Dear Friends,

As we observe Tisha B’Av tonight, commemorating past moments of devastation for the Jewish people, we are also now experiencing a time of great distress in Israel and thus for the Jewish people as a whole.

We are hosting the St. Paul Jewish community Tisha B'Av observance at Mount Zion tonight. Learn more about what to expect. Whether you have never observed this commemoration or have been to many, we encourage you to join us.

On Monday, Israel’s governing coalition passed the first of five proposed judicial reforms with hundreds of thousands protesting against it and the opposition boycotting the vote. Israel’s democracy is in grave danger with this vote; and Israel's safety and standing economically and morally is suffering in the process. We encourage you to read the Minnesota Rabbinical Association’s statement below.

Tonight we lament. After Tisha B’Av, we count seven weeks of consolation to Rosh Hashanah and work to build a world of justice and love.

Bivracha, with blessing,

Rabbi Esther Adler and Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker

July 26, 2023 8 Av 5783

Tisha B’Av and Israeli Judicial Overhaul

עַל־אֵ֣לֶּה אֲנִ֣י בוֹכִיָּ֗ה עֵינִ֤י ׀ עֵינִי֙ יֹ֣רְדָה מַּ֔יִם כִּֽי־רָחַ֥ק מִמֶּ֛נִּי מְנַחֵ֖ם מֵשִׁ֣יב נַפְשִׁ֑י

For these things I weep, my eyes flow with tears; far from me is any comforter who might revive my spirit… (Lamentations 1:16)

As Jews around the world prepare to observe a day of mourning the various tragedies that have befallen our people over the course of our history on the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, this week’s vote in the Knesset weighs heavily on our minds and hearts.

Tisha B'Av has long been for us a commemoration of past moments of devastation and their tragic consequences; now, however, the devastation is happening in real time, and we fear its consequences for the future of the democratic state of Israel we know and love. Our opposition is not to judicial reform; we would embrace judicial reform that is built on an inclusive and deliberative process, and which would include protecting minority rights, civil liberties, and judicial independence.

The Jewish people have always had internal religious and political conflicts. At times, these divisions have grown so wide that our sages would describe the feuding as sinat chinam, baseless hatred among our people. Tisha B’Av commemorates episodes of internal conflict that were just as devastating as any threat from without.

We fear that this week’s vote represents a new moment of sinat chinam. This judicial overhaul removes a basic check and balance in Israel’s democratic system. Without appropriate checks and balances, Israel is likely to suffer ever greater internal hatred as more citizens, inhabitants, and Palestinian neighbors are harmed by the self-serving priorities of the governing coalition. 

As Israel’s streets fill with even more protesters, our hearts are with them, our prayers are with them. May we speedily and soon see the fulfillment of the Prophet Isaiah’s words from last week’s Haftarah reading: “Devote yourselves to justice (1:17) … Zion shall be redeemed with justice (1:27).”

Rabbi Esther Adler

Rabbi Morris Allen

Rabbi Jill Avrin

Rabbi Barbara Block

Rabbi Norman M. Cohen

Rabbi Alexander Davis

Rabbi Matt Goldberg

Rabbi Jennifer Hartman

Rabbi Rebecca Kamil

Rabbi Ricky Kamil

Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman

Rabbi Harold J. Kravitz

Rabbi Lynn Liberman, co-chair

Rabbi David Locketz

Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm, co-chair

Rabbi Tobias Moss

Rabbi Cathy Nemiroff

Rabbi Debra Rappaport, co-chair

Rabbi Jason Rodich

Rabbi Sharon Stiefel

Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker

Rabbi Aaron Weininger

Rabbi Daniel Young

Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman