26/07/2004 Tisha B’Av, the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, the traditional date of the destruction of both the first and second Temples, began at sundown Monday evening. An estimated 8,000 worshippers congregated at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City for prayer services. All roads around the Old City were closed off. At synagogues around the country, the Book of Lamentations was read.
Alternative religious ceremonies were also held nationwide. The Masorati (Conservative) Movement in Israel conducted its central lamentation event at a section of the Western Wall south of the main plaza. Young members of the Movement for Progressive Judaism also took part in the event. Politicians, journalists, writers and public personalities took part in reading the Book of Lamentations and discussing current issues in dozens of community centers and centers for immigrants from the former Soviet Union around the country. These events were organized by the community centers umbrella group with the office of the minister for Diaspora affairs as part of the Judaism For All project. A „torch extinguishing” ceremony was held in Jerusalem’s Zion Square in protest of growing racism, discrimination, abuse, extremism and violence in the Israeli society. The ceremony was performed by Jewish Voice, a coalition of organizations with a Jewish-social orientation. Politicians from the National Religious Party and the National Union Party took part in the annual march around the Old City’s walls, which was organized for the tenth time by the Women in Green Movement. The Israel Religious Action Center of the Movement for Progressive Judaism published a new lamentation for Tisha B’Av that relates to current events. The lamentation mentions Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, denounces Orthodox Jews for evading military service, condemns threats aimed at the legal system and criticizes settlers for harassing their Palestinian neighbors. The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality has announced that as in the past two years, restaurants and places of entertainment must close. Businesses that remain open will be subject to a NIS 600 fine. Last year, 26 citations were handed out by municipal inspectors against businesses that remained open on Tisha B’Av against the law, a smaller number than in previous years. Jerusalem Police Chief Ilan Frenco will on Tuesday decide whether to allowed members of the Temple Mount Faithful group to enter the Temple Mount for a ceremony to mark the fast day. At a High Court of Justice hearing on the issue on Monday, the representative for the state said that the group members were allowed onto the Mount just like any other citizen and if a ban is imposed on worshippers visiting the holy site, it should extend to all visitors. BPI-info
