Tisha B'av

[gryphon]

Today is Tisha B'av and to most people that means nothing. But to jews it means a great deal.

Today is the day we commemorate the tragedies that have happened to jews over our history.
As part of this, religious jews do not eat or drink anything from the night of Tisha B'av ( in judaism the day begins at nightfall, hence the sabbath starting friday night and ending saturday night) to nightfall after Tisha B'av. we do not wear leather shoes this day ( if you are a person who is against leather for any reason, im not in the mood to hear, and I quite frankly do not care today) we sit on lowered chairs, like we do when we are mourning. we dont bathe or put creams on. we wash our hands only up to the knuckles. we do not do things which give us pleasure , for today is a day of sadness.

This day especially commemorates 5 tragedies as well as other thats occured.

the main 5 being, the destruction of the first of the holy temples,

500 years later was the destruction of the second but both on Tisha B'av ( the ninth of av, av is a jewish month)

the spies sent by moses to observe the land of israel came back, and while two of them gave a true opinion, the others lied and said horrible things causing the people to weep in vain. as such the punishment of wandering the wilderness for forty years.

Bar Kochba, a jewish man who led a revolt against the romans that had many victories for some time, and was even considered to be a the messiah by many, was undone on this day and his revolt defeated.


The last was that after the romans destroyed the second temple, they built a new temple to a roman god, in an effort to destroy the jewish connection.

There were other calamities as well that happened on this day in history.

The Jews were expelled from England on Tisha B'av

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain took effect right before Tisha B'av

August 1 1914 was the day Germnay delcared war on Russia, which was one of the factors that led later to the seocnd world war and the holocaust. August 1 that year was Tisha B'av

On Erev Tisha B'av ( Tisha B'av eve) 1942 the Jews were deported from the warsaw gheotto to the death camp treblinka.

I wanted to share with people the snese of sadness that the jews have for this day on which tragedy has happened. it is a day of mourning during which even most torha study is forbidden since that is a thing of happiness ( excpet for Eicha, which is the book of lamentations which is recited on Tisha B'av, the book of Jeremiah, and some parts of the Talmud talking about mourning.)

However it is not all to be sad for it is said that the jewish messiah will be born on this day, and while that may mean that the hope for the messiah was born on that day, it still brings hope to many.


Tisha B'av is a day to not only remember tragedies but to realize we must work to prevent them as well.

[thecountess]

How is it pronounced? Sorry I am not Jewish so I don't know.... is it pronounced as it is spelled?

[gryphon]

it is pronounced pretty much as it is spelled, though many pronounce the b'av part as bav

[tidytaurus]

Thank you for sharing this with us

[Litesandsirens911]

Gryphon,
I just wanted to say "thank you" for sharing with us...I was not aware there was a commemorative day for this, a day of mourning. I am not Jewish, however I try and teach my children about different cultures and religions of the world, and this is very informative.These are tragedies which should never be forgotten, no matter what religion you are.
I thank you.

[Natalka]

gryphon, thanks for sharing this information. I do so respect that you honour the traditions of your convictions and faith.

[thecountess]

It's always good to be informed.... I like learning something new every day!

Thanks gryphon and enjoy your commemeration

[gryphon]

id like to ask that i not be given rep for my initial post. no offense to anyone who gave me rep but i feel it is better if i dont get rep for the post

[thecountess]

Oh sorry! I think I may have. Didn't mean to offend if I did rep you

[gryphon]

dont worry if you did. it didnt offend me

[gryphon]

im sorry if i offended anyone by saying not to give me rep. im sorry if it made people who had given me rep feel offended. please note this wasnt my intention.

[jknmomma]

thank you for sharing this with all of us...very interesting , I had never heard of this. I have always wondered about the Jewish faith and this has enlightened me a little bit. Thank you again

[thecountess]

I try to read a little about every religion to be informed.

There are good books at the library called How To Be A Perfect Stranger, Volume l and ll

It is full of basic information about various faiths so if you have a friend who invites you to something, you don't do anything taboo, and you just know what to expect in general

Personally as flattered as I am to be invited to these things I'm a little freaked out too... you want to go to support your friend and their ceremony/celebration but you don't want to do something that is inappropriate, unaware that it's considered "bad form" or whatever

[gryphon]

tisha b'av is now over, i broke my fast on a mint candy and am going to slowly start eating again while being careful not to overdue it.
i just wish my ear hadnt been hurting during the fast. it seems i may have to go back to the doctor for the 7th week in a row (not kidding)

[thecountess]

Sorry! Get well soon