What is Tisha B’Av?

COMING NEXT WEEK: What is Tisha B’Av? It is one of the saddest days in the Jewish calendar, but why - and how - do we mark it? (Daniel Sugarman, The Jewish Chronicle).

Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, is a fast day, commonly known as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar.

It commemorates the destruction of both the First and Second Jewish Temples in Jerusalem, the first by the Babylonians, circa 587 BCE, and the second by the Romans in 70 CE. However, the fast has also become associated with other tragedies which have taken place over the course of Jewish history.

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A good introduction to this multifaceted fast day.

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