The dark history of Tisha B’Av in Jewish memory

The dark history of Tisha B’Av in Jewish memory

Some days in the Jewish calendar are viewed through tears. Tisha B'Av, the Day of Destruction, has over the centuries become a day marked by grief and remembrance, national mourning intertwined with enduring hope. Rabbinic tradition identifies five disasters that took place on this date. But history reveals that the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av has become, time and again, a symbol of Jewish calamity. Here's a reminder of what has befallen…

Tisha B’Av: A Day of National Grief and Enduring Hope

Each year, on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av — Tisha B’Av — Jews around the world gather to fast, mourn, and reflect. It is a day steeped in sorrow, not for a single event, but for a long catalogue of calamities that have befallen the Jewish people across centuries. Tisha B’Av is not simply

Tisha B’Av, Israel and the moral necessity of Jewish power

This post was first published at Times of Israel in 2017 by this writer, and is being republished here by permission. Today is Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people throughout their history on the same date on the Hebrew calendar — the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av. Tisha B’Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples, but we also reflect on …

A Day of Sacred Remembrance: Understanding Tisha B’Av - CBN Israel

By Stephen Faircloth In the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, on the seventh day, during the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, his captain of the guard, Nebuzaradan, arrived in Jerusalem. He set fire to the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and every important building in the city. The destruction was total. Jerusalem was left in ruins (2 Kings 25:8-9). Tisha B’Av, meaning “the ninth of Av,” is recognized as the most sorrowfu…