The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 



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Laments: A New Translation of Eikhah

Tish'a B'Av is about becoming refugees, being thrown into a fierce world without shelter. It's about homelessness, fleeing from war into famine, the kinds of things that are all too present in our world. Tish'a B'Av is not primarily about the end of sacrifices or the Temple – Chaza"l, the rabbis, figured out that problem long ago.

It's about coming to terms (or refusing to come to terms) with a world in which might destroys both guilty and innocent people without distinction. It's also about confronting the ways in which we as individuals (and as a people) create refugees: How do you treat homeless people? How will Israel treat the Bedouin living in "unrecognized villages"? How will we make space for all species to have a home on this earth?

You can fast, sit on the ground, etc., but you can't observe Tish'a B'Av without feeling it. It's not about mourning – it's about experiencing the world as a refugee, as someone who has no food or bed, no place to wash, no change of clothes.

A good translation of Eikhah "Lamentations" makes a huge difference. The translation offered here is probably better than the one you have – even (especially) if you have an earlier version of this from the Kallah or the Havurah Institute; most folks find it's a lot more real than the standard JPS. If you feel like you don't get what Tish'a B'Av is about when you're reading Lamentations, see if this helps.

NEW! If you sign up (by commenting on this page), you'll get notice of any updates prior to Tisha B'Av! This 2008 version has fixed many things in the 2007 version; alignment of the English and Hebrew has also been improved. You can suggest any changes using the comment form on this page.

Click on the image below to download a 2008 PDF of Lamentations with linear translation, or click here to download the Davkawriter file. Planned for next week: a layout that can be folded in half and stapled in the middle.

Copy it for your synagogue, havurah, minyan. You are invited to make a donation to support neohasid.org, especially if you make more than 10 copies!

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Hi David...
thanks for this. much love. good luck in Mass. SL

Posted by: SaraLeya at July 22, 2007 3:45 PM

Playing a solea or siguiriya does it for me.

Posted by: Solea at July 22, 2007 11:54 PM

Do you know where I can find a downloadable recording of the Karliner tune for Chapter 3 of Eicha? Brachot, Jeneba

Posted by: Jeneba at July 16, 2008 2:18 AM

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