Tisha B’Av Reflections

by Rabbi Debra Smith

Erev Tisha B’Av, I gathered with my community to commemorate this solemn holy day and to share thoughts on its relevance in 2026. Together our group reviewed, remembered, and honored this day by naming all the historical calamities that have befallen the Jewish people throughout history: the destruction of the First and Second Temples, the Inquisition, the many pogroms, World War 1, the Holocaust.

We then broadened the list of calamities to include October 7, the Bondi Beach  Massacre, the Tree of Life Synagogue Massacre, the Climate  Crisis, and the wave of Antisemitism and violent acts against the Jewish community that is surging throughout the world today. Sadly and clearly, the tragedies that became part of the Tisha B’Av “mythos” continue today.

Certainly, we observed, there is a theme of recurring disaster in life. The calamities in the lives of the Jewish people mirror the personal cycle of negative patterns, unresolved issues, and calamities that each of us struggles with throughout our lives.

Fortunately, the Jewish calendar cycle acknowledges this and allows us ample time to review, reflect, repair, and return–to others whom we have wronged, to ourselves, and to God. May we all use this sacred time to renew ourselves spiritually and to reconnect in the places we have become disconnected. Tisha B’Av and the month of Elul are an annual gift to the Jewish people. May we receive that gift with love and use it wisely and in good health in the year ahead.

Fortunately, the Jewish calendar cycle allows us ample time to review, reflect, repair, and return.

Rabbi Debra Smith (Reb Deb) received smicha through the ALEPH Ordination Program in 2016 and is the founding rabbi of Congregation Or Ha Lev in New Jersey. Reb Deb is a very enthusiastic student and practitioner of Mussar; she has taught Mussar in various venues. She is a clinical social worker and family therapist. Reb Deb received her Master’s in Jewish Studies from Gratz College in Philadelphia. She serves as Rabbi in Residence at Drew University Methodist Theological School in New Jersey and co-chairs a chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom. She is a faculty member of ALEPH Tikshoret Connections, which is one of the places she teaches Mussar to a virtual community of learners from all over the United States. Reb Deb is the Outreach and Virtual Community Coordinator at Chai Mitzvah.

1 response to “Tisha B’Av Reflections”

1. Daniel Berek says:

   July 27, 2026 at 7:11 pm

   Thie Erev Tisha B’Av event was very fulfilling.

   Reply