First read this:

“A Time to Laugh and a Time to Cry:

Writes the Israeli journalist for one of my favorites, Treehugger.com:

We know, we know: TreeHuggers don’t dwell on environmental doom and gloom. We are modern, we are hip & we are environmentally responsible. Say it again! But every so often, we just need to cry. We put on a Tori Amos album, curl up in a ball in our beds and weep like there is no tomorrow. And it can feel good, because sometimes the world is just plain sad. Take today for example. Come nightfall, starts Tisha B’Av or the Ninth of Av – the saddest day of the Jewish calendar. Major calamities happened on this day in Jewish history – such as the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem on separate occasions. In order to mark this day of tragedy, observant Jews fast. They also don’t wear leather, they don’t wash their bodies, they don’t use oil products and they do not engage in marital relations.

Among the list of customs, one of the most pronounced is that Jews should be sad. Very sad. Playing music or participating in activities that bring joy are discouraged. Some people go to great lengths to be unhappy by reading unpleasant passages in the Bible or by sitting on uncomfortable chairs. Therefore, to get our Jewish readers in the right Tisha B’Av spirit, we have collected a list of 10 TreeHugger posts that we can cry buckets over.

Continue reading the list.