Five misfortunes befell our fathers ...
on the ninth of Av. ...On the ninth of Av it was decreed
that our fathers should not enter the [Promised] Land, the
Temple was destroyed the first and second time, Bethar was
captured and the city [Jerusalem] was ploughed up. -Mishnah
Ta'anit 4:6
...Should I weep in the fifth month [Av],
separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
-Zechariah 7:3
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of
the month ...came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of
the L-RD... -II Kings 25:8-9
In the fifth month, on the tenth day of
the month... came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of
the L-RD... - Jeremiah 52:12-13
How then are these dates to be
reconciled? On the seventh the heathens entered the Temple
and ate therein and desecrated it throughout the seventh and
eighth and towards dusk of the ninth they set fire to it and
it continued to burn the whole of that day. ... How will the
Rabbis then [explain the choice of the 9th as the date]? The
beginning of any misfortune [when the fire was set] is of
greater moment. -Talmud Ta'anit 29a
Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth of
Av, is a day of
mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen
the Jewish
people, many of which coincidentally have occurred on the
ninth of Av.
Tisha B'Av means "the ninth (day) of Av." It usually occurs
during August.
Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the
first and second
Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av
(the first by the Babylonians in 586
B.C.E.; the
second by the Romans in 70
C.E.).
Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the
destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider on this
day the many other tragedies of the Jewish people, many of which
occurred on this day, most notably the expulsion of the Jews
from Spain in 1492.1
Tisha B'Av is the culmination of a three week period of
increasing mourning, beginning with the
fast of the 17th
of Tammuz, which commemorates the first breach in the walls
of Jerusalem, before the First Temple was destroyed. During this
three week period, weddings and other parties are not permitted,
and people refrain from cutting their hair. From the first to
the ninth of Av, it is customary to refrain from eating meat or
drinking wine (except on the
Shabbat)
and from wearing new clothing.
The restrictions on Tisha B'Av are similar to those on
Yom Kippur:
to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing,
bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes;
engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah. Work in the
ordinary sense of the word [rather than the
Shabbat
sense] is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on
this day. Many of the traditional
mourning
practices are observed: people refrain from smiles, laughter and
idle conversation, and sit on low stools.
In synagogue, the book of Lamentations is read and mourning
prayers are recited. The ark (cabinet where the Torah is kept)
is draped in black.
Tisha B'Av will occur on the following days of the Gregorian
calendar:
- Jewish Year 5768: sunset August 9, 2008 - nightfall
August 10, 2008
- Jewish Year 5769: sunset July 29, 2009 - nightfall July
30, 2009
- Jewish Year 5770: sunset July 19, 2010 - nightfall July
20, 2010
- Jewish Year 5771: sunset August 8, 2011 - nightfall
August 9, 2011
- Jewish Year 5772: sunset July 27, 2012 - nightfall July
28, 2012
For additional holiday dates, see
Links to Jewish Calendars.
1. The
Alhambra Decree, issued March 31, 1492, ordered all Jews to
leave Spain by the end of July 1492. July 31, 1492 was Tisha
B'Av. Note that if you use a Jewish calendar converter to check
this, it may show July 31 as the 27th of Tammuz. If so, the
converter has failed to take into account the Gregorian
Reformation, which skipped 11 days on the calendar. If you add
the 11 missing days and convert August 11 instead of July 31,
you will see that "August 11" 1492 is 9 Av. |
