Machon Shilo has published a dirge ("kinna") for the destroyed communities of Gush Katif and the northern Samaria.  The dirge is to be recited as part of the Jewish Ninth of Av Service that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Jewish Temples on this day, by the Babylonians   in 586 BCE and by the Romans in 70 CE.

The Jewish Communities of Gush Katif and northern Samaria were destroyed on the Tenth of Av in 2005. According to the Talmud, this is the very same day that the greater part of the Temple was destroyed. 

The dirge, authored by Rav Yehoshua Buch of Machon Shilo, is written in the style of Rabbi Eliezer HaKalir, the 6th century composer of liturgical poetry.  

The dirge can be downloaded from the Machon Shilo website at: http://machonshilo.org/PDF/Machon_Shilo_Gush_Katif_Kinna.pdf

Rav Buch's dirge is based on "How the Rose of Sharon Sits", HaKalir's dirge of 24 stanzas about the 24 shifts of the Priests ("Kohanim") in the Jewish Temple ("Bet HaMiqdash"). Certain expressions are borrowed from Rabbi Eliezar's original version as well as from the first chapter of the Book of Lamentations ("Megilat Eicha"). The stanzas are arranged according to the Hebrew alphabetical order. The last line of each stanza ends with the name of one of the destroyed communities.

Many words in the dirge have double meanings and reflect the bitterness caused by this modern tragedy. Rabbi Buch has expended great effort to adhere to the historical style of the traditional dirge. All words of his dirge—except for one—are found in the Hebrew Bible although grammar may have necessitated minor changes.

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