where the fast lasts 25 hours, and the other one is Yom Kippur, when we ask forgiveness for our sins.  Fasting in Judaism, incidentally, means no eating, drinking, unnecessary washing, sex, or wearing leather shoes.  Additional prohibitions for today include sitting on chairs and greeting people.

Tisha B'Av is not a good day.  The five misfortunes that led to it being declared a day of fasting include: the generation that left Egypt being sentenced by God to die wandering in the wilderness; the destruction of the first Temple by the Babylonians; the destruction of the second Temple by Rome; the defeat of the Bar Kokhba Revolt by Rome; and the razing of the Temple Mount in revenge for the Bar Kokhba Revolt.

This is what happens when people mess with Rome.  That and nearly 2 million deaths.

However, the calamities didn't end once Tisha B'Av became a fast day.  Also on the 9th of Av: the First Crusade was declared in 1095, leading to the death of 10,000 Jews in the first month; the Jews were expelled from England in 1290; the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492; World War I broke out; and the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka began in 1942.

However, the truly weird thing is this.  We are totally, 100% convinced that this is all our fault.  The reason the Talmud gives for the destruction of the second Temple is not, "Because that's what happens when you get into a fight with the Roman Empire."  The reason is, "Because people didn't like each other, and said mean things about each other."

This is not only a good idea; it's God's law!

On Tisha B'Av we read from the Book of Lamentations, which was written following the destruction of the first Temple.  I will summarize Lamentations for you.
1. God delivered us to our enemies, so now life is filled with humiliation, poverty, starvation, rape and cannibalism.
2. This is our own damn fault for being bad people.
3. Repent.

So that's the holiday in a nutshell.  Also, we sit around singing dirges, such as Eli Tziyon.