We are a resilient people. Throughout history we have fought the many attempts to destroy us. Moreover, we persevered and survived. While it is important to remember and to celebrate victories (Chanukah and Purim) it is crucial to our continued survival to mourn our losses and gain strength in the knowledge of our survival.
On Passover, we are compelled to teach our children about our Exodus from Egypt. The same should hold true for Tisha b'Av. As parents it is our responsibility to teach our children how we have struggled as a religion, how we have fought as a nation and how we have survived as a people. We must teach our children to be proud and strong as the generations who wandered the desert and built and rebuilt the Temple.
From sunset of August 2 through sunset of August 3, 2006, we observe Tisha b'Av, the saddest day of the Jewish calendar. Tisha b'Av is the anniversary of the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples. According to the Mishna, it also marks the date the 10 spies returned to Moses with negative reports about Canaan, thus condemning the Israelites to wander in the desert for 40 years; is the date the Bar Kokhba revolt was crushed; and the date the Roman emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina--a city where Jews were barred and a pagan shrine rose from the ashes of the destroyed Temple. Tradition even holds that Tisha b'Av is the date the Jews were expelled from both England and Spain.
Similar to yahrzeit, we are observing the anniversary of a profound loss. We observe as one in mourning. Known as the Black Fast (with Yom Kippur being the White Fast) it is tradition to eat eggs and lentils as the last meal before fasting. This being the customary meal of mourners. Services are conducted on the floor of the synagogue or on low stools, mirrors are covered with black curtains, as is the ark and Torah scrolls. Congregants do not greet each other and the service is lead in melancholy tones. Tallit and tefillin are not worn. As studying Torah brings joy, we are forbidden to study it on Tisha b'Av. We are only permitted to study the Book of Job and sections of Jeremiah and the Talmud that related to destruction (especially the destruction of the Temple).
But, just as throughout history we grew stronger with each attempt to destroy us, Tisha b'Av ends with hope. By afternoon, the women of the household sweep the house and dress up in preparation for the Messiah. Tradition believes that the Messiah will be born on Tisha b'Av and turn our day of mourning into a day of redemption. Afternoon services lift the veil of mourning--black cloths are removed, Torah is read and tallit and tefillin are worn.
The Shabbat following Tisha b'Av is called Shabbat Nachamu (Sabbath of Comfort) and is the first of seven "haftarot of consolation" leading to Rosh Hashana.
Information about Tisha b'Av was researched using the JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions by Ronald L. Eisenberg (Jewish Publication Society, 2004)
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