Tag Archives: Kinot

Censored Kinot

During the week before Tisha B’Av, 5781, I came across the section of Kinot in מחזור מנהג אשכנז המערבי לכל השנה Parma 2885 (14th Century) and was surprised by how many lines within the Kinot were censored. The Kinah with the most lines crossed out was איכה אצת באפך, a sample of which I am attaching. I posted this image in my Nusach Hatefillah Facebook group and one of the members pointed out that the censor did not perform his job well because you can see through the censor’s attempted erasure. What this member failed to recognize is that the page he was looking at was written about seven hundred years ago. The scribe’s writing survived intact while the censor’s mark faded. That is a metaphor for the secret message of Tisha B’Av. Yes, we recall many of the tragedies that have overwhelmed the Jewish People since the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash but like the censor’s mark, those who inflicted those tragedies have faded away but the Jewish People, like the scribe’s print, have survived. The Jewish People will always outlive those who attempt to erase the Jewish People. I look forward to reading the lines of the Kinah that the censor attempted to erase from Jewish memory. You can view all the Kinot in the Machzor here: מחזור מנהג אשכנז המערבי לכל השנה Parma 2885

Preparing To Recite the קינות On Tisha B’Av

With the commencement of the Three Weeks, some of you may have begun reviewing the Kinot of Tisha B’Av or at least, I did. First, let me recommend Yaakov Weingarten’s סדר קינות המפורש. In my opinion his ספר is a Rashi-like commentary. In other words, before you read anyone else’s commentary on any Kinah, study what Weingarten presents. His strengths are in providing a Hebrew to Hebrew translation of the words of each Kinah and his footnotes provide the Rabbinic sources for many of the words in each Kinah. In addition, his הקדמה provides a comprehensive introduction to the Kinot.


I decided to begin with the Tisha B’Av Kinot that are said on Tisha B’Av night because I do not remember ever hearing any discussion about teh Kinot of Tisha B’Av night. What caught my attention was the Kinah that is said only when Tisha B’Av begins on Motzei Shabbat which has the following refrain; וִיהִי נֹֽעַם נִשְׁבָּת. בְּמוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת. It is quite unusual to recite a Piyut whose theme is the omission of a prayer. When Tisha B’Av begins on Motzei Shabbat we omit the פסוק of וִיהִי נֹֽעַם and Tehillim Chapter 91 after reciting Shemona Esrei. Why? I am attaching an excerpt from Weingarten, and the comments of the מטה משה and the לבוש which summarize the reasons given for omitting these Tephilot when Tisha B’av begins on Motzei Shabbat.