The Burnt Beams of Jerusalem

Of all Jewish observances, the commemoration of the ninth day of the month of Av is the saddest—and one that reflects the passage of sadness through time. On this day, Tisha B’Av, Jews mourn not only the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 C.E., but also the even more ancient destruction by Babylon in 586 B.C.E. It was therefore all the more striking that this year, mere days before Tisha B’Av, Israelis unearthed a remnant of that earlier event. The Times of Israel reported: Archaeologists have discovered wooden beams believed to have been burned during the destruction of the...