TISHA B'AV
by Maurice Minkowski (1881-1930)
Water-colour 1927
Purchased 1929
(224K)
Tisha B'Av marks the anniversary of the destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonian general Nebuchanezzar in 586 BCE and of the destruction of the Second Temple by the Roman General Titus in 70 CE. It was also the date on which the rebuilding of Jerusalem as a pagan city was begun by the Emperor Hadrian in 136 CE, on which the Jews were expelled from England in 1290 during the reign of Edward I and finally on which Ferdinand and Isabella began the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 during which 300,000 Jews had to leave their homes in Spain.
Unsurprisingly, therefore, Tisha B'Av has become a symbol of all the persecutions and misfortunes that the Jewish people have undergone throughout their history. The book of Lamentations is read during the evening service and it is traditional for the worshippers to sit on the same low stools used during the mourning period. Other melancholy passages are also studied such as the Book of Job, and the lights are usually kept dim.
In this watercolour, we see three women reading by candlelight. As can be seen they are seated on low stools. They are probably in the synagogue, (we can see that they appear to be in a stone building.) It is traditional for men and women to sit apart in the synagogue as is obviously the case here.
Minkowski was considered a prodigy because in spite of being deaf and dumb, he managed to attain considerable prominence. He is best known for his paintings of Polish-Jewish life in the last years of Tsarist domination, and like Hirszenberg, painted many scenes to show the plight of the Jews at this time.
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