God learns to mourn - A text study for Tisha B'Av

Blog, Jewish Year, Text Study 1 Response »
Aug 012011

This is a text study based on a midrash from the midrashic collection, Lamentations Rabbah (or Eikha Rabbah). Tisha B’Av marks a difficult moment in the Jewish calendar, in which stark theological challenges are posed alongside a sense of mourning for tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people.

In this midrash, we read a description of God learning to mourn via the ministering angels about the behaviour of human beings at times of mourning.

Eikha Rabbah is one of the rabbinic texts that can be studied on Tisha B’Av, because, whereas Torah study in general is supposed to be a joyous activity, studying texts that deal with the destruction of the temple is considered to be in keeping with the tone of the day.

The text study sheets can be downloaded from here.

Lamentations Rabbah – Tisha B Av

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Six Texts for Shavuot - Revelation, Identity and Covenant

Jewish Year, Text Study Comments Off
May 222011

A series of six text studies for Shavuot – ‘Revelation, Identity and Covenant’. Study them now or keep them until the evening of Shavuot for a ‘tikkun leyl Shavuot’.

Revelation, Identity and Covenant

Texts 1 and 2 introduce midrashim which describe aspects of the revelation at Mount Sinai and have strong connections (either in motif or in the use of verses) to Text 3. Text 3 contains the famous Talmudic account of Mount Sinai being held over the Israelites’ head accompanied by God’s threat of ‘accept or die’. Text 4 explores a midrash which utilises the same verse from the Book of Esther as found in Text 3 but to a slightly different effect. Finally, Texts 5 and 6 contain later commentaries on Text 3 by Ramban and Maharal respectively.

If you’re thinking about a Text 7 – perhaps you could read Levinas’ ‘The Temptation of Temptation‘. Alternatively, there are suggestions about where you could take the conversation included in the introduction.

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