Inside the Saint Editha’s Collegiate Church, Tamworth … where was the Holy Trinity Altar? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Patrick Comerford
We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and tomorrow is the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (23 July 2023).
Today, the Church Calendar remembers Saint Mary Magdalene.
Before this day begins, I am taking some time this morning for prayer, reading and reflection.
Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I have been reflecting each morning in these ways:
1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass windows in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
The reredos above the High Altar in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Holy Trinity Altar, Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth:
As this series on cathedrals, churches and chapels dedicated to the Holy Trinity is coming to a close, I went in search of the mediaeval chapel or altar dedicated to the Holy Trinity in Saint Editha’s Collegiate Church, Tamworth.
Saint Editha’s is a Grade I listed building and the largest parish church in Staffordshire. It stands on a site where successive churches have stood since the eighth century.
The town and church were destroyed by fire in 1345, leading to the building of the fourth, present church, between 1350 and 1369 by Dean Baldwin de Witney.
Tradition says the College of Canons of Saint Editha was a royal foundation in the tenth century, but the date of foundation is not known. Although the right to appoint canons was disputed, by the 12th century all appointments were royal. There was a dean and six prebendaries or canons: the Dean held the prebend of Amington, and the other five canons held the prebends of Bonehill, Coton, Syerscote, Wigginton and Comberford, and Wilnecote.
The Tamworth historian Charles Ferrers Palmer, listed the altars and side chapels or chantry chapels in the mediaeval church:
1, The Altar of the Most Holy Trinity and Saint Editha in the Choir.
2, The Altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the east end of the South Aisle, perhaps in wooden parcloses.
3, The Altar of Saint George at the east end of Saint George’s Chapel, the Chantry Chapel.
4, The Altar of Saint Nicholas in the South Transept.
5, The Altar of Saint Katherine the Martyr in the North Transept, also known as the Comberford Chapel.
The Light of the Most Holy Trinity and the Lights of these Saints fell under the care of chief inhabitants of Tamworth who were elected yearly to the charge in autumn-tide at the great Court.
By the early 15th century, the college of canons lost many of its early benefactions, but the college and the chapels or altars received a steady trickle of gifts and bequests throughout the 15th and early 16th centuries. Most of these came from local people and, with few exceptions, consisted of small pieces of property in and around Tamworth or of small sums of money.
The will of John Comberford of Tamworth in 1414, for example, included bequests of 3 shillings to the high altar, 1 shilling 6 pence to the Holy Trinity altar, and 6 pence to each of the other altars.
The terms of John Comberford’s will would seem to indicate that the High Altar and the Holy Trinity altar were separate altars, but Palmer’s account assumes they were one and the same.
John Bate was the Dean of Saint Editha’s from 1436 until he died in 1479. At Bate’s request in 1446, Henry VI founded a chantry at the altar of the Holy Trinity and licensed Bate to found a chantry of Saint Editha and Saint Katherine at the altar of the Virgin.
A perpetual chantry was established in the church by letters patent dated 9 February 1446. The Dean was to appoint a chaplain who would celebrate Mass daily at the altar of the Holy Trinity for the peace of England and France, for the good estate of the king and his consort Margaret, and for the souls of the king’s father and mother, of his forefathers, and of all the faithful.
However, the royal grants were invalidated by the 1450 Act of Resumption and there seems to be no evidence that Bate’s chantry was ever established.
A common seal of the college cut under Dean Thomas Parker (1525-1538), reused a 15th-century matrix of and seems to represent some of the mediaeval altars, including a bishop in full robes with his right hand raised in blessing and holding a pastoral staff in his left (Saint Nicholas), Saint Katherine, crowned and holding her wheel in her right hand and a sword in her left; and a seated figure of the Virgin, crowned and holding the Christ Child on her right knee (the Lady Chapel).
