בְּמִנְחָה: קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, שִׁיר שֶׁל יוֹם, אֵין כֵּאלֹקֵינוּ, וְכָל הַשִּׁעוּרִים הַשַׁיָּכִים לְשַׁחֲרִית, וְאַחַר כָּך סֵדֶר תְּפִלַּת מִנְחָה. אֵין מְבָרְכִין שֶׁעָשָׂה לִי כָּל צָרְכִּי עַד לְמָחָר.

[We put on tefillin] before the AfternoonService and recite the Shema,1 the Song of the Day,2 Ein K’Elokeinu,3 and all the readings4 that are usually linked to the morning prayers. This is followed by the Afternoon Service.

The blessing She’asah li kol tzorki5 is not recited until the following day.

אַאַמוּ"ר הָיָה לוֹמֵד בְּכָל שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה בְּתִשְׁעָה בְּאָב אֵיכָה רַבָּה וְסוּגְיַת רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן דְפֶרֶק הַנִּזָּקִין. בַּבּוֹקֶר אַחַר אֲמִירַת הַקִּינוֹת — שֶׁהָיָה אוֹמְרָם כּוּלָּם — הָיָה אוֹמֵר אֵיכָה. הָיָה עוֹלֶה לַתּוֹרָה לְמַפְטִיר, וְלִפְעָמִים הֵן בְּשַׁחֲרִית הֵן בְּמִנְחָה.

Every Tishah BeAv my revered father, the Rebbe [Rashab], would study Eichah Rabbah6 and the passage beginning Amar R. Yochanan in the chapter entitled HaNizakin.7 In the morning, after reciting Kinos8 — he would recite them all — he would read Eichah [to himself].

He would be called to the Torah for maftir, sometimes at both the Morning and Afternoon Services.

A Story with an Echo

We are forbidden to study most Torah subjects on Tishah BeAv,9 because the words of Torah “gladden the heart.”10 At the same time, the Rebbe encouraged us to study those subjects that are permitted,11 such as those mentioned above. The Torah and its commandments are “our life and the length of our days.”12 Life cannot be interrupted — nor can a lifeline.

In that spirit, the Rebbe once recalled an incident from his childhood involving his studious Gemara-teacher, whose excessive zeal lured him into taking the law into his own hands.

That melamed, who had been given a room in the home of the Rebbe’s parents, was so busy teaching his pupils throughout the year that he had little time for his own Torah study. Came Tishah BeAv, and of course there were no classes, because regular Torah study is forbidden. Yet that day, when the Rebbe and his fellow pupils decided to pay him a visit in his room, they found him there with his big Gemara wide open, studying with relish!

When the Rebbe respectfully pointed out that the Shulchan Aruch rules otherwise, the teacher explained himself: “When I reach the World of Truth, I’ll probably be due for a spanking anyway. So at least let it be for studying Torah....”