Support MyJewishLearning

Join thousands of your fellow MyJewishLearning readers in our annual micro-donation campaign.

 

Donate just $2 today to help MyJewishLearning continue providing these important Jewish resources.

To sponsor a day of Jewish learning in memory of a loved one or in honor of a wedding, bar/bat mitzvah, or other happy occasion, click here.

Tisha B'Av 2011

Everything you need to know to commemorate the holiday.

  • Bookmark and Share
  • Tisha B'Av begins at sunset on Monday, August 8, 2011. It is observed on Tuesday, August 9.

    What is Tisha B'Av?

    Tisha B'Av is the major day of communal mourning on the Jewish calendar.

    tisha b'av 2010

    Although a large number of disasters are said to have befallen the Jews on this day, the commemoration is largely focused on the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E., respectively.

    •    Read more about the Temple and its destruction.
    •    Read more about mourning on Tisha B'Av.

    How is Tisha B'Av observed?

    tisha b'av 2010

    To commemorate the destruction of the two Temples, Megillat Eicha (the Book of Lamentations) is read in the evening, and in some communities in the morning. It is traditional to fast on Tisha B'Av, and to refrain from wearing leather shoes and bathing. Some people break their fast after Mincha, the afternoon prayer service. People also refrain from listening to music and enjoying other forms of entertainment.

    •    Read more about the Book of Lamentations.
    •    Read more about fasting on Tisha B'Av.

     
    Bookmark and Share