TISHA B'AV: A DAY OF FASTING AND MOURNING
This coming Saturday evening, August 2nd, the Jewish people will be observing Tisha B'Av. The name Tisha B'Av means "the Ninth of Av," Av being the fifth month in the Jewish calendar.
It coincides with the months of July and August in the Gregorian calendar and is a day set aside for fasting, mourning, the reading of Scripture and prayer. It commemorates a number of tragedies that befell the Jewish people throughout their history.
The observance of Tisha B'Av is nowhere commanded or instructed in the Scriptures, but reference to its observance by the Jewish people is found in the prophet Zechariah. In chapter 7 we read:
"In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, together with their men, to entreat the Lord by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, 'Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month (the month of Av), as I have done for so many years?" (Zechariah 7:1-3; cf. vs.5, 8:19)
The rabbis taught that the Jewish people experienced five tragedies on Tisha B'Av: the expulsion of the Jews from Israel by the Babylonians in 586 BC, the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BC and then by the Romans in 70 AD, the fall of the city of Betar in 135 BC which ended the third Jewish revolt against Rome and the plowing of the city of Jerusalem by the Romans following the crushing of the rebellion.
Despite all the tragedies and anguish the Jewish people have experienced at so many times and in so many places, Tisha B'Av is observed with a sense of hope. On Tisha B'Av the book of Lamentations is read and we are reminded:
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord...Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven...I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: Do not close your ears to my cry for relief. You came near when I called you, and you said, 'Do not fear.' O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life." O daughter of Zion, your punishment will end; he will not prolong your exile...You, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation...Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old..." (Lamentations 3:22-26; 3:40-41, 55-58; 4:22; 5:19, 21)
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