Rabbi is the term in Judaism for a religious teacher. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ in many senses, including "revered." The word comes from the Semitic root R-B-B, and is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning "lord" Rabbi Ritual washing up to the knuckles is permitted. Washing to cleanse dirt or mud from one's body is also permitted.
Additional customs associated with mourning
TorahThe term "Torah" , refers either to the Five Books of Moses or to the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts...
study is forbidden on Tisha B'av (as it is considered an enjoyable activity), except for sad texts such as the
Book of LamentationsThe Book of Lamentations is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. It is traditionally read by the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.-Name:...
, the
Book of JobThe Book of Job is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his theological discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, and finally a response from God...
, portions of
JeremiahThe Book of Jeremiah, or Jeremiah , is part of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism's Tanakh, and later became a part of Christianity's Old Testament...
and chapters of the
TalmudThe Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
that discuss the laws of mourning.
According to the Rema it is customary to sit on low stools or on the floor, as is done during
shiva from the meal immediately before the fast (seudah hamafseket) until noon. The
Beit YosefBeit Yosef may refer to:* Beit Yosef , a moshav in the Beit She'an Valley* Beit Yosef , a book by Rabbi Joseph Caro...
rules that the custom extends until one prays Mincha (the afternoon prayer). The custom of the
Aruch HaShulchanAruch HaShulchan is a work of Jewish scholarship, written by Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein. The title "Aruch HaShulchan" is a clear allusion to the Shulchan Aruch , the authoritative work of halacha on which it draws...
was not to sit in one's usual seat, but did not require sitting close to the floor.
If possible, work is avoided during this period. Electric lighting may be turned off or dimmed, and kinot recited by candle-light. Some sleep on the floor or modify their normal sleeping routine, by sleeping without a pillow, for instance. People refrain from greeting each other or sending gifts on this day. Old prayerbooks and Torahs are often buried on this day.
Customs during the days preceding and following Tisha B'av
The days leading up to Tisha B'Av are known as "The Week of Tisha B'Av", or "
The Nine DaysThe Nine Days are the first nine days of the Jewish month of Av. During this time, a strict level of mourning is observed, in accordance with the Talmudic dictum : "When the month of Av begins, we reduce our joy." They are days of intense mourning culminating in Tisha B'Av which commemorates the...
" by
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland valley and northern France...
. Most Orthodox Jews customarily refrain from eating meat during this period, and some refrain from pleasurable activities such as bathing or swimming. In
the three weeksThe Three Weeks or Bein ha-Metzarim is a period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples...
before Tisha B'Av, some Jews do not cut their hair or shave or listen to music. Weddings are not held during this period, although ritual engagement is still allowed.
Although the fast ends at nightfall, it is customary to refrain from eating meat and drinking wine until halachic noon of the following day. According to tradition, the Temple burned all night and most of the day of the tenth of Av.
When Tisha B'Av begins on Saturday night, the
havdalahHavdalah is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and holidays, and ushers in the new week. In Judaism, Shabbat ends—and the new week begins—at nightfall on Saturday. Havdalah may be recited as soon as three stars are visible in the night sky. Some communities delay...
ritual at the end of
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night...
is truncated (using a candle but no spices), without a blessing over wine. After Tisha B'Av ends on Sunday evening, another
havdalahHavdalah is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and holidays, and ushers in the new week. In Judaism, Shabbat ends—and the new week begins—at nightfall on Saturday. Havdalah may be recited as soon as three stars are visible in the night sky. Some communities delay...
is performed with wine (without candle or spices).
The laws of Tisha B'Av are recorded in the
Shulchan AruchThe Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century...
(the "Code of Jewish Law")
Orach ChayimOrach Chayim is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of Halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law primarily pertinent to the Hebrew calendar...
552-557.
Services
The
scrollThe Five Scrolls or The Five Megillot are parts of the third major section of the Hebrew Bible , which is Ketuvim...
of
Eicha (
LamentationsThe Book of Lamentations is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. It is traditionally read by the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.-Name:...
) is read in
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
during the evening
servicesJewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism...
. In addition, most of the morning is spent chanting or reading
KinnotKinnot are dirges or elegies traditionally recited by Jews on Tisha B'Av to mourn the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and other tragedies in Jewish history, including the Crusades and the Holocaust...
, most bewailing the loss of the Temples and the subsequent persecutions, but many others referring to post-exile disasters. These later
kinnot were composed by various poets (often prominent rabbis) who had either suffered in the events mentioned or relate received reports. Important
kinnot were composed by
Elazar ha-KalirEleazar ben Kalir was one of Judaism's earliest and most prolific of the paytanim, liturgical poets. Many of his hymns have found their way into festive prayers of the Ashkenazi Jews synagogal rite....
and Rabbi Judah ha-Levi. After
the HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as The Shoah is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a program of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany,...
