The Ninth of Av

The Talmud relates how R. Yehuda b. R. Ila’i would act at his se’uda ha-mafseket: He would be given dry bread with salt, and in an undignified place – between the furnace and the oven – eat it with a flask of water, as though in the presence of a newly-deceased relative.

What is the se’uda ha-mafseket? It is the last meal before the fast, eaten after midday.

The Sages state in the Mishna: Five tragic events befell our forefathers on the ninth of Av

When the Holy Temple was destroyed, the loss was of a whole way of life.

A survey recently published reveals that a third of American Jewry has completely disconnected from the Jewish people. Another weighty survey reveals that a quarter of American Jews have become addicted to the anti-Semitic belief that Israel commits genocide against Palestinians, just as the Germans did to the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

When half of the People of Israel reside in the Land of Israel, Jerusalem is continually being built, the birth-rate increases, our enemies destroy themselves, the Land gives of her fruit luxuriously, and anti-Semitism becomes less frequent, it is incumbent on us to define for ourselves what we mourn on the 9th of Av, and what we lament during the weeks of "between the straits".

Just before the somewhat sorrowful Tachanun prayer in our prayerbooks appears a small notation saying that we are not to say it on Tisha B'Av – because this day is a mo'ed, a festive day. How can it be that a day commemorating such a grave national calamity as the destruction of the Holy Temples and the exile of the nation could actually be considered, in any way, a festival?

Many people focus on the physical loss we suffered, as the magnificent Bet HaMikdash went up in flames. But long after the fires died down, we were left with the burning question: “Where did we go wrong?”