Eikhah booklets - Laments for Tisha B'Av

[David Seidenberg]

Dear Chevra,

The book of Eikhah/Lamentations is not a theodicy (an attempt to justify tragedy as God's punishment, but a plea for us to imagine that God still cares about us, when the world shows us what seems to be an opposite reality. That's perhaps the most important thing to share about why Eikhah is still meaningful. That dimension is what I emphasize in my translation of Eikhah. As far as I've seen, it is the most in-your-kishkes translation out there. 

The translation of Eikhah I worked on over decades is always available on neohasid.org, at neohasid.org/resources/laments/ -- I hope you avail yourself of it this year on Tisha B'Av. It also incorporates a few pages of theological and ecological reflections. And if you have the translation from the past few years, you still have the most up-to-date version. Here is the link for all the Torah, songs and articles about Tisha B'Av on neohasid:  https://neohasid.org/zman/tisha_bav/

What's new: Every year, I update the "wrapper", the page or two that includes some additional Tisha B'Av piyutim and prayers, and current political/environmental reflections. It includes the "Al eleh anu bokhim" piyut about the destruction of the earth that I shared a few days ago, and the prayer for democracy, now also related to the protest movement in Israel, and more. I'll write more about all that in a second email. That wrapper is available for download in handout format now on neohasid at: https://neohasid.org/pdf/Tisha-2023.pdf

Please download the booklet if you don't already have and use it for reading or study now, this shabbat! It also includes reflections on theodicy and the theology of Eikhah, teachings about Tisha B'Av and ecology, etc. 

Shabbat shalom,

David Seidenberg

P.S. I am having a software issue with generating the booklet format for the wrapper, but will have that downloadable either in a half hour later today or by Sunday at: https://neohasid.org/pdf/Tisha-2023-booklet.pdf 

Booklet format means you can take the two double-sided pages, fold them down the middle, and wrap them around the translation.