,
kinnot were composed by the German-born Rabbi
Shimon SchwabRabbi Shimon Schwab was an Orthodox rabbi and communal leader in Germany and the United States. Educated in Frankfurt am Main and in the yeshivot of Lithuania, he was rabbi in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, after immigration to the United States in Baltimore, and from 1958 until his death at Khal Adath...
(in 1959, at the request of Rabbi
Joseph BreuerJoseph Breuer was a rabbi and community leader in Germany and the United States. He was a Rabbi of one of the large Jewish synagogues founded by German-Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi oppression that had settled in Washington Heights, New York....
) and by Rabbi Solomon Halberstam, leader of the
Bobov HasidimBobov, is a Hasidic group within Haredi Judaism originating in Bobowa, Galicia in Southern Poland and now headquartered in the neighborhood of Borough Park in Brooklyn, New York. Bobov has branches in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn; Monsey, New York; Miami; Montreal; Toronto; Antwerp and...
(in 1984).
In many Sephardic congregations the
Book of JobThe Book of Job is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his theological discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, and finally a response from God...
is read on the morning of Tisha B'Av.
History of the observance
In the long period which is reflected in Talmudic literature the observance of the Ninth Day of Av assumed a character of constantly growing sadness and asceticism. By the end of the second century or at the beginning of the third, the celebration of the day had lost much of its gloom. Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi was in favor of abolishing it altogether or, according to another version, of lessening its severity when the fast has been postponed from Saturday to Sunday (Talmud, Tractate Megillah 5b).
The growing strictness in the observance of mourning customs in connection with the Ninth Day of Av became pronounced in post-Talmudic times, and particularly in the darkest period of Jewish history, from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth.
MaimonidesMoses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or the acronym the Rambam , was born in Cordoba, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204....
(twelfth century), in his
Mishneh TorahThe Mishneh Torah , subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka , is a code of Jewish religious law by one of the important Jewish authority Maimonides...
, says that the restrictions as to the eating of meat and the drinking of wine refer only to the last meal before fasting on the Eighth Day of Av, if taken after noon, but before noon anything may be eaten (
Hilchoth Ta'anith 5:8). Rabbi Moses of Coucy (thirteenth century) wrote that it is the universal custom to refrain from meat and wine during the whole day preceding the Ninth of Av (
Sefer Mitzvoth ha-Gadol, Venice ed.,
Laws of Tishah B'Av, 249b). Rabbi Joseph Caro (sixteenth century) says some are accustomed to abstain from meat and wine from the beginning of the week in which the Ninth Day of Av falls; and still others abstain throughout the three weeks from the Seventeenth of Tammuz (
Shulkhan Arukh,
Orach Chayim 551).
A gradual extension of prohibitions can be traced in the abstention from marrying at this season and in other signs of mourning. So Rabbi Moses of Coucy says that some do not use the
tefillinTefillin, , also called phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Bible. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is worn by Jews wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead...
("phylacteries") on the Ninth Day of Av, a custom which later was universally observed (it is now postponed until the afternoon). In this manner all customs originally designated as marks of unusual piety finally became the rule for all.
Orthodox Jewish view
Orthodox JewsOrthodox Judaism is a formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim.Orthodox...
believe that until the arrival of the Messiah, this day will continue to be observed as a fast; when the Messiah and the rebuilding of the Temple come, it will become a great celebration. This notion is asserted on the basis of a passage in the
Book of ZechariahThe Book of Zechariah is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical Context:Zechariah’s ministry took place during the reign of Darius the Great , and was contemporary with Haggai in a post-exilic world after the fall of Jerusalem in 586/7 BC...
(8:19) that foretells of the transformation of four fast days into joyous holidays.
According to the Orthodox-Mizrachi establishment, combat soldiers are absolved of fasting on Tisha B'Av on the basis that it can endanger their lives. The latest of such decrees were issued during the Second Lebanon War by leading Rabbinical authorities Israel's Chief Rabbis
Shlomo AmarRabbi Shlomo Amar has been the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion since his appointment in 2003. His colleague is Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel....
and
Yona MetzgerYona Metzger has been the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel since his appointment in 2003. His counterpart is Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel.-Background:...
in tandem with the IDF's chief rabbi, Brigadier General Yisrael Weiss.
Religious Zionist view
Since the re-establishment of a Jewish state and the reunification of Jerusalem after the
Six-Day WarThe Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967 was a war between the Israel army and the armies of the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms. At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the...
