Tisha B’Av 2023: Best Wishes, Greetings, & Status – is an annual fast day in Judaism commemorating a series of calamities in Jewish history, most notably the destruction of both Solomon’s Temple and the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It symbolizes the end of the three weeks between grave straits and is considered the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, and is thus seen to be destined for catastrophe. Tisha B’Av is observed in July or August according to the Gregorian calendar.
Main Five Calamities
The Mishnah lists five specific occurrences on the ninth of Av that calls for fasting:
- The twelve spies that Moses dispatched to survey the Canaanite territory have returned. Only Joshua and Caleb brought back a favorable report; the other spies had negative things to say about the region. The majority report left the Children of Israel in tears, terror, and hopelessness about ever setting foot on the “Promised Land.” God punished them for this by preventing their generation from entering the land. In reference to the future tragedies that occurred on the same day, the midrash quotes God as stating, “You wept before me pointlessly; I will define for you weeping for the generations.”
- In 586 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar demolished the First Temple that King Solomon had erected. The people of the Kingdom of Judah exile to Babylon. The destruction of the First Temple, according to the Bible, started on the seventh of Av and lasted until the tenth (2 Kings 25:8). (Jeremiah 52:12). The Talmud claims that the Temple was actually destroyed starting on the ninth of Av and burning all the way through the tenth.
- The Romans destroyed the Second Temple that Ezra and Nehemiah had erected in 70 CE, dispersing the Judean population and starting the Jewish exile from the Holy Land.
- On August 4, 135 CE, the Romans defeated Bar Kokhba’s uprising and destroyed Betar, murdering about 500,000 Jewish citizens (around 580,000).
- Quintus Tineius Rufus, a Roman general, plowed the Temple site in Jerusalem and the surrounding area in 135 CE after the Bar Kokhba uprising.
Laws & Traditions
The Gregorian calendar places Tisha B’Av in either July or August. When Tisha B’Av happens on Shabbat (Saturday). It refers to a “niche” (Hebrew for “delayed”) and observes the next day (that is, Sunday). It happened most recently in 2019 and will happen again in 2023. Although customary Sabbath eating and drinking finish. Just before sunset on Saturday evening rather than at midnight, there are no overt expressions of sadness. The fast lasts roughly 25 hours, starting soon before dusk the night before and continuing until dawn the next day. Other enjoyable activities, in addition to fasting, are also prohibited.
Principal Restraints
The strictness of Tisha B’Av 2023 is comparable to that of Yom Kippur. Tisha B’Av shares the following five prohibitions in addition to the length of the fast. Which lasts around 25 hours and starts soon before dusk on the eve of Tisha B’Av and finishes at night the next day:
- No eating or drinking;
- No marital (sexual) relations.
- No washing or bathing;
- No wearing of (leather) shoes;
- No application of creams or oils;
