Tisha B'Av

The 9th of Av — the major fast day of the Jewish year, commemorating the destruction of both Temples and many other catastrophes.

By The Editors

Holidays · 3 minute read

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Summary. Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av) is the major fast day of the Jewish calendar after Yom Kippur. It commemorates the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE) and the Second Temple (70 CE) — both, by tradition, on the same date — as well as a litany of other Jewish catastrophes (the breaking of the tablets, the expulsion of the spies, the fall of Beitar, the expulsion from England in 1290, the Alhambra Decree expelling the Jews from Spain in 1492, the start of the First World War in 1914, the deportations from Warsaw to Treblinka in 1942). The book of Eichah (Lamentations) is read; kinot (elegies) are chanted; the day is observed with the full range of fast-day prohibitions plus mourning-of-the-dead practices.

The Five Restrictions

Tisha B'Av includes the same five afflictions as Yom Kippur: no eating or drinking, no washing for pleasure, no anointing, no marital relations, no leather shoes. Additional mourning practices: no Torah study (except mourning-related passages), no greetings, sitting on the floor or on low stools until midday, no smiling. The mourning posture is that of a person sitting shiva (the seven-day mourning period for a close relative). The fast begins at sundown the evening before and ends at nightfall.

Eichah and Kinot

On Tisha B'Av evening, after Ma'ariv, Eichah (Lamentations) is chanted aloud in the synagogue in its distinctive mournful trope. The congregation sits on the floor or on low stools; the lights are dimmed. The morning service includes additional kinot — medieval elegies composed in response to specific catastrophes: the Crusades, the expulsions, the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648–49, the Holocaust. The kinot can take hours to recite; many communities go through them through midday. The Koren Kinot or ArtScroll Kinot is the standard liturgy.

The Three Weeks and the Nine Days

The mourning period leading to Tisha B'Av is structured. The Three Weeks (bein hametzarim, "between the straits") begin on the 17th of Tammuz and end on the 9th of Av. Weddings, haircuts, and live music are prohibited; in many communities the restrictions on shaving and entertainment intensify as the period progresses. From the 1st of Av (the start of the Nine Days), no meat or wine is consumed (except on Shabbat); no swimming for pleasure; no purchases of new clothing requiring shehecheyanu; no construction or planting of joyful things. The Shabbat immediately before Tisha B'Av is Shabbat Chazon, named for the haftarah from Yeshayahu 1 read on that day.

After Midday

The most stringent mourning practices ease somewhat after midday on Tisha B'Av itself — the tradition holds that the Temple began to burn at midday and consumed itself through the afternoon; the actual completion is treated as already the beginning of redemption. Some sit on chairs from midday. The Mincha service of Tisha B'Av includes the additional Nachem prayer, asking God to comfort the mourners of Zion and to rebuild Jerusalem. After the fast ends, the mood gradually shifts; some authorities counsel a meat meal that evening to mark the transition.

Where Denominations Diverge

Observance is most universal in Orthodox communities. Conservative observance of Tisha B'Av is substantial; the Rabbinical Assembly has produced its own kinot collection. Reform observance is variable; many Reform congregations note the day with a brief evening service and Eichah reading. A theological tension exists in some non-Orthodox circles: after 1948 and the founding of the State of Israel, what is the meaning of mourning for the loss of Jerusalem when Jerusalem is again the capital of a Jewish state? Most denominations have maintained Tisha B'Av observance unchanged; some have added contemporary readings on the Holocaust and modern Jewish suffering.

Sources

Mishnah, Ta'anit 4:6.

Talmud Bavli, Ta'anit 26b–31a; Gittin 55b–58a.

Eichah (Lamentations).

Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Ta'aniyot 5.

Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 549–561.