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TISHA BE'AV TAKES A PLURALISTIC TWIST
by Abigail Radoszkowicz
Jerusalem Post, July 24,, 2004
Several pluralistic public events will be held in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Tisha Be'av, the fast of mourning which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples, on Monday night and Tuesday.
The cultural epicenter of Tel Aviv – the Beit Ariela center fronting the main library and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art on Rehov Shaul Hamelech – will host a traditional reading of the Book of Lamentations at 7:30 p.m.
The reading will be followed by lectures and discussions led by a mix of religious and secular public figures, including TV personality Yair Lapid, haredi newspaper publisher Dudi Zilbershlag, journalists Tali Lipkin-Shahak, MK Rabbi Michael Melchior (Labor), and Minister-without-Portfolio Natan Sharansky.
The free event starts at 7:30 p.m.
A similar event will take place at Jerusalem's International Cultural Center for Youth at Rehov Emek Refaim 12. Sharansky is the sponsor of the Jerusalem event, which opens with a Lamentations reading by candlelight.
Writer/comedian Jackie Levi hosts Sharansky, Melchior, retired Supreme Court justice Dalia Dorner, Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, novelist Yochi Brandes, and others as they discuss the historical circumstances of the fast, which traditionally focuses on groundless hatred between Jews and on the civil war that advanced the Temple's destruction by the Romans – and its implications today. The free event, begins at 8 p.m.
"This is an option for those who want to commemorate Tisha Be'av, but avoid synagogues out of the fear that as infrequent attendees, they'll encounter paternalistic attitudes by the regulars," said Sharansky spokeswoman Rivka Canerik.
On Monday afternoon, Kol Yehudi (Jewish Voice), an umbrella group for social justice encompassing different streams of Judaism, will hold a torch-dousing ceremony at Jerusalem's Kikar Zion at 4 p.m. Vicki Knafo will douse the torch of discrimination, Bnei Sakhnin Football Club chairman Mazen Gharayen – racism, a foreign worker – exploitation, the head of the Ta'ir Center – violence, and Rabbi Menachem Froman of the settlement of Tekoa – extremism. Rabbi Ehud Bendel, head of the Conservative Movement in Israel, will light the fire of selfless love (ahavat hinam).
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