Review 2
History
Tisha B'Av
Tisha B'Av · The Ninth of Av
A fast of mourning for the destruction of the Temples and the turn to rabbinic Judaism.
Tip: hover (or tap) any underlined word for a quick definition.
1
The basics
Name, translation, date and length — the facts to have by heart.
Name and timing
- Hebrew name
- Tisha B'Av
- English translation
- The Ninth of Av
- Date / timing
- 9 Av
- Length
- 1 day (fast)
- Historical reason
- Destruction of the First and Second Temples.
2
Meaning and story
Why this exists, what happened, and the values it carries.
What it means
- Tisha B'Av mourns the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem.
Story and history
- The — the Temple — was destroyed; Jeremiah and Ezekiel speak to and from that catastrophe.
- Tradition attributes the destruction in part to , baseless hatred.
- Masada stands in memory of the last resistance.
- Yochanan ben Zakkai secured , where Judaism was rebuilt around study and prayer.
Major themes and values
- Mourning the destruction of the Temples and the loss of independence
- The fragility of our world — a glass house that can be wiped out
- From sacrificial cult to prayer
- From priestly (Kohen) leadership to rabbinic, scholarly leadership
- Baseless hatred and its consequences
3
Practice
Rituals, symbols, prayers and foods — and the reason behind each.
Rituals and observances
- .
- Reading , the Book of .
- Practices of mourning.
Why we do these rituals
- Reading gives national grief a voice.
- The fast keeps historical catastrophe present rather than abstract: we mourn the destruction of the Temples and the loss of Jewish independence, and the tragedies that have fallen on the Jewish people.
- The day represents the fragility of our world — we live in a glass house, and even a strong house can be wiped out. There is a lot of broken glass in the world.
Symbols and what they mean
- Eichah / Lamentations
- The voice of mourning over Jerusalem.
- Beit Mikdash
- The Temple whose loss is mourned.
Important prayers and readings
- ()
- Kinot / mourning liturgy
Foods
- A fast day — no food or drink
4
Words to know
The Hebrew vocabulary for this topic.
Vocabulary
- Eichah
- The Book of .
- Sinat chinam
- Baseless hatred.
- Beit Mikdash
- The Temple in Jerusalem.
- Yavneh
- The academy established by Yochanan ben Zakkai.
5
Beth Din prep
Answer these out loud before you sit down with the rabbis.
What I should be able to explain to the Beth Din
- 1What Tisha B'Av mourns and what is read.
- 2How Judaism changed after the Temple: prayer replaces sacrifice, rabbis replace priests.
- 3Who Yochanan ben Zakkai was and why matters.