Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

איכה

From Eikhah to Ayekah

Last week, our High School gathered to commemorate Tish’ah BeAv.

The central text for the Jewish observance of Tish’ah BeAv is איכה/Eikhah- a biblical book read, at this time, in synagogues around the world. איכה/Eikhah derives its name from the introductory words of this text: איכה ישבה בדד העיר רבתי עם/ “How can it be that a city once teeming with people now sits solitary?”.

With the destruction of עיר הקודש/The Holy City – Jerusalem, and בית במקדש/The Holy Temple, our people and its leaders consciously began developing a conception of קדושה/holiness that moved beyond a cultic centre and emphasised the place of each individual, rather than the priest (or prophet), in experiencing and effecting holiness for oneself and the community. Thus, the Rabbis responded to the national tragedy with the following anecdotal teaching, appearing in our daily prayers.

Once, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was leaving Jerusalem, and Rabbi Yehoshu’a, following him, saw the Holy Temple lying in ruins. Rabbi Yehoshu’a said: “Woe to us that the place that would atone for the sins of the people Israel lies in ruins”. Rabbi Yochanan said to him: “Be not grieved my son. We have another means of atonement, deeds of lovingkindness, as it says, ‘Lovingkindness I (God) desire, not sacrifice’ ”.  

In re-rendering the biblical text, the Hasidic Kotsker Rebbe expresses the paradigm shift that Judaism assumed with the destruction of our physical Holy Centre. Speaking to the verse ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם/You shall make me a Holy Centre and I shall dwell within you, he writes: ‘It (the verse) says “within you” (I shall dwell) and not “within it”, to teach you that every individual must build the dwelling place (for God) within his/her heart, and God will dwell “within you” ‘.

To the bewildering question איכה/Eikhah, “How can it be?” our people responded with the challenging first question God asked of the first human, איכה/Ayekah, “Where are you?”. We transform our lamentation for a past lying in ruins to shared responsibility of creating anew a viable, meaningful and enduring Judaism. The same Hebrew letters, איכה, denote destruction (Eikhah) or construction (Ayekah). The choice is ours, in what we make of our Jewish future, as Rabbi Yochanan teaches his pupil in seeing the “Holy Temple” in ruins.

We are proud to share with you excerpts of our students’ reflections, from our High School Tish’ah BeAv commemoration, on how we might come to experience and create a life and community of holiness.

 Jade Reuveny, Year 11

Today, on Tish’ah BeAv, we come together as a school community to mourn the destruction of our Holy Temple, an act that happened so long ago sometimes it’s hard for us to connect. But the destruction changed Judaism. It changed us. We inherited a different Judaism because of what happened to our people in our land.

A world of holiness is only something we ourselves can create; finding hope and holiness out of a destruction and out of despair. We must engage in finding a value for things beyond what is now, seeing a future for tomorrow and becoming inspired to make change. This is not only a Judaism I connect to, it’s a Judaism I’m excited to explore with you. 

Sonia Redman, Year 11

Once upon a time, we had a Temple. Judaism’s intrinsic holiness was reflected in this Temple. However, the magnificent structure was destroyed and the Jews scattered, theoretically also destroying holiness. Is it possible to find holiness elsewhere?

The essence of Jewish teachings is to constantly remind us we are here to accomplish something meaningful and transformative in the physical word. Judaism tells us that we can accomplish this task through the actions and intentions of the mitzvot. Mitzvot are predominantly activities that we do in order to open our hearts to others and to improve the world. This can include tikkun olam, honouring our families and communities, treating the Earth with respect, improving our minds, sharing our knowledge, healing the sick, asking those that we have hurt for forgiveness, forgiving others, and generally contributing to the happiness and fulfilment of each other. These acts are how we bring holiness to the world, and how we make our lives a blessing.

From a Jewish perspective, then, holiness is not something that can only happen separate from the world in soulful prayer and meditation. Holiness is something that can — and must — occur at every moment of our lives, as we choose to act from our highest selves in service to others. And for me, that is how I am able to create holiness. 

 Noah Klein, Year 10

Once upon a time we had a Temple where the Jews would go to find holiness, but now we can find holiness through other means. I find that I have the strongest connection to Judaism or holiness or God when I am living Jewish traditions. Whether it be my Bar Mitzvah which I celebrated a couple of years ago or saying the prayers on Shabbat, I feel like these are special things that I can do to connect to my Judaism.

Everyone is able to connect to their Judaism or their holiness in different ways, but it’s through the Jewish traditions that I am able to create holiness. 

Rachel Turtledove, Year 10

Once upon a time, we had a Temple. But when it was destroyed, we, as Jews found new ways of connecting to God and Judaism. We had to become more expansive as a people, as a nation, as a religion. 

