The 9th of Av, Tisha b'Av, commemorates a list of catastrophes so severe it's clearly a day specially cursed by G‑d.
The fast begins tonight at 8:15pm, Metro NYC Time and 8:21pm, Sullivan County Area.
Tisha b’Av, Laws and Customs
The 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av, commemorates a list of catastrophes so severe it’s clearly a day specially cursed by G‑d.
The fast begins tonight at 8:15pm, Metro NYC Time and 8:21pm, Sullivan County Area.
Picture this: The year is 1313 BCE. The Israelites are in the desert, recently having experienced the miraculous Exodus, and are now poised to enter the Promised Land. But first they dispatch a reconnaissance mission to assist in formulating a prudent battle strategy. The spies return on the eighth day of Av and report that the land is unconquerable. That night, the 9th of Av, the people cry. They insist that they’d rather go back to Egypt than be slaughtered by the Canaanites. G‑d is highly displeased by this public demonstration of distrust in His power, and consequently that generation of Israelites never enters the Holy Land. Only their children have that privilege, after wandering in the desert for another 38 years.
The First Temple was also destroyed on the 9th of Av (423 BCE). Five centuries later (in 69 CE), as the Romans drew closer to the Second Temple, ready to torch it, the Jews were shocked to realize that their Second Temple was destroyed the same day as the first.
When the Jews rebelled against Roman rule, they believed that their leader, Simon bar Kochba, would fulfill their messianic longings. But their hopes were cruelly dashed in 133 CE as the Jewish rebels were brutally butchered in the final battle at Betar. The date of the massacre? Of course—the 9th of Av!
One year after their conquest of Betar, the Romans plowed over the Temple Mount, our nation’s holiest site.
The Jews were expelled from England in 1290 CE on, you guessed it, Tisha b’Av. In 1492, the Golden Age of Spain came to a close when Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand ordered that the Jews be banished from the land. The edict of expulsion was signed on March 31, 1492, and the Jews were given exactly four months to put their affairs in order and leave the country. The Hebrew date on which no Jew was allowed any longer to remain in the land where he had enjoyed welcome and prosperity? Oh, by now you know it—the 9th of Av.
The Jews were expelled from England in 1290 CE on, you guessed it, Tisha b’AvReady for just one more? World War II and the Holocaust, historians conclude, was actually the long drawn-out conclusion of World War I that began in 1914. And yes, amazingly enough, the First World War also began, on the Hebrew calendar, on the 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av.
What do you make of all this? Jews see this as another confirmation of the deeply held conviction that history isn’t haphazard; events – even terrible ones – are part of a Divine plan and have spiritual meaning. The message of time is that everything has a rational purpose, even though we don’t understand it.
Customs (Compiled by Rabbi Shua Werde)
* No tachanun From Mincha through to the end of the fast.
* It’s customary to eat a large meal in the early noon.
* Towards the end of the day we eat a final meal with only one cooked dish. (the prevalent custom is egg and bread with ashes)
* We eat this meal on a low stool or the ground.
* We sit on stools or the ground until Thursday mid day. (1:02pm)
* No washing oneself, leather shoes, or marital relations during the fast.
* We say Eicha after Mariv.
* One should sleep a little less comfortable this night. e.g one less pillow and the like.
* No greeting friends.
* It is customary not to work, if one must it should be from after mid day.
* In the morning brachos we don’t say Sheaasa Li Kol Tzorchi
* No Teffilin or Talis for Shacharis.
* We say Kinus during Shacharis
* We end shachris after Uva Letzion.
* We putTallis and Teffilin on for Mincha
* During Shmona Esre of Mincha we say Anenu and Nachem
* The fast ends at 8:44pm
* We wash Netlas yodayim when the fast is over because we could not wash properly during the day.
* We continue observing the three week practices until mid day Fri.
Rabbi
The author is wrong about his last point. Since this year Tisha Bav is on a thursday, we are permitted to do laundry, take a haircut on Friday morning in honor of Shabbos.
A Gut Yom Tov
“it’s clearly a day specially cursed by G-d.”
Everything from Hashem is a blessing. We Yidden sinned and caused Tisha B’Av to be a sad day, until this year BEZ“H.
”We continue observing the three week practices until mid day Fri.”
That should read the NINE DAYS practices, as the Beis HaMikdosh was still burning on the tenth.
Clarification
“The 9th of Av, Tisha b’Av, commemorates a list of catastrophes so severe it’s clearly a day specially cursed by G‑d.”
How and why do you say that any one day is “cursed” by g-d?
While it’s true that the Ninth of Menachem Av was unfortunately set as a day of unfortunate tragedies – it is and was comforted by G-d himself – that it will once again be a great day of rejoycing and happiness. You make NO mention of any kind to the ultimate clarification of this day – which will be through the revelation of Moshiach (Messiah) who will redeem the Jewish people and rebuild the holy Temple – may this happen speedily in our time. Amen.
until mid day Fri.
“* We continue observing the three week practices until mid day Fri.”
what about erev shabbis isn’t it different?
any rabbis???
Also
Only wash till the knuckles
I appreciate it!
Thank You! very helpfull!
mayer
we do not continue all three weeks practices on fri being that it is erev shabbos we may bathe launder and take a haircut right away fri morning and chabad minhug is to sleep normally
more
Mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp began on Tisha B’Av eve of 1942.
The Jews of Gush Katif spent their last legal day in their homes in Tisha B’Av of 2005, and were expelled three days later.
Since Tisha B’Av this year is Thursday, clothes can be washed Thursday night for Shabbos.
The day will be a holiday with Moshiach now.
To clarify the facts
Hashem had told beni yisroel that after the chet hameraglim that the 9th of Av will be a day of mourning till mashiach will arrive since they cried for nothing
bochur
the outhor forgot
the most recent event of 9th of av cristilinacht
Phil
Sorry, Bochur,
November 9–10, 1938 did not fall on Tisha b’Av