Tisha B'Av

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Tisha B'Av
Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, by Francesco Hayez
Official name	Hebrew: תשעה באב English: Ninth of Av
Observed by	Jews in Judaism
Type	Jewish
Significance	Mourning for the destruction of the First & Second Temples in Jerusalem
Date	9th day of Av
2006 date	sunset, August 2 – sunset, August 3
2007 date	sunset, July 23 – sunset, July 24
2008 date	sunset, August 9 – sunset, August 10
Observances	Fasting, prayer
Related to	The fasts of the Tenth of Tevet and the Seventeenth of Tammuz, the Three Weeks & the Nine Days

Tisha B'Av or Tish'ah b'Av (Hebrew: תשעה באב or ט׳ באב, tish‘āh bə-āḇ) is a major annual fast day in Judaism. Its name denotes the ninth day (Tisha) of the Jewish month of Av, which falls in July or August. It has been called the "saddest day in Jewish history".^[1]

Contents 1 Background 1.1 The destructions 1.2 After the Exodus 1.3 The five calamities 1.4 Later calamities on 9 Av 1.5 Holocaust (Shoah) 2 Observances 2.1 Restrictions 2.2 Services 3 History of the observance 4 In light of Israel's establishment 4.1 According to Orthodox Judaism 4.2 Religious Zionism's ideas 4.3 Conservative and Masorti ideas 5 Other traditions 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Background

[edit] The destructions

The fast commemorates two of the saddest events in Jewish history—the destruction of the First Temple (originally built by King Solomon), and the destruction of the Second Temple. Those two events occurred about 656 years apart, but both in the same month, Av, and, as tradition has it, both on the ninth day.

In connection with the fall of Jerusalem three other fast-days were established at the same time as the Ninth Day of Av: these were the Tenth of Tevet, when the siege began; the Seventeenth of Tammuz, when the first breach was made in the wall; and the Third of Tishrei, known as the Fast of Gedaliah, the day when Gedaliah was assassinated (II Kings 25:25; Jeremiah 41:2). From Zechariah 7:5, 8:19 it appears that after the building of the Second Temple the custom of keeping these fast-days was temporarily discontinued. Since the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Second Temple by the Romans, the four fast-days have again been observed.

[edit] After the Exodus

On this day in the year 1312 BCE, the generation of Jews who came out of Egypt under Moses' leadership 16 months earlier were condemned to die in the wilderness (midbar) and the entry into the Land of Israel was delayed for 40 years until the old generation died out.

[edit] The five calamities

According to the Mishnah (Taanit, 4:6), five specific events occurred on the ninth of Av that warrant fasting:

1. On this day, the Twelve spies sent by Moses to observe the land of Canaan returned from their mission. Two of the spies (Joshua and Caleb) brought a positive report, but 10 of the spies brought an "evil report" about the land that caused the Children of Israel to cry, panic and despair of ever entering the "Promised land". For this, they were punished by God that they would not enter, and that for all generations the day would become one of crying and misfortune for the descendants of the Children of Israel, the Jewish people. (See Numbers ch 13–14)
2. Solomon's Temple (the First Temple) and the Kingdom of Judah were destroyed by the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and the Judeans were sent into the Babylonian exile.
3. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 CE scattering the people of Judea and commencing a two thousand year Jewish exile.
4. The Bar Kokhba's revolt against Rome failed, and Bar Kokhba was killed, as was Rabbi Akiva and many other important sages of the Mishnah, and Betar was destroyed.
5. Following the Siege of Jerusalem, the subsequent razing of Jerusalem occurred one year later.

According to the Talmud (Tractate Taanit), the destruction of the Second Temple began on that date and was finally consumed by the flames on the next day—the Tenth of Av.