Tish’ah BeAv focuses mainly on the sadness that the Jews endured during this time of the destruction of the Temple. However, from the loss of the Temple, Judaism as a whole has become more creative and people have been finding new ways to connect with God without having the Temple.

Losing the Temple became and has become a unifying factor for the Jewish people. We, as Jews, lost our Temple, we had to begin to reach out to other Jews in the community, we had to find new ways of connecting with and practising Judaism with others. With the destruction of the Temple, the place where God resided, the part of God that is present within us was strengthened and made us all aware of our own Judaism. And for me that is how I am able to create holiness. 

Ashe Amoils, Year 11

Once upon a time, we had a Temple…until we didn’t. It was the central symbol of Judaism, unifying Jews through a joint belief in the holy residence of God’s consciousness. I believe that this belief in the Temple caused Jews to adopt a fixed perception, with a rigid, one-dimensional practice of Judaism emerging, perhaps lessening the importance of questioning, evolution and debate.

When the Temple was destroyed, this unchanging perception was shattered and ever since we Jews have been forced to reexamine our individual relationships to God, as well as how we – as a people – can remain faithful without that previously fixed symbol of our devotion. This became a struggle for all Jews, unifying us now in our joint goal to understand what God means to us and then seeking to practise our Judaism accordingly.

In this way, I believe that the destruction of the Temple, both times, has liberated us, allowing for us to connect individually to Judaism and ultimately increasing our faith and hope. Particularly in the past year, I have struggled to define my relationship with Judaism, attempting to establish my own ideas in relation to God and Jewish ethics. I believe this constant struggle to connect on a personal level with Judaism will continue my entire life and that is how I am able to create holiness. 

Tomer Belkin, Year 11

Once upon a time, we had a Temple, that was where our ancestors found our holiness. The Temple was destroyed, and we had no ‘holy place’, we had to find a different way to connect to our religion.

I think our ‘holiness’ lies in our freedom to live ethically and act kindly, not simply because of the belief that here is a higher power judging us, but because we care about others. I am to choose how I practise my Judaism, how I live my life, not for the needs of God, but for the needs of myself and those around me. And for me, that’s how I am able to create holiness. 

Sean Torban, Year 11

Once upon a time we had a Temple. There was a physical Temple and a metaphorical Temple, and there were many steps you had to climb up to get to both. Then came the destruction of the physical Temple and the Jewish people wept and prayed for another Temple to appear, but what they didn’t notice is that within every single Jew there is a Temple. 

You are your own Temple! The definition of temple is: “A building devoted to the worship of a god or gods”. So why can’t your body and mind be that building? Every unique moment and decision is a step up to your Temple, and in the process shaping your Temple. That step can either be a few centimetres or a few metres high, yet they each hold importance. The more that we put ourselves out there and take responsibility, the higher the Temple grows. This is what I find holy and brings holiness into my life and that is how I am able to create holiness. 

Below are the words sung by Gabriel Wolf, during our Tish’ah BeAv commemoration. They are lyrics of Godspell’s ‘Beautiful City’:

OUT OF THE RUINS AND RUBBLE
OUT OF THE SMOKE
OUT OF OUR NIGHT OF STRUGGLE
CAN WE SEE A RAY OF HOPE?
ONE PALE THIN RAY REACHING FOR THE DAY

WE CAN BUILD A BEAUTIFUL CITY
YES, WE CAN; YES, WE CAN
WE CAN BUILD A BEAUTIFUL CITY
NOT A CITY OF ANGELS BUT WE CAN BUILD A CITY OF MAN

WE MAY NOT REACH THE ENDING
BUT WE CAN START
SLOWLY BUT TRULY MENDING
BRICK BY BRICK, HEART BY HEART
NOW, MAYBE NOW
WE START LEARNING HOW

WE CAN BUILD A BEAUTIFUL CITY
YES, WE CAN; YES, WE CAN
WE CAN BUILD A BEAUTIFUL CITY
NOT A CITY OF ANGELS
BUT WE CAN BUILD A CITY OF MAN

WHEN YOUR TRUST IS ALL BUT SHATTERED
WHEN YOUR FAITH IS ALL BUT KILLED
YOU CAN GIVE UP, BITTER AND BATTERED
OR YOU CAN SLOWLY START TO BUILD

A BEAUTIFUL CITY
YES, WE CAN; YES, WE CAN
WE CAN BUILD A BEAUTIFUL CITY
NOT A CITY OF ANGELS
BUT FINALLY A CITY OF MAN.
A CITY OF MAN.