Concept

Tisha B'Av תשעה באב

The fast and day of mourning on which both Temples fell and nearly every great catastrophe struck.

The Mishna lists five calamities that fell on the ninth of Av. The first is the verdict on the desert generation after the spies: the people wept for nothing, and, say the sages, "you wept without cause—I shall establish for you a weeping for the generations". Then the destruction of the First Temple in 3338, of the Second in 3828, the fall of Betar in 3892, and the ploughing of the Temple Mount.

Later dates gathered to the same day: the expulsion from England, the expulsion from Spain in 5252, the outbreak of the First World War.

The fast lasts a full day, as on Yom Kippur, with mourning customs: sitting low, no leather shoes, no greetings. Eicha is read by candlelight. The Talmud blames the Second Temple's fall not on Rome's strength but on baseless hatred.

On the timeline

2449 · 1312 BCEThe Sin of the Spies and the Decree of the Ninth of Av 3338 · 423 BCEThe Destruction of the First Temple, 9 Av 3338 3828 · 68 CEThe Destruction of the Second Temple 3892 · 132 CEThe Bar Kokhba Revolt and the Fall of Betar 3820 · 60 CEKamtza and Bar Kamtza: Baseless Hatred 5252 · 1492 CEThe Expulsion of the Jews from Spain

Jeremiah Rabbi Akiva Lamentations Jerusalem The Temple Betar Exile and redemption Halakha Kinot

Sources

Tanakh

Zechariah 8:19 — the fast of the fifth month among the four

Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar

Mishnah Taanit 4:6 — the five calamities of the Ninth of Av
Taanit 29a — the night of the spies’ weeping — a weeping for the generations
Gittin 55b–56a — Kamtza and Bar Kamtza — how the destruction began

Acharonim and later rabbinic literature

Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 549–561 — the laws of mourning and of the fast

Basis: tradition.