Page 5 of trying to fill up a Jewish sketchbook

Continuation of filling up a Jewish sketchbook: the tragedies of Tisha B’Av

This piece focuses on some of the classic travesties remembered on the 9th of Av. I still depicted the Temples whole (because I hate showing them being destroyed), but to remain true to the tragedy of their eventual collapse, I made them dark and hollow.

Beneath them, two oxen plow the ruins of Jerusalem, as well as Beitar, the last stronghold of the Bar Kochba revolt, where hundreds of thousands were killed. The only human element depicted is the weeping eyes above, meant to represent the Jewish collective which mourns the desolation.

It is always a bittersweet thing to think of the Temples and the aftermath of their destruction. The loss to our identities and our way of life has been incalculable. But it is also an incredible privilege to note that thousands of years, later we haven’t forgotten where we come from and who we are.