Tisha B'Av and Democracy in Israel

 I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
    a light to the nations,
7     to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.

            Isaiah 42:6-7 NRSVue 

Since our April trip to Israel I have been more aware of Jewish celebrations and commemorations.

Yesterday evening marked the beginning of Tisha B’Av (the Ninth of Av), an annual fast day in Judaism. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date. With the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans the holy items for religious observance may have been pillaged and carted away to Rome, as pictured above on a bas relief from the Arch of Titus. 

In our time the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is home to the Al Aksa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, a source of major contention between Muslims and Orthodox Jews. The Western Wall is Herod's 2000-year-old retaining wall for the Second Temple platform and a place of prayer for observant Jews. 

When I saw the reminder about Tisha B'Av it occurred to me that the nation of Israel which was re-established 75 years ago is in peril of falling once again, this time ideologically. When modern Israel came into being David Ben Gurion spoke about becoming a moral beacon, quoting from Isaiah and the call to be "a light to the nations."

There is a bleak irony that this fast day is taking place in the same week that the Israeli parliament passed legislation which is more gloom than illumination, drastically limiting the scope of the Supreme Court and, in the minds of many, destroying democracy. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in protest and there was a rally a few days ago which filled the plaza in front of the Western Wall, the base of the Temple Mount.

 Sadly, some members of the current coalition government are from ultra-right Jewish parties which have no respect for those from other religions, including Christians, and are contemptuous of Palestinians. Today one of those ministers led a thousand nationalists setters to the Al Aksa compound, even though these provocative acts are forbidden by the Chief Rabbi. 

We can pray that sight will be restored to the leadership of a nation which is in peril of losing its way, and that Israel can be that beacon of light, both within its borders and to the world.