The care of the lights of the Most Holy Trinity altar and the lights of the saints in the side altars and chapels was the responsibility of the chief inhabitants of the town who were elected yearly to the charge in autumn-tide at the great court.
These Wardens of the Lights took oaths to fulfil the duties of their office in gathering alms and taking the rents of the endowments for the purpose, so that they might trim their lamps and keep them always shining.
The last dean of Tamworth was Simon Symonds (1538-1548). The college was dissolved in 1548 with the dissolution of monastic houses and chantries during the Tudor Reformation, and the church became the parish church for the town of Tamworth.
The church was extensively restored by Benjamin Ferrey and George Gilbert Scott in the 1850s, and by William Butterfield ca 1871.
The late 19th century reredos above the High Altar was made in 1887-1893 by the Italian glass manufacturer Antonio Salviati (1816-1890) and the Salviati family firm of Venice, working with Sir George Gilbert Scott and John Birnie Philip. The five mosaic panels in the reredos commemorate five pre-Reformation altars in the church.
They depict (from left): Saint George with a flag and sword; Saint Nicholas, robed as a bishop and holding a ship, his symbol; the central figure of the Risen Christ, surrounded by the words Pax Vobis, perhaps representing the Blessed Trinity Altar and the High Altar; Saint Katherine, with the wheel of her martyrdom and a palm branch; and Saint Editha, holding her crozier as Abbess and a model of her church.
However, Palmer identified the Altar of the Most Holy Trinity and Saint Editha in the Choir as one altar, and there is no depiction in the reredos of the Virgin Mary to represent the altar in the Lady Chapel.
Stan T Parry’s short pamphlet available in the church bookshop, The History of St. Editha’s Parish Church Tamworth adds to the confusion, mistakenly saying the depiction of Saint Editha represents the Comberford Chapel, although Saint Katherine was always identified with the Comberford Chapel.
The care of the lights of the Most Holy Trinity altar and the lights of the saints in the side altars and chapels were the responsibility of Tamworth people elected each year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
John 20:1-2, 11-18 (NRSVA):
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
The Comberford Chapel in Saint Editha’s Church … the mediaeval altar in the chapel was dedicated to Saint Katherine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Today’s Prayer:
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Abundant life – A human right.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.
The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (22 July 2023) invites us to pray in these words:
Let us reflect today that all human life belongs to God. We have been created in the image of God, crowned with dignity and honour.
Collect:
Almighty God,
whose Son restored Mary Magdalene
to health of mind and body
and called her to be a witness to his resurrection:
forgive our sins and heal us by your grace,
that we may serve you in the power of his risen life;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion:
God of life and love,
whose risen Son called Mary Magdalene by name
and sent her to tell of his resurrection to his apostles:
in your mercy, help us,
who have been united with him in this eucharist,
to proclaim the good news
that he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
The Saint Nicholas Chapel, now filled with the organ, and the Lady Chapel, on the south side of the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Inside Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth … the mediaeval church had five altars and was served by a college of a dean and five prebendaries (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
22 July 2023
‘Even now what sanctuaries
what human hearts
are damaged and burned
while we snipe at each other?’
A Holocaust memorial at the Jewish cemetery in Berlin … Tisha B’Av, beginning next Wednesday evening, recalls major disasters in Jewish history, including the Holocaust (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
Tisha BeAb or Tisha B’Av (תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב), literally ‘the Ninth of Av,’ is an annual fast day in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date.
Tisha B’Av is never observed on Shabbat, so when the Ninth of Av falls on a Saturday, the fast is postponed until the Tenth of Av.
This year is the Hebrew Year 5783, and Tisha B’Av begins at sundown next Wednesday (26 July 2023) and ends at nightfall on Thursday 27 July 2023.
Tisha B’Av recalls many disasters in the course of Jewish history, particularly the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans.
Tisha B’Av is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and it is associated with many other disasters in Jewish history.
