Overcoming Sadness and Embracing the Joys of Life

An evening of study, reflection and prayer

Hosted by Adat Ari El in partnership with VBS and Stephen Wise Temple

Everybody is sad sometimes, everybody mourns, we all experience difficult times when we just want to crawl into bed under the covers. 

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, with the anchor of their spiritual life a pile of rocks, with their whole community in tatters,  in insecurity, fear and loss of freedom, the people fell into a deep mourning.  With their life as they knew it gone, they didn’t want  to do anything that gave them pleasure before.

On this Tisha B’Av, in between reading chapters of Eicha, Lamentations,  we will join together and learn a part of Talmud that confronts that inclination to mourn by shutting down and we will learn not only about  how we fall into sadness, but how, despite trying life occurrences, we are called upon to experience the beauty of life everyday.

The Rabbis of the Talmud, from centuries ago,  will be our guide in moving from pain to positivity,  A Tisha B’Av learning that can bring us closer to the real people who lived that destruction.  We can open our hearts to them as they convey a message through the generations of Jewish life to us.