The ninth Av, which in 2017 falls on Tuesday, August 1, has been a Jewish national mourning since ancient times. On the same day, according to the Jewish calendar (of course, in different years), the First and Second Jerusalem Temples were destroyed.
By chance or coincidental coincidence, other sad events of Jewish history, listed below, occurred on this day.
In Hebrew, the ninth day of the eleventh Jewish month of August is called "tisha-b'Av" (capital letters indicate the places of stresses), in Yiddish - "tishebov."
The main customs of the Ninth Av are the full fast and refusal of entertainment. In Israel, closed theaters, cinemas, concert halls, stadiums, etc. Transport functions, but with greater intervals.
The beginning and the end of fasting
Since the Jewish day always begins with sunset on the previous (according to the Gregorian calendar) day, the fast takes effect on Monday, July 31: in Jerusalem at 19:41, in Tel Aviv and Beersheba at 19:39, in Haifa and Safed at 19:42, in Eilat at 19:33.
The fasting ends with the appearance of the first star in the sky on August 1: in Jerusalem at 20:04, in Tel Aviv and Zefat at 20:06, in Haifa at 20:07, in Beersheba at 20:05, in Eilat at 20: 00.
Laws and customs of the Ninth Av
The rules concerning the Ninth Ava are codified in the Mishneh Torah of Rambam (section Taanit, chapter 5) and in Shulchan aruhe (Orach Chaim 549-561).
The general rule of mourning of the Ninth Ava is to equate him to mourning for the next of kin within seven days after the funeral (shiva).
You can work on this day, but you should calculate your strength so that you do not get tired too much in the heat in the absence of water and food.
The most important laws and customs 9 Av are as follows:
Complete abstinence from eating and drinking (sick people on this day are allowed, but not exquisite dishes and not enough to eat, but only in the amount necessary for their health - the same applies to medicines);
Refraining from washing and bathing (you can only rinse your hands for hygiene purposes);
Abstaining from conjugal intimacy;
Refraining from using perfume;
Prohibition to wear leather shoes and smart clothes;
Sleep on a hard bed without a pillow;
Sitting on the ground or on a low stool;
Prohibition of studying the Torah as a source of joy; It is allowed to read only texts related to the expression of sorrow and grief: Lamentations of Jeremiah (Jeremiah), Eich and the corresponding Midrash (Eich Rabbah), the Book of Job, and also sections of the Talmud dedicated to the destruction of Jerusalem (Gitin, 55b-58a);
Burning several candles in the synagogue.
Photo: shutterstock
Photo: shutterstock
Mystical coincidences
The Day of the Ninth Av is marked by tragic events throughout Jewish history. This date became a symbol of the persecution and misfortunes that fell to the lot of the Jewish people.
Here is a chronological list of historical events that occurred on the 9th Av or the next day:
9 av 2449 years from the Creation of the World (1312 BC) the scouts sent by Moshe (Moses) returned and panicked among the Jews by the difficulties of assimilating the Promised Land. The people were frightened, hurried and did not dare enter the land of Israel. For this God was angry with the Jews and ruled that only the next generation, 40 years later, would get there.
9 Av 3338 (422 BC), the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple, after which the 70-year-old Babylonian captivity followed.
9 av 3828 (68, here and further in brackets are given the year of our era), the Roman military leader, later Emperor Titus Vespasian, after the long siege of Jerusalem, the Second Temple was destroyed.
9 av 3892 (132 g.) By the order of the Roman governor, the Temple Mount was plowed up. This event served as one of the reasons for the Bar Kokhba uprising, which lasted three years.
9 av 3895 (135 g.) The Romans seized Beitar - the last stronghold of the rebels, and the leader of the rebellion, Shimon Bar-Kokhba (Bar-Kuziva) was killed, after which the mass expulsion of Jews from the Land of Israel began.
9 Av. 4855 (1095), Pope Urban II announced the beginning of the first crusade, during which "warriors of Jesus" killed tens of thousands of Jews.
9 av 4916 (1146) during the second crusade organized pogroms in the Jewish communities of Germany and France.
9 av 5050 (1290) began the expulsion of Jews from England.
The next day, after 9 August 5066 (1306), a decree was issued to expel the Jews from France.
9 Av 5108 (1348) European Jews were accused of organizing an epidemic of plague ("Black Death"), which led to a wave of pogroms and murders.
9 av 5252 (1492) King of Spain Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile issued a decree banishing the Jews from Spain.
9 Av 5315 (1555) Jews of Rome relocated to the first in the history of the ghetto.
9 Av. 5327 (1567) the rest of the Jews of Italy were resettled in the ghetto.
9 av 5408 (1648) Bogdan Khmelnitsky massacred hundreds of thousands of Jews in Poland, Ukraine and Bessarabia.
9 av 5642 (1882) in Russia Jewish pogroms began.
9 av 5674 (1914) began the Per