Traditionally, the day is observed through five prohibitions, including a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations, which is read in synagogues, mourns the destruction of Jerusalem, followed by the recitation of kinot or liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temples and of Jerusalem and recall events such as the murder of the Ten Martyrs by the Romans, massacres of mediaeval Jewish communities during the Crusades, the expulsions of Jews from Spain by the Inquisition, and the Holocaust.
According to the Mishnah (Taanit 4: 6), five events occurred on the Ninth of Av that are recalled in the traditional fasting.
The First Temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE, and the people of Judah was sent into exile in Babylon. The destruction of the Temple destruction began on the 7th of Av (II Kings 25: 8) and continued until the 10th (Jeremiah 52: 12).
According to the Talmud, the actual destruction began on the Ninth of Av and it continued to burn throughout the Tenth of Av.
The Second Temple was built by Ezra and Nehemiah and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and commencing the exile of the Jewish people. The Romans later crushed Bar Kokhba’s revolt and killed over 500,000 people, and then razed the site of the Temple in Jerusalem and the surrounding area in 135 CE.
Over time, Tisha B’Av has come to be a day of mourning not only for these events, but also for later tragedies, including:
● The First Crusade began on 15 August 1096 (24 Av), and 10,000 Jews were slaughtered in its first month in France and the Rhineland.
● The Jews were expelled from England on 18 July 1290 (9 Av).
● The Jews were expelled from France on 22 July 1306 (10 Av).
● The Jews were expelled from Spain on 31 July 1492 (7 Av).
● Germany entered World War I on 1-2 August 1914 (9-10 Av).
● Himmler formally received approval from the Nazis for the ‘Final Solution’ on 2 August 1941 (9 Av).
● The mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began on 23 July 1942 (9 Av).
● A bomb attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires killed 85 people on 18 July 1994 (10 Av).
Many religious communities mourn the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust on Tisha B’Av, adding the recitation of special kinot related to the Holocaust. Additionally, as members of the Cork Jewish Community were reminded in preparation for last year’s commemorations, ‘contemporary Jews often use this day to acknowledge that evil exists in the world, whether we want it to or not, and to reflect how we can make the world a kinder, more welcoming place for everyone. What can you do to give back in a meaningful way?’
In the Sephardic tradition, on the Shabbat before the fast of Tisha BeAb, communities begin to read the Book of Debarim (Deuteronomy 1: 1 to 3: 22). In the beginning of Parashat Debarim, Moses recounts the call to appoint judges for the people, so that the burden of leading the people does not fall on his shoulders alone.
In his call to appoint judges, Moses emphasises the need for them to be wise and knowledgeable, and whose true characters are known to the people. He values the personality, characteristics and morality of those chosen to serve as judges.
This is intimately connected to Tisha BeAb, as the destruction of the Temple is attributed to a lack of justice in society. In the Haftara which is read on this Shabbat, Joshua laments the lack of justice in Jerusalem, and prophesises that the redemption will ultimately be achieved through the restoration of the judicial system.
This day is significant in the Sephardic tradition in ways that surpass how other holidays are observed, or even how this date is observed in other Jewish traditions. The reason lies in the convergence of this date and the date when Spanish Jews were exiled from their home in Spain in 1492. That year, the King and Queen issues their Edict of Expulsion on 31 March and it was to be completed in four months by the end of July. That date was the day before 9 Ab, making the link to the earlier destruction of Jerusalem particularly strong for Sephardic Jews.
This connection is even stronger because, according to the prophet Obadiah, the Jews of Sepharad were descendants of the exiles of Jerusalem (Galut Yershushalayim Asher B’Spharad), and the the rabbis of Spain understood Sepharad to mean Spain.
The fast on Tisha B’Av lasts about 25 hours, beginning at sunset on the preceding evening lasting until nightfall the next day. The five traditional prohibitions on Tisha B’Av are:
● eating or drinking;
● washing or bathing;
● application of creams or oils;
● wearing (leather) shoes;
● marital or sexual relations.
