Tisha B'Av

Tisha B’Av is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people from the Land of Israel. Instituted by the rabbis of 2nd-century Israel, this solemn fast day also marks other tragedies that occurred on the same date, including the Roman massacre at Betar in 132 CE, the murder of the Ten Martyrs, the devastation of Jewish communities during the Crusades, and the horrors of the Holocaust.

Observance of Tisha B’Av includes refraining from pleasurable activities and following five traditional prohibitions. Central to the day is the reading of Eikha (the Book of Lamentations), which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem, followed by kinnot—liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temple and other calamities in Jewish history.