[edit] Later calamities on 9 Av

A large number of calamities are alleged to have occurred on the ninth of Av:

• The burning of the Talmud in 1242
• In 1290, the signature of the edict by King Edward I expelling the Jews from England
• The Alhambra decree expelling the Jews from Spain, came into effect at midnight on 1492-07-31, which was on the evening of the 8th of Av, less than 24 hours before Tisha B'av began.
• In the First World War, Germany declared war on Russia on 1914-08-01, Tisha B'av.
• The first killings at Treblinka took place in 1942

The purpose of the day is not to institute annual commemorations of historical disasters. Rather, they are commemorated on Tisha B'Av. Examples are the destruction of many Jewish communities in the Rhineland during the Crusades. The liturgy often makes mention of specific instances (see below).

[edit] Holocaust (Shoah)

Most Haredi and centrist Orthodox Jews also see Tisha B'Av as a remembrance day for the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Modern Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews remember these on a special day instituted by the government of Israel, called Yom HaShoah. Haredi rabbinical leaders view the institution of a new permanent day of mourning or celebration in our times as anti-traditional, which is why Haredi Jews do not observe Yom Hazikaron either. There are also many who see Tisha B'Av as a remembrance day for the Holocaust as well as participate in its remembrance on Yom HaShoah.

[edit] Observances

[edit] Restrictions

As on Yom Kippur, Tisha B'Av is observed as a full day fast that lasts about 25 hours, beginning with sunset and ending with nightfall the subsequent day. There are five main prohibitions:

1. Eating or drinking of any kind
2. Washing or bathing of any kind.
3. Application of creams or oils. Skin creams and makeup are included in this prohibition.
4. Wearing leather shoes.
5. Participating in sexual relations, hugging, kissing and all other forms of physical affection.

Torah study is also forbidden, though reading sad topics, such as Lamentations, Job, some sections of Jeremiah and sections of the Talmud that deal with the laws of mourning, is allowed.^[2]

Also, if possible, working is avoided until after midday.

During services in synagogue, and when returning home, from nightfall until mid-day, one is required to sit on the floor or on low chairs, as during shiva (the week of mourning observed after the death of a first-degree relative). Some even have the custom of sleeping on the floor or other modification to the normal sleeping routine. (Sleeping without pillows is a common modification for people who find it very difficult to sleep on the floor.) People must refrain from greeting each other or sending gifts on this day. Old prayerbooks and Torahs are often buried on this day.

In all cases, these prohibitions are only to promote the day's nature of mourning, and avoidance of enjoyment. Accordingly, they are generally waived where the action is needed for some other purpose, and certainly when there is a health issue. For example, those who are ill may eat and drink if they need to; this is in contrast to Yom Kippur, when eating and drinking is allowed only in cases of life-threatening need. Washing to the knuckles for ritual purposes is permitted. Some authorities state that washing solely for the sake of hygiene is acceptable^{[citation needed]}. Those with diabetes or another medical condition where sleeping without the head elevated would be harmful to them (their eyes, in the case of a diabetic) are permitted to sleep with pillows as they normally would.

Although the fast ends at nightfall, eating meat and drinking wine are prohibited until noon of the following day. According to tradition, the Temple burned all night and most of the day of the tenth of Av.^[3]

The laws of Tisha B'Av are recorded in the Shulkhan Arukh (the "Code of Jewish Law") Orach Chayim 552-557.

[edit] Services

The scroll of Eichah (Lamentations) is read in synagogue during the evening services. In addition, most of the morning is spent reading kinoth ("dirges"), most bewailing the loss of the Temples and the subsequent persecutions, but many others referring to post-exile disasters. These later kinnoth were composed by various poets (often prominent Rabbis) who had either suffered in the events mentioned or relate received reports. Important kinnoth were composed by Elazar ha-Kalir and Rabbi Judah ha-Levi. After the Holocaust, kinnoth were composed by the German-born Rabbi Shimon Schwab (in 1959, at the request of Rabbi Joseph Breuer) and by Rabbi Solomon Halberstam, leader of the Bobov Hasidim (in 1984).

In many Sephardic congregations the Book of Job is read on the morning of Tisha B'Av.

[edit] History of the observance

In the long period which is reflected in Talmudic literature the observance of the Ninth Day of Av assumed a character of constantly growing sadness and asceticism. By the end of the second century or at the beginning of the third, the celebration of the day had lost much of its gloom. Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi was in favor of abolishing it altogether or, according to another version, of lessening its severity when the fast has been postponed from Saturday to Sunday (Talmud, Tractate Megillah 5b).