If possible, work is avoided during this period. Ritual washing up to the knuckles is allowed, as is washing to remove dirt or mud from one’s body.
Torah study is forbidden as it is considered a spiritually enjoyable activity, although one may study texts such as the Book of Lamentations, the Book of Job, portions of Jeremiah and chapters of the Talmud that discuss mourning and the destruction of the Temple.
Before the evening services begin in synagogues, the parochet covering the Torah Ark is removed or drawn aside, lasting until the Mincha prayer service. Old prayer-books and Torah scrolls are often buried on this day.
Plaza de Juda Levi in Córdoba … recalling Judah Halevi, who wrote ‘kinot’ for Tisha B’Av (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The scroll of Eicha (Lamentations) is read in synagogues in the evening, and in many Sephardic congregations the Book of Job is read in the morning. The morning is spent chanting or reading kinot mourning the loss of the Temples and the subsequent persecutions, often referring to post-exilic disasters.
The most popular kinot were written by the eighth-century liturgical poet Elazar Hakallir, Judah Halevi (1085- 1145), the Spanish philosopher regarded by many as the greatest post-biblical poet, and Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021-1058).
Other kinot were written in response to tragedies in Jewish history, including the public burning of the Torah in Paris, the massacres of Jews during the first Crusade, the slaughter of the Jews of York, and the annihilation of European Jewry in the Holocaust.
This year, Bevis Marks is welcoming Hazzan Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira from the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam to lead thr services on Tisha BeAb, on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
In western Sephardi Tisha BeAb services, there is a tendency to emphasise hope for ultimate redemption and national and spiritual restoration, as part of the recalled collective grief.
This is reflected in one the most celebrated compositions by Judah ha-Levi often heard in synagogues on Tisha B’Av:
Zion, wilt thou not ask if peace’s wing
Shadows the captives that ensue thy peace
Left lonely from thine ancient shepherding?
Lo! west and east and north and south – worldwide
All those from far and near, without surcease
Salute thee: Peace and Peace from every side.
The way Tisha BeAb is marked at Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, for example, poignantly evokes melancholy emotions. The Hehal (ark) is draped in a black cloth, as is the Sepher (Torah scroll). Furthermore, the synagogue, famous for its chandeliers, instead uses ‘low lights’ for illumination. These candles attached to the benches themselves, provide just a minimal glow so that the prayers can be recited.
This is one of the most intricate musical services of the year in a synagogue with such an elaborate liturgical tradition. Each kinah (‘lamentation’) is read according to a unique melody, reflecting the significance of the sufferings remembered on this day.
The traditional greeting for 9 Ab in Spanish and Portuguese communities is Morir habemos, to which the reply is Ya lo sabemos.
‘After the fall’: a poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat for Tisha B’Av:
The Mishna says
senseless hatred
knocked the Temple down
not the Romans with their siege engines –
or not only them, but
our ancestors too
who slipped into petty backbiting
ignored Shabbat
forgot how to offer their hearts
we’re no better
we who secretly know we’re right
holier-than-they
we who roll our eyes
and patronise, who check email
even on the holiest of days
who forget that
a prayer is more than a tune
more than words on a page
in Oslo parents weep
and we’re too busy arguing
motive to comfort them
across the Middle East parents weep
and we’re too busy arguing
borders to comfort them
in our nursing homes parents weep
shuddering and alone
and we’re too busy —
even now what sanctuaries
what human hearts
are damaged and burned
while we snipe at each other
or insist we’re not responsible
or look away?
Patrick Comerford
Tisha BeAb or Tisha B’Av (תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב), literally ‘the Ninth of Av,’ is an annual fast day in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date.
Tisha B’Av is never observed on Shabbat, so when the Ninth of Av falls on a Saturday, the fast is postponed until the Tenth of Av.
