For the first Tisha B'Av after Oct. 7, new liturgy and traditions mourn a fresh tragedy

[Behind the Aegis]

When Israeli musician Yagel Haroush set out to write a mournful song about the destruction of Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, he described it as both a therapeutic exercise and an attempt to grapple with a gruesome reality.

He was also tapping into an ancient and timely tradition. Every year, on the fast day of Tisha B’Av, Jewish communities worldwide chant a series of dirges, called “kinnot,” that commemorate the tragedies of Jewish history in verse, from the destruction of the temples to the Crusades to the Holocaust.

Haroush’s song, called “Kinat Be’eri,” aims to be the latest addition to that collection. It memorializes the destruction of Be’eri through verses that evoke the Book of Lamentations, read on Tisha B’Av night. The opening lines, “How did Be’eri / turn into my tomb / The day of my light / to the day of my gloom,” lead to more graphic descriptions of that day’s carnage.

“First, one needs to articulate the pain,” Haroush wrote in notes compiled by the Israeli rabbinic organization Tzohar. “One gives it words, which hurt unto the point of tears. Second, one requests, through the pain, hoping to see, through tear-filled eyes, the comfort and life that surround us.”


Francesco Hayez's masterpiece, 'Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem'. (Wikimedia)

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