JEWS COMMEMORATE TISHA B’AV ON TUES. 1 AUGUST 2017:

 Of the non-commanded biblical feast and fast days commemorated in Judaism, Tisha b’Av is the most somber. It is literally translated as the ninth day of Av, which is the fourth month in the Jewish calendar. It is a day of mourning, fasting and remembering the many tragedies experienced in Jewish history. One calamity is recorded in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 25, which details the horrors of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II. Following a lengthy siege on the capital, the city walls were breached, the Temple erected by King Solomon was plundered, ransacked and set ablaze. Officials and priest were killed as well as countless other Jews. Many thousands who escaped the genocide were taken captive by the Babylonians, bringing an end to the Davidic Empire and beginning the first exile out of the Promised Land. A later event allocated to the ninth of Av is the destruction of the Second Temple at the hands of the Romans in the year 70 A.D. The place of worship had been erected under the instruction of Cyrus the Great as described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. On the day of the fast, all food and the drinking of all liquid is forbidden. No bathing or makeup is allowed. There are evening services and the book of Lamentations is read. Tisha b’Av fell on 1 August this year. And was observed from sunset Mondayuntil sundown on Tuesday. (Kehila News)