By Mike Steklof, Ed.D.
Tisha B’Av (observed this year from tomorrow evening through sunset on Sunday) marks the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem and countless other tragedies throughout Jewish history. When the fast is delayed until Sunday, it alters the rhythm of the week: we end Shabbat with joy and light, only to shift into mourning. That emotional pivot, and the quiet, unscheduled hours of a Sunday in the summer, can create a rare space for deeper reflection.
For me, this timing offers a unique opportunity. With no pressure from other obligations, I can fully immerse myself in the emotional and spiritual depth of the day. I’ve made it a personal tradition to spend these rare Sunday Tisha B’Avs reading a book that explores Jewish trauma and endurance, narratives that deepen my mourning and broaden my connection to our people’s pain.
What I’ve Read
During the last Sunday Tisha B’Av in 2022, I read All Who Go Do Not Return: A Memoir by Shulem Deen. The book chronicles Deen’s painful separation from the insular Hasidic world in which he was raised. It’s not a story of physical destruction, but of spiritual unraveling, one man losing his community, his family, and his belief system. The book’s title alone echoes Tisha B’Av’s haunting sense of finality, and the story is filled with moments of rupture and longing. Reading it on Tisha B’Av, I found myself mourning not only the destruction of Jerusalem, but also the many personal Jerusalems that collapse quietly, behind closed doors, even today.
This Year
This year, I’ll be reading Morning Has Broken: Faith After October 7th by Erica Brown. Published after October 7th, one of the most devastating attacks on Jews since the Holocaust, the book offers a series of essays rooted in grief, outrage, and the aching search for spiritual grounding. I’ve been told that Brown writes with the clarity of a teacher and the compassion of someone deeply familiar with the terrain of tragedy. Her words, I hope, will help us feel less alone as we ask: How do we mourn when the wound is still fresh? What do we say to G!d when words fail?
Reading this on Tisha B’Av feels especially fitting. The day invites us to remember ancient destruction, but also to recognize its echoes in the present. In choosing this book, I hope to bridge the sorrow of our ancestors with the pain we carry now and to glimpse the strength that may lie on the other side of this heartbreak.
Tisha B’Av is more than just sitting on the floor and fasting. It’s also about bearing witness to the story of our people’s suffering and carrying it with compassion and clarity. For me, reading on this day, especially when it falls on a Sunday, is one of the most meaningful ways to do just that.
Dr. Mike Steklof is the Executive Director of Hillel of Buffalo and is always looking for good book recommendations.