This year is the Hebrew Year 5783, and Tisha B’Av begins at sundown next Wednesday (26 July 2023) and ends at nightfall on Thursday 27 July 2023.
Tisha B’Av recalls many disasters in the course of Jewish history, particularly the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans.
Tisha B’Av is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and it is associated with many other disasters in Jewish history.
Traditionally, the day is observed through five prohibitions, including a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations, which is read in synagogues, mourns the destruction of Jerusalem, followed by the recitation of kinot or liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temples and of Jerusalem and recall events such as the murder of the Ten Martyrs by the Romans, massacres of mediaeval Jewish communities during the Crusades, the expulsions of Jews from Spain by the Inquisition, and the Holocaust.
According to the Mishnah (Taanit 4: 6), five events occurred on the Ninth of Av that are recalled in the traditional fasting.
The First Temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE, and the people of Judah was sent into exile in Babylon. The destruction of the Temple destruction began on the 7th of Av (II Kings 25: 8) and continued until the 10th (Jeremiah 52: 12).
According to the Talmud, the actual destruction began on the Ninth of Av and it continued to burn throughout the Tenth of Av.
The Second Temple was built by Ezra and Nehemiah and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and commencing the exile of the Jewish people. The Romans later crushed Bar Kokhba’s revolt and killed over 500,000 people, and then razed the site of the Temple in Jerusalem and the surrounding area in 135 CE.
Over time, Tisha B’Av has come to be a day of mourning not only for these events, but also for later tragedies, including:
● The First Crusade began on 15 August 1096 (24 Av), and 10,000 Jews were slaughtered in its first month in France and the Rhineland.
● The Jews were expelled from England on 18 July 1290 (9 Av).
● The Jews were expelled from France on 22 July 1306 (10 Av).
● The Jews were expelled from Spain on 31 July 1492 (7 Av).
● Germany entered World War I on 1-2 August 1914 (9-10 Av).
● Himmler formally received approval from the Nazis for the ‘Final Solution’ on 2 August 1941 (9 Av).
● The mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began on 23 July 1942 (9 Av).
● A bomb attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires killed 85 people on 18 July 1994 (10 Av).
Many religious communities mourn the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust on Tisha B’Av, adding the recitation of special kinot related to the Holocaust. Additionally, as members of the Cork Jewish Community were reminded in preparation for last year’s commemorations, ‘contemporary Jews often use this day to acknowledge that evil exists in the world, whether we want it to or not, and to reflect how we can make the world a kinder, more welcoming place for everyone. What can you do to give back in a meaningful way?’
In the Sephardic tradition, on the Shabbat before the fast of Tisha BeAb, communities begin to read the Book of Debarim (Deuteronomy 1: 1 to 3: 22). In the beginning of Parashat Debarim, Moses recounts the call to appoint judges for the people, so that the burden of leading the people does not fall on his shoulders alone.
In his call to appoint judges, Moses emphasises the need for them to be wise and knowledgeable, and whose true characters are known to the people. He values the personality, characteristics and morality of those chosen to serve as judges.
This is intimately connected to Tisha BeAb, as the destruction of the Temple is attributed to a lack of justice in society. In the Haftara which is read on this Shabbat, Joshua laments the lack of justice in Jerusalem, and prophesises that the redemption will ultimately be achieved through the restoration of the judicial system.
This day is significant in the Sephardic tradition in ways that surpass how other holidays are observed, or even how this date is observed in other Jewish traditions. The reason lies in the convergence of this date and the date when Spanish Jews were exiled from their home in Spain in 1492. That year, the King and Queen issues their Edict of Expulsion on 31 March and it was to be completed in four months by the end of July. That date was the day before 9 Ab, making the link to the earlier destruction of Jerusalem particularly strong for Sephardic Jews.
This connection is even stronger because, according to the prophet Obadiah, the Jews of Sepharad were descendants of the exiles of Jerusalem (Galut Yershushalayim Asher B’Spharad), and the the rabbis of Spain understood Sepharad to mean Spain.
