Page 15 - HaMizrachi # 21 Tisha B'Av 2020 USA

What are the Kinot? tradition, wrote kinot mourning the Some collections of kinot contain
As we mourn the destruction of destruction of the Temple in Jerusa- even newer kinot – 20th-century
the Beit HaMikdash on Tisha B’Av, lem and the plight of Israel. Gabirol compositions that focus explicitly
Jews customarily gather to recite wrote with a pure Biblical Hebrew on the horrors of the Holocaust.
kinot – liturgical poems that reflect diction that would become the sig-
upon themes of tragedy and loss. nature style of the Spanish school of
Kinot are recited aloud and often in Hebrew poets and he popularized Why were the “new” Kinot added?
unison as a way of somehow com- the strict Arabic meter in Hebrew In the words of Rabbi Kalonymus
municating with or beseeching G-d, poetry, originally introduced by ben Yehuda, the author of Kinah
and of feeling the spirit of mourn- Dunash ben Labrat. #25: “Since one may not add a new
ing. There are nearly 50 kinot for Eleazar ben Judah (Sefer day of mourning… On Tisha B’Av,
Tisha B’Av (customs differ by tra- HaRokeach) wrote a kinah follow- my mourning I will arouse, and I
dition – e.g. Ashkenazi v. Sephardi ing the murder of his family during will eulogize and I will wail and I
and other differences). The kinot the Crusades. will weep with a soul that is bitter.”
are usually referred to either by
their number (e.g. Kinah #24) or by In other words, although Tisha B’Av
their first few words (e.g. ה ָ ב ׁ ְ ש ָי ה ָ כי ֵ א, was originally construed as a day of
“How Is It That It Sits Alone?”). What are the Kinot about? mourning for only the five tragic
The most common topic running events listed in the Mishna, Rabbi
throughout the kinot of Tisha B’Av Kalonymus ben Yehuda sees it as
the “source,” in some sense, of all
Who wrote the Kinot? is the destruction of the First and the tragedies that have befallen the
Second Temples.
The oldest kinot were composed Jewish people throughout history.
by Rabbi Elazar HaKalir, who likely There are also kinot that relate to
lived in the 6th-7th centuries. His other tragedies as well. The Mish-
kinot resemble the structure and nah (Ta’anit 4:6) explains that we How can I connect to the Kinot?
content of Megillat Eicha. For fast on Tisha B’Av in commemora-
example, one of his kinot begins tion of five tragic events that took Many of the kinot are written in
each stanza with the word ה ָ כי ֵ א. He place on that day: the decree that a poetic style that is hard for even
often writes stanzas in the alpha- our ancestors should not enter the native Hebrew speakers to under-
stand and are full of references to
betical acrostic, similar to the first Land, the destruction of both Tem- Tanach, Talmud, and Midrash. To
four chapters of Eicha. The style ples, the capture of Betar and the give yourself a better understand-
deals primarily with the destruction plowing of Jerusalem. ing of what you are saying, try to
of the Second Temple, similar to follow along using a translated
Eicha which mourns the destruc- version. Additionally, if you have
tion of the First Temple.
What are the “new” Kinot? time (whether before Tisha B’av or
Rabbi Judah HaLevi completely A whole new wave of kinot were on the day itself), perhaps choose
changed the nature of the kinot with a few kinot to truly study in-depth
his compositions. There is no pain written to commemorate another to help make the recitation more
or despair over the tragedies of the set of tragedies – the Crusades, meaningful. And of course there are
distant or near past, but rather a describing the violence that medie- plenty of online shiurim and other
longing for returning to Jerusalem, val Jews suffered at the hands of the resources too. Some communities
as in his poem, י ִ ל ֲ א ׁ ְ ש ִ ת אלֹ ֲ ה ן ֹוּי ִ צ. zealous Crusaders making their way also host people who provide com-
to the Holy Land. The events of the mentary in between the different
Solomon ibn Gabirol, an 11th-cen- Crusades occurred roughly 1,000 kinot. This year especially, look out
tury Andalusian poet and Jewish years after the destruction of the for online educational events on
philosopher in the Neoplatonic ancient Temple. Tisha B’Av.

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