The Month of Av begins at sundown on July 19, 2012, and ends at sundown on August 18, 2012.

What happens when the worlds seems to crumble? How are we able to carry on after total disaster? These are questions that Jews have had to ask far to many times in our history. In some ways it has transformed the tribe into permanent victims, but it has also made us the ultimate survivors. The month of Av is a celebration of survival, if we choose to embrace it this way. Av asks us the question: are you a victim or a survivor?

Rosh Chodesh Av falls in the three-week period of time traditionally known as bein ha-metzarim (בֵּין הַמְּצָרִים), which means “between the straits.” This is the time when tradition tells us that both the first and second Temples fell. The holiday of Tisha B’Av (9th of [Read more…]