Fast of Tisha B’Av 29 articles

Jews tend to be peddlers, even when we have no things to sell. Yesterday, I met a young man who was trying to make a deal, a shidduch. He was sufficiently...

The Three Weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av are a time of special mourning for the Jewish people, but it’s not always possible to conjure up...

The following story is true, however the names and details have been fictionalized. The pounding in Shlomo’s head wouldn’t stop, but it was easily drowned out by the pain in his...

Chorma. The name doesn’t ring many bells – but it is a sad place – a very sad place. It’s another good reason to read Devarim before Tisha B’av. Here’s the...

The Shulchan Aruch notes that we are obligated to fast on Tisha B’Av because of the terrible events that occurred on that day (Orach Chayim 549:1). The Mishnah Brura (based on...

Normally, the last meal eaten before the Tish’ b’Av fast is supposed to be a spare meal eaten in solitude, since the mourning of Tish’a b’Av begins already the day before....

On the eve of Tisha B’Av, the final meal before the fast already has a mournful character. The meal is eaten in isolation, and only one cooked dish is permitted. The Shulchan...

The 17th of Tammuz is one of the four major fast days. As the name suggests, the primary way we commemorate tragic anniversaries is through fasting. Why is a temporary abstinence...

This Wednesday night, a few minutes before sunset, Zahava and I will put the kids into the car and drive twenty minutes east into the Judean Desert. Our destination: the ruins...