In Mourning and Joy
I am sitting in the dusk of Winter, preparing to officiate a funeral. As I re-read my notes from the meeting with family members and work on the eulogy, there is a phrase from the Talmud that runs through my head over and over, “As we enter Av, we decrease in joy.” The Talmud (Taanit 29a) is talking about the month of Av, on the 9th day of which, we commemorate the Destruction of the Ancient Temples in Jerusalem, our exiles, and so many other catastrophes which have occurred