Tisha B'av, the 9th of Av, begins tonight. This 25 hour fast which lasts from sunset to when the stars appear commemorates the destruction of the Second Temple and the exile of the Jewish people from the land of Israel.
Tisha B'av has historically been a day when tragedies have befallen the Jewish people.
The Talmud lists five tragedies:
1) On this day, the meraglim (spies) returned after scouting out the land of Israel with a negative report. It was decreed that the generation that had left Egypt would die out in the desert during the forty years of wandering.
2) The first Bais Hamikdash (temple) was destroyed by the Babylonians.
3) The second Bais Hamikdash was destroyed by the Romans.
4) The fortress of Betar was destroyed by the Romans and Bar Kochba's revolt was crushed.
5) The city of Jerusalem was razed to the ground and plowed over.
Other tragedies which have occurred on Tisha B'av include the beginning of the First Crusade in 1095; the expulsion of Jews from Spain by King Ferdinand in 1492; and the beginning of World War One in 1914.
In addition to the restriction against eating or drinking, we refrain from bathing or washing for pleasure, anointing, wearing leather shoes, and marital relations. It is also customary to sit on low chairs such as mourners do.
Services at Poile Zedek begin tonight at 8:10 PM. Services tomorrow morning begin at 8:00 AM.
At night we read in the synagogue from Megilat Eicha, the Book of Lamentations. After the Megilla reading at night and after morning services on Tisha B'av day we recite kinot, elegies, regarding the destruction of the Temple and other tragedies that befell our people.
