I was recently traveling back from visiting friends when my flight was cancelled. As expected, the disruption left many fellow passengers frustrated, with some taking their anger out on airline staff, airport employees, hotel concierges, and others who had little control over the situation. In many ways, this reaction was not surprising. The same dynamic plays out constantly: with a waitress who takes a little too long delivering an order, a bus driver delayed by traffic, or a customer service representative who has no control over company policy but bears the brunt of a customer’s frustration. We often come to expect people to behave a certain way depending on the circumstances.

Watching these interactions unfold, I realized how easily we come to accept them as normal. We have grown accustomed to frustration turning into cruelty, inconvenience becoming an excuse for disrespect, and lowered expectations shaping the way we treat one another. That complacency is part of what Tisha B’Av and the connected period challenges us to confront.

Each summer, the Jewish community steps away from the expected, whether for three weeks, the Nine Days, or Tisha B’Av itself. While observance may differ across communities, this departure transcends denomination and ideology, appearing in camps, synagogues, and Jewish communities around the world.

Summer is traditionally associated with joy and relaxation: time spent at pools, listening to music, attending barbecues, and taking trips. Yet these are precisely the activities that are customarily avoided or scaled back during the period leading up to Tisha B’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, when Jewish tragedy and national calamity converge into one day of mourning. On Tisha B’Av........

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