Change Tisha b’Av Ritual to Accommodate the Jews’ Return to Jerusalem? It’s Already Been Done

The traditional liturgy for today—the fast day of Tisha b’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples—includes a brief but central prayer describing Jerusalem as “laid waste of its dwellings, robbed of its glory, and desolate without inhabitants.” Since 1967, even some Orthodox Jews have advocated revising this text to accord better with today’s very different reality, although the majority have resisted change. Yet, argues Chaim Saiman, the observance of this day has changed radically, even in ultra-Orthodox circles, as evidenced, during the long interval between morning and late-afternoon/early-evening prayers, by the widespread practice of gathering in synagogue for lectures on the day’s themes or (for those in Israel) at the Western Wall to sing liturgical melodies.