We remove the curtain from the synagogue’s ark prior to Ma’ariv, as it says, "The Lord has done what He purposed, has carried out the decree (bitza emrato)" (Eikha 2:17). Using a play on words, the Sages interpret the phrase bitza emrato to mean that God, as it were, tore His garment. This expresses the depths to which we have sunk since the Temple was destroyed (Rema 559:2). We return the curtain to its proper place before Minĥa (Kaf Ha-ĥayim 559:19). Many have a custom not to wear a talit or tefilin at Shaĥarit. Just as God, as it were, tore His garment, we too refrain from wearing a talit. And just as the verse states, "He has cast down from heaven to earth the majesty of Israel" (Eikha 2:1), which refers to God’s tefilin, so too we refrain from crowning ourselves with tefilin. However, since most Rishonim maintain that the mitzva of wearing tefilin applies on Tisha Be-Av as it does on all other days, we wear a talit and tefilin at Minĥa.

We refrain from these mitzvot at Shaĥarit because that is when our mourning and pain reach their peak, with the recitation of the Kinot. By the time we pray Minĥa, however, we can already accept some consolation. Shulĥan Arukh rules that we follow this practice (555:1), and all Ashkenazic communities, as well as many Sephardic communities, follow it. However, one should wear his talit katan (tzitzit) from the beginning of the day as usual. Since it is uncertain whether one should recite a berakha when putting on tzitzit on the morning of Tisha Be-Av, it is preferable to sleep in one’s tzitzit on the night of Tisha Be-Av. This way, one will not be obligated to recite the berakha in the morning. Only before Minĥa should one recite the berakha, upon wrapping himself in his talit.

Some are careful not to recite Shema without wearing a talit and tefilin, so they put them on at home before Shaĥarit, recite Shema, and then go to pray with the congregation without wearing a talit and tefilin. Some Sephardic communities have the custom to wear a talit and tefilin at Shaĥarit, as usual. Each community should continue following its custom.²⁰