, some
religious ZionistReligious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious Judaism, basing Zionism on the principles of Torah, Talmud et al...
leaders have contemplated whether Tisha B'Av is still relevant. Most rabbis, however, believe that it should be observed. Since
Israel's unilateral disengagementIsrael's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut") was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict...
from
GazaGaza is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
, initiated by former prime minister Ariel Sharon, right wing segments of the Religious Zionist community have begun to recite kinot to commemorate the expulsion of Jewish settlers from
Gush KatifGush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza strip. In August 2005, the 8,000 residents of Gush Katif were forcefully evicted from the area and their homes demolished as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan.- Geography :Gush Katif was located in the south-west...
and northern
West BankThe West Bank is a landlocked territory and is the eastern part of the Palestinian territories; on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel, which maintains the security of this area. To the east,...
on the day after Tisha B'Av, in 2005.
Conservative and Masorti view
The law committee of the
Masorti MovementThe Masorti movement is the name given to Conservative Judaism in Israel and other countries outside Canada and U.S. It is part of the Conservative movement. Masorti means "traditional" in Hebrew...
(
Conservative JudaismConservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.The principles of Conservative Judaism include:* A deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish...
in the United States) issued a responsum on the question "In our time do we still have to fast for the whole of Tish'a b'Av, seeing that our sovereign independence has been regained? May we reduce the outward signs of mourning and permit eating after the Minchah Service?" Two views were given:
- Rabbi Theodore Friedman wrote that: "There is already an historical precedent in Megillat Ta'anit which stipulated days on which we may not fast because of salvation wrought for Israel
Israel officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
. In our time we have been vouchsafed a great salvation in the establishment of the State... It therefore seems to us that this great historical turning point in Israel's history should be celebrated by not completing the fast on 9th Av, but concluding it after the midday MinchahJewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism...
."
- Rabbi David Golinkin wrote, concluding "It is forbidden to fast only half the day on Tish'a b'Av for several reasons:
- we have demonstrated that during the period of the Second Temple they did fast on Tish'a b'Av...
- From the halakhic point of view this is not possible. Either we must fast on all four of the fasts [and Tisha b'Av] or on Tish'a b'Av alone...
- From the ideological point of view, we cannot yet say that we have reached the period of "peace". We should revert to the custom of the Ge'onim ... and fast the whole day on Tish'a b'Av and declare the other fast days to be voluntary and not compulsory."
Finally,
Ismar SchorschIsmar Schorsch was the sixth Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary and is the Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Professor of Jewish history. He served as Chancellor for 19 years and retired on June 30, 2006...
, former chancellor of the
Jewish Theological Seminary of AmericaThe Jewish Theological Seminary of America is the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism.The Jewish Theological Seminary operates five schools: Albert A...
, wrote: "If Tisha b'Av commemorated only the destruction of the two Temples in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E., its capacity to appeal to the modern Jew would have vanished. Though it is true that both calamities threatened the very survival of the Jewish people, Conservative Jews no longer pray for the restoration of the sacrificial cult in Jerusalem. The verbal and musical worship of the synagogue surely represents a more edifying, humane and universal form of prayer. But early on, Tisha b'Av began to absorb the memory of other national disasters."
Reform Jewish view
The Reform Jewish view takes this idea still further: "Reform Judaism has never assigned a central religious role to the ancient Temple. Therefore, mourning the destruction of the Temple in such an elaborate fashion did not seem meaningful. More recently, in Reform Judaism Tishah B'Av has been transformed into a day to remember many Jewish tragedies that have occurred throughout history."
Secular view
Berl KatznelsonBerl Katznelson was one the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism, instrumental to the establishment of the modern State of Israel, and the editor of Davar, the first daily newspaper of the workers' movement....
, a leader of the Labor Zionist movement, criticized his party's youth movement for holding campfires on Tisha B'Av in 1936. He believed that even secular Jews could find some meaning in traditional observances. In Israel, most restaurants and places of entertainment are closed on the eve of Tisha B'Av and the following day. Establishments that break the law are subject to fines. Outside of Israel, the day is not observed by most secular Jews, as opposed to
Yom KippurYom Kippur , also known as the Day of Forgiveness, is the holiest day of the year for religious Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services...
, in which many secular Jews fast and go to
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
.
Other traditions
Classical Jewish sources maintain that the
Jewish MessiahMessiah Messiah Messiah is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with the holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
will be born on Tisha B'Av, though many explain this idea metaphorically, as the hope for the Jewish Messiah was born on Tisha B'Av with the destruction of the Temple.
External links