<< Back to Reading Room . . . . . . . . . . . . read aso The 9th of Av Traditions

Tisha B’Av
Tisha b’Av, the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, is a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples in 586 BC and 70 AD (see 2 Kings 25:8-21). Other tragedies in Jewish history that occurred on the 9th of Av include the fall of Betar, the last Jewish fortress during the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 AD, and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. This is the Jewish Year of 5766 : Tisha Beav in 2009 is on Thursday, the 30th of July .
Observant Jews fast from sunset to sunset on this day. It is one of the fasts mentioned in Zechariah 8:19, which will become a day of rejoicing in the future. The period of mourning begins three weeks before Tisha b’Av, by remembering the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem (tenth of Tevet), first by Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:8-9), and then by the Roman commander Titus. It was on Tisha b’Av that the Holy of Holies was set on fire.

From the beginning of the month of Av, a somber mood prevails among religious Jews. They mourn and abstain from the pleasures of meat and wine. On the 9th of Av itself, they don’t eat, drink, work, bathe, use creams or ointments or shave. Even studying the Torah is forbidden because it brings joy (Psalm 119:174). Instead, only the books expressing sorrow are read (Job, Lamentations, and parts of Jeremiah).

At the Kotel (Western Wall), in synagogues and even some homes, people sit or lie on the bare ground or lean against the stones. In the daily prayers, a prayer to comfort Zion and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem is added to the daily liturgy. Today, with the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, Tisha b’Av reawakens the hope for the building of the Third Temple (Zechariah 1:16) and the coming of the Messiah.

The ninth of the Hebrew month of Av is a major fast day in the Jewish calendar, when the people lament the date of the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, with the subsequent loss of national sovereignty and exile from the Holy Land.

Tisha Be'av is the culmination of a three week period of mourning, the last nine days of which are particularly intense, with observance of many customs similar to those practiced after a bereavement in the close family. The "Three Weeks", as they are known, begin on the seventeenth of the month of Tammuz, the date on which the outer walls of the city of Jerusalem were breached during the siege. This is also the date on which Moses broke the first tablets of the Law when he came down from Mt. Sinai after 40 days - to find the people worshipping the Golden Calf.

Let’s review some of the history:

The Israelites were  in the the wilderness. Moses sends sojourners/spies to Canaan. They return on the 9th of Av and the majority reports that the land cannot be conquered because the people who live there are GIANTS!  Before listening to the good reports of Joshua and Caleb saying: Yes, there are giants, but there is much fruit, a land flowing with milk and honey, and, if God is with us, there is no power in the world that can overcome us!!

So the Israelites  considering only the bad report rebel and cry, "Better we should have stayed in Egypt!"  This makes God really mad. "You weep now without cause," He says. "But surely you will have good reason to weep on this day."

And then -- because of their cowardice, ingratitude and lack of trust -- God condemns the people to die in the desert without seeing the Promised Land and ordains the destruction of the Temple in some future year on Tisha B'Av.

Now fast forward...

It's the 9th ofAv, 586 B.C.E., and (just as predicted) Solomon's Temple is taken by the Babylonians. The Jews are sent into exile and Tisha B'Av becomes a day of tears.    Years later, Cyrus lets the Jews return to Jerusalem and allows them to rebuild the Temple. They ask, "Should we continue to fast and mourn the loss of the First Temple as we did while in Babylon?" To which the persuasive prophet Zechariah answers, "These fast days should now be turned into days of joy," whereupon the Fast of the 9th ofAv is discontinued for centuries (or so it is generally believed...)

But then comes another calamitous 9th ofAv, this one in 70 C.E.   The Romans destroy the Second Temple, force Israel back into exile and Tisha B'Av becomes, once again, a day of mourning and fasting.

The gloom of Tisha B'Av is compounded by these additional tragedies that are said to have happened on the dreadful date:

• In 1312 BC, Moses issued the command forbidding the Israelites from entering the Promised Land after they lost faith in God and listened to the bad report brought by 10 of the 12 spies sent to survey the Land of Israel.
• In 586 BC. Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonians destroyed the First Temple during the taking of Jerusalem during which 100,000 Jews were killed and millions went into exile.
• In AD 70 Titus and his Roman legionnaires destroyed the Temple, leaving not one stone atop another. Throughout the Land of Israel, around two million Jews died at Roman hands, another million were exiled.

• In AD 135 the Roman Emperor Hadrian crushed the Bar Kochba revolt, slaughtering over 100,000 Jews.
• The Romans plowed the Temple area and its surroundings under and rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city which they renamed Aelia Capitolina. Jews were forbidden access to the city.
• The declaration of the First Crusade by Pope Urban II. Tens of thousands of Jews were killed, and many Jewish communities were wiped out.
• 1244: Torahs and sacred books are burned in France.
• 1290: The Jews are run out of England.
• 1492: The Jews are forced out of Spain.
• August 1, 1914 marked the outbreak of WWI, which fell on the 9th of Av that year. Most historians concur that WWII was simply an extension of WWI which led to the Jewish holocaust. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Resentment that festered in defeated Germany following that war set the stage for the Holocaust.

• The deportation began of Warsaw's Jews.

Why should those of us who are Christians -- especially those of us who are Gentile Christians --
to commemorate Tisha B'av? I believe there are at least two reasons.

It increases our understanding for the Jewish Roots of Christianity and the blessings we have received through them.

By identifying with the Jews on this national fast day we are increasing our awareness that we "were grafted in among them and became partakers with them of the rich root of the olive tree" (Rom. 11:17). We are warned:

... do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. Romans 11:18-23 (NASB)

Becoming familiar with the Jewish fasts and feasts will increase our sensitivity to the Jewish people and intensify our gratitude for all the blessings we have received through them -- particularly through the Jewish Messiah. While we reflect on their history, we respond in praise to Jesus Christ through Whom we become partakers of the blessings promised to them.

It motivates us to intercede for the nation of Israel and the Chosen People of Gods.

By familiarizing ourselves with the tragedies in the history of Israel, we will become more sensitive to the plight of her citizens and more able to minister to and pray for them. We are admonished to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalms 122:6). Taking time to reflect upon the tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people will increase our motivation to intercede for them and to pray that they would recognize that Jesus is their Peace (Acts 10:36; Eph. 2:14).

How should we commemorate Tisha B'av from a Christian perspective? The following ideas come to my mind. I'm sure you can add more:

• Read from Job, Lamentations, and Deuteronomy 4:25-40 this week-end.
• Read selections of hope and comfort from Isaiah for several days or weeks afterwards.
• Intercede for the People and for the nation of Israel
  
  read aso The 9th of Av Traditions