Join me for Nine Days of Grief and Growth.

No meat, no movies, and no music, no beach, no pool, and no TV. When I was growing up in Israel, The Nine Days  were a total summer bummer.

That was exactly the purpose. Collective identity is forged through shared trauma, remembered. That is also where the healing is forged.

But this ritualized manipulation of mood and reflection, still faithfully observed to varying degrees by many Jews today, is not just an occasion for historical lamentation and learning. These days are an ancient invitation, a surprising Pre-Semitic process, which offers ceremonial permission for the expression of public and personal grief.

According to Jewish tradition, these “Days of Dire Straits” recall the worst of historical Jewish tragedies. But it is likely that these national narratives replace earlier Near Eastern traditions that lamented publicly for many weeks each hot summer, mourning the annual demise of vegetation and the dread of death.

However this somber mid summer season of lament evolved – we have inherited a tool kit for grief and for growth. On today’s Jewish calendar, The Nine Days focusing on what’s broken lead us into the last month of the year, with the process of reflection and correction guiding us into a new year of renewal and repair. (To learn more about the pagan origins of the Jewish Days of Dire Straits and how they evolved as Jewish markings or national mourning check out my zoom on Rituals of Weeping here.)

So here we are in 2020. This complicated year, mid so much rumblings, this invitation of the Nine Days seems wise and needed. What is the gift of grief to our wellbeing, as we all try to ground, to grow, and to go on doing the best we can through these dire days, together?

Starting today, I plan to explore, reclaim and adapt the Nine Days as a personal and communal journey of reflection on grief. I’m not sure what and how this will turn out, but I am hopeful that with best intentions this process can help me, and maybe others, channel these days of grief towards more truth, support, and hopefully, deep healing.

I invite you to join me on this journey. 

  1. Join me this Thursday 7/23 at 7:30pm EST on zoom at our Spiritual Survival Skills Salon for a conversation, learning and activation of this season for our unique and troubled time. (If you can’t make it you can always watch the talk later on our Youtube Channel.)
  2. Join me at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice’s Tisha B’Av Mourning the Destruction of Black Lives in Brooklyn and online, Wednesday 7/29 – Thursday 7/30.
  3. Join Lab/Shul on Thursday 7/30 to end the Nine Days at Rise from Rubble – gathering with other faith leaders and communities to lament together, to revisit prophetic promises of hope and to reclaim a more just, safe and healthy life for all.

The Jerusalem Talmud teaches us that those who take the time to mourn will also be the ones to reap the fruits of consolation. I hope that these nine days enable us to pay attention to the grief within our hearts and all around us, so we can support each other, rise with love and help rebuild and repair our broken world together.

May we grieve, give love, and grow.

Chodesh Tov: New Moon of Blessings,
Amichai