As I mentioned last week in shul, our exceptional teens have been participating in an initiative called It Takes A Village, carrying them through the Nine Days into Tisha B’Av. Through a combination of service projects in the broader community, Jewish experiences and just having fun, our teens are making a difference during a time on the Jewish calendar when it is so necessary. We should all be proud of the wonderful young women and men who call Shaare Tefilla their home! I have immense hakarat Hatov to Mrs. Chana Ben Abraham for her leadership, and for inviting me to speak to the teens yesterday during their Challah bake event- special thanks to Jordona Kohn of The Market for opening up her restaurant after hours and leading a class on how to braid a six-stranded Challah (at which I failed miserably…)
I am also grateful to the wonderful presenters from across the Dallas Orthodox community- from as far away as DATA Richardson to as close by as our own staff- who will be presenting on Sunday at the Tisha B’Av Teach In. I hope everyone will be able to attend at least part of it, as it is certain to be a meaningful afternoon.
Finally, I am grateful to all those who will be joining me in reading Eichah or introducing Kinot on Tisha B’Av: Rabbi Howard Wolk, Rabbi Yaakov Tannebaum, Rabbi Maury Grebenau, Rabbi Yaakov Green, Elie Rosenberg, Yosef Weiss, Simcha Malina, Adam Davies, Joe Ravitsky, Eric Schramm, Jimmy Davis and Harel Rush. Rabbi’s Recommendations
1. Aside from shul, there are plenty of online resources to help prepare for, or experience, Tisha B’Av. I highly recommend the many Tisha B’Av videos and classes on Aleph Beta. 2. The Tisha B’av service in the Spanish and Portuguese tradition is one of the most poignant and moving one can find. The aron kodesh is covered with a black parochet- a tradition we have adopted at Shaare Tefilla- and the lights are replaced by candlelight. Haunting liturgical poems are read in a baleful melody, though still in a choral setting. To listen to several of these poems, from the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue on Lauderdale Road in London, visit this site or here, from New York’s Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. 3. Cantor Moshe Stern is a legendary Chazzan, and teacher of Chazzanim, who has served in the most prestigious synagogues the world over. Here is his rendition, live, of the prayer Teracheim, beseeching God to have mercy on Zion as He had promised to do, the prayer that concludes the Kinot in the evening and the morning.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky
Congregation Shaare Tefilla 6131 Churchill Way Dallas, TX 75230
