Tisha B'Av

Jeremiah mourns the destruction of the Temple

The fast of the Ninth of Av commemorates the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem: The First Temple, built by King Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.

The destruction signified disastrous events, the end of years of suffering and the breakdown of Jewish independence. The sacking of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem marked the cessation of ceremony, spiritual discourse and leadership, all of which had given the people their independent and noble character.

A symbol of national misfortune
The sages point out that the breakdown of civil behavior, as well as a lack of religious sincerity, were the hallmarks of the social disintegration which allowed Israel's enemies to subject them to siege, misery, and final defeat.

The fast day has become a symbol for all the misfortunes of the Jewish people, for the loss of national independence and sufferings in exile, including the Crusade massacres and, in our times, pogroms and atrocities suffered under the hands of tyrants. (A special day for the commemoration of Holocaust victims has been set aside to correspond with the Fast of the 10th Tevet).

Other tragedies of 9th Av
Other calamities recorded as having occurred on Ninth Av include:

• The issue of the decree forbidding the generation of Israelites who left Egypt to enter the Land of Israel.

• The capture of Betar, the last stronghold of the leaders of the The Bar Kochba Revolt, in 135 BCE.

• The establishment of a heathen temple on the site of the Temple, one year later, by the Roman emperor Hadrian. He rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city - renamed Aelia Capitolina - which was forbidden to Jews.

• The mass suicide of the Jews of York during the anti-Jewish riots in the year 1190.

• The expulsion of Jews from Spain, after centuries of Jewish cultural and spiritual growth.

• The outbreak of World War I

• The initiation of the deportation of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto.