"How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!"

It's that time of year again

I recently heard an interpretation that, as the names suggest, Bar Kamtza was Kamtza's son and they had had a complete falling out, which adds extra tragedy to the שנאת חינם (sinat ḥinam, "baseless hatred") that led to the Temple being destroyed.

Last year I didn't go to services for Tisha b'Av and the year before that it was online, but this year it'll be in person again--I'm going to a reading of איכה (eiḥa, translated in English as the Book of Lamentations but literally meaning "How?") at Anshe Emet because they're partnering with Mishkan. I've been there for stuff before, and I still sometimes get some of their emails, which I ignore because I'm on the "young adult" list because everyone who meets me thinks I'm thirty, but not since before the pandemic. I'm curious to see if it's changed at all, though I won't get much of an opportunity to look around.

Going to be offline for 48 hours, thanks to Shabbat and the holiday. I'll be a nice reset.