Tisha B’Av service grapples with terror, anti-Semitism

Friday, July 26, 2002 | by

STEVEN NEUMANBulletin Intern

They also voiced ambitious hopes for the future.

About 30 people gathered July 18 at the Holocaust Memorial in Lincoln Park to commemorate Tisha B'Av, the day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples as well as for other tragic events in Jewish history.

The ceremony began with a half-hour reading of the names of those killed in the present Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Community members read sections of the 20-page list containing almost 600 Jewish names, stating the name and the date they were killed.

Calvin Zippin of San Francisco volunteered to read a portion of the names. "I'm here because of my attachments to Israel and the Jewish world. I'm here to support," he said.

David Henkin chanted passages from the Book of Lamentations during the service, while Jessica Trubowitch, program assistant for the Jewish Community Relations Council's new Israel Crisis Center, organized the name reading.

"Overall, I think it was a very meaningful ceremony. I wish there were more people in attendance, but I think the weather was mostly responsible for that," Trubowitch said.

The community observance, sponsored by the JCRC and the Board of Rabbis of Northern California, focused on recent attacks in Israel and anti-Semitic eruptions here and abroad. Each speaker reiterated that theme.

"We felt it very important to not only concentrate on the sufferings of the past but also on the atrocities of today, the denial of the Holocaust and the rising anti-Semitism worldwide," said Rabbi H. David Teitelbaum, executive director of the board of rabbis and chairman of the event.

Rabbi Jacob Traub of San Francisco's Adath Israel also addressed those concerns. "We think that we are immune to these things, but this year has certainly taught us that we are not," he said.

"Jews are being harassed throughout Europe. Jews are being harassed in this country. And suddenly Tisha B'Av becomes something that is real…and very much a part of everyone's lives."

Speakers called attention to a growing apathy toward threats among Jews, calling it one of the greatest invisible challenges to the community

Yossi Amrani, local consul general of Israel, offered another perspective. "Tisha B'Av is a day of remembrance, but it is also a day of promise, for it is a day which reminds us of the strength of the Jewish people," he said.

"For over 2,000 years we have suffered. We have suffered because of our values, we have suffered because of who we are. We have suffered for the hate and blindness of others. But the Jewish spirit is victorious. Israel is the best proof of our success and our determination.

"We are not going to give up," Amrani continued. "We are ready for the challenges, we are up to [them]."