Tisha B’Av (Fast)

Why do we mourn on Tisha b'Av? A historical overview, a digest of the day's laws, and a guide that leads you through the day, step-by-step.

The Separation Meal, the Book of Lamentations, elegies, prayers, Torah Readings, the break-fast, and more.

The saddest day on the Jewish calendar is the Ninth of Av, “Tisha B’Av.” It is the date when both our Holy Temples were destroyed, and exile, persecution and spiritual blackness began.

A desert decree revoked . . . a marriage ban lifted . . . 600 survivors go wife-hunting . . . roadblocks to Jerusalem removed . . . Betar dead buried . . . What is the connection between all of these events?

What do we do when a bad dream becomes too horrible to bear? We make ourselves wake up, and all the impossible predicaments and disturbing contradictions disappear as if they never were

A historical perspective on the events that led up to the destruction of the Holy Temple

What remains of the destroyed Temple to be held as "collateral"? What is the debt whose payment will trigger the Temple's return to us?

They opened a skylight in the study hall and dropped a snare; when someone walked into the study hall, they would yank on the rope so that the snare fastened itself around him, and pull him up to the roof...

Jewish history is comprised of two segments: pre and post Temple destruction. The first era is marked by miracles and constant divine intervention; the second by suffering and Divine concealment.