The fast on Tisha B’Av lasts about 25 hours, beginning at sunset on the preceding evening lasting until nightfall the next day. The five traditional prohibitions on Tisha B’Av are:
● eating or drinking;
● washing or bathing;
● application of creams or oils;
● wearing (leather) shoes;
● marital or sexual relations.
If possible, work is avoided during this period. Ritual washing up to the knuckles is allowed, as is washing to remove dirt or mud from one’s body.
Torah study is forbidden as it is considered a spiritually enjoyable activity, although one may study texts such as the Book of Lamentations, the Book of Job, portions of Jeremiah and chapters of the Talmud that discuss mourning and the destruction of the Temple.
Before the evening services begin in synagogues, the parochet covering the Torah Ark is removed or drawn aside, lasting until the Mincha prayer service. Old prayer-books and Torah scrolls are often buried on this day.
Plaza de Juda Levi in Córdoba … recalling Judah Halevi, who wrote ‘kinot’ for Tisha B’Av (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The scroll of Eicha (Lamentations) is read in synagogues in the evening, and in many Sephardic congregations the Book of Job is read in the morning. The morning is spent chanting or reading kinot mourning the loss of the Temples and the subsequent persecutions, often referring to post-exilic disasters.
The most popular kinot were written by the eighth-century liturgical poet Elazar Hakallir, Judah Halevi (1085- 1145), the Spanish philosopher regarded by many as the greatest post-biblical poet, and Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021-1058).
Other kinot were written in response to tragedies in Jewish history, including the public burning of the Torah in Paris, the massacres of Jews during the first Crusade, the slaughter of the Jews of York, and the annihilation of European Jewry in the Holocaust.
This year, Bevis Marks is welcoming Hazzan Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira from the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam to lead thr services on Tisha BeAb, on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
In western Sephardi Tisha BeAb services, there is a tendency to emphasise hope for ultimate redemption and national and spiritual restoration, as part of the recalled collective grief.
This is reflected in one the most celebrated compositions by Judah ha-Levi often heard in synagogues on Tisha B’Av:
Zion, wilt thou not ask if peace’s wing
Shadows the captives that ensue thy peace
Left lonely from thine ancient shepherding?
Lo! west and east and north and south – worldwide
All those from far and near, without surcease
Salute thee: Peace and Peace from every side.
The way Tisha BeAb is marked at Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, for example, poignantly evokes melancholy emotions. The Hehal (ark) is draped in a black cloth, as is the Sepher (Torah scroll). Furthermore, the synagogue, famous for its chandeliers, instead uses ‘low lights’ for illumination. These candles attached to the benches themselves, provide just a minimal glow so that the prayers can be recited.
This is one of the most intricate musical services of the year in a synagogue with such an elaborate liturgical tradition. Each kinah (‘lamentation’) is read according to a unique melody, reflecting the significance of the sufferings remembered on this day.
The traditional greeting for 9 Ab in Spanish and Portuguese communities is Morir habemos, to which the reply is Ya lo sabemos.
‘After the fall’: a poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat for Tisha B’Av:
The Mishna says
senseless hatred
knocked the Temple down
not the Romans with their siege engines –
or not only them, but
our ancestors too
who slipped into petty backbiting
ignored Shabbat
forgot how to offer their hearts
we’re no better
we who secretly know we’re right
holier-than-they
we who roll our eyes
and patronise, who check email
even on the holiest of days
who forget that
a prayer is more than a tune
more than words on a page
in Oslo parents weep
and we’re too busy arguing
motive to comfort them
across the Middle East parents weep
and we’re too busy arguing
borders to comfort them
in our nursing homes parents weep
shuddering and alone
and we’re too busy —
even now what sanctuaries
what human hearts
are damaged and burned
while we snipe at each other
or insist we’re not responsible
or look away?
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