The growing strictness in the observance of mourning customs in connection with the Ninth Day of Av became pronounced in post-Talmudic times, and particularly in the darkest period of Jewish life, from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth.

Maimonides (twelfth century), in his Mishneh Torah, says that the restrictions as to the eating of meat and the drinking of wine refer only to the last meal before fasting on the Eighth Day of Av, if taken after noon, but before noon anything may be eaten (Hilchoth Ta'anith 5:8). Rabbi Moses of Coucy (thirteenth century) wrote that it is the universal custom to refrain from meat and wine during the whole day preceding the Ninth of Av (Sefer Mitzvoth ha-Gadol, Venice ed., Laws of Tishah B'Av, 249b). Rabbi Joseph Caro (sixteenth century) says some are accustomed to abstain from meat and wine from the beginning of the week in which the Ninth Day of Av falls; and still others abstain throughout the three weeks from the Seventeenth of Tammuz (Shulkhan Arukh, Orach Chayim 551).

A gradual extension of prohibitions can be traced in the abstention from marrying at this season and in other signs of mourning. So Rabbi Moses of Coucy says that some do not use the tefillin ("phylacteries") on the Ninth Day of Av, a custom which later was universally observed (it is now postponed until the afternoon). In this manner all customs originally designated as marks of unusual piety finally became the rule for all.

[edit] In light of Israel's establishment

[edit] According to Orthodox Judaism

Most in Orthodox Judaism believe that until the arrival of the Jewish Messiah, this day will continue to be observed as a fast; when the Messiah comes, it will become a great celebration.

[edit] Religious Zionism's ideas

In the 20th century, with the re-establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, a small number of religious Zionists opined that the commemoration of Tisha B'Av would have to be modified, and possibly overturned, but this has been rejected by the majority.

[edit] Conservative and Masorti ideas

The law committee of the Masorti Movement (Conservative Judaism in the State of Israel) issued responsa on the question "In our time do we still have to fast for the whole of Tish'a b'Av, seeing that our sovereign independence has been regained? May we reduce the outward signs of mourning and permit eating after the Minchah Service?" Two responses were given:

• Rabbi Theodore Friedman wrote that: "There is already an historical precedent in Megillat Ta'anit which stipulated days on which we may not fast because of salvation wrought for Israel. In our time we have been vouchsafed a great salvation in the establishment of the State... It therefore seems to us that this great historical turning point in Israel's history should be celebrated by not completing the fast on 9th Av, but concluding it after the midday Minchah."
• Rabbi David Golinkin wrote,^[4] concluding "It is forbidden to fast only half the day on Tish'a b'Av for several reasons:
  • we have demonstrated that during the period of the Second Temple they did fast on Tish'a b'Av...
  • From the halakhic point of view this is not possible. Either we must fast on all four of the fasts [and Tisha b'Av] or on Tish'a b'Av alone...
  • From the ideological point of view, we cannot yet say that we have reached the period of "peace". We should revert to the custom of the Ge'onim ... and fast the whole day on Tish'a b'Av and declare the other fast days to be voluntary and not compulsory."

[edit] Other traditions

Classical Jewish sources maintain that the Jewish Messiah will be born on Tisha B'Av, though many explain this idea metaphorically.^{[citation needed]}

This is based on the following Midrash tale: A non-Jew interpreted a cow's moo as a sign of the Temple's destruction. When the cow mooed again, he asserted that the Messiah had been born. The Christians, in their debate with Don Isaac Abrabanel, used this as proof that Messiah lived during the period of the Temple's destruction, thus allowing Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah. Abarbanel held that this story is a metaphor.

[edit] See also

• Jewish holiday
• Bereavement in Judaism

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Chabad.org Calendar, go to 9th of Av
• Av, the month of tragedies
• Three Weeks and Tisha B'Av
• The Historical Meaning of Tish'a B'av (9 Av), Rabbi Joshua Yuter

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