Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av (which month coincides with July and/or August), is the major day of communal mourning in the Jewish calendar. Although a large number of disasters are said to have befallen the Jews on this day, the major commemoration is of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E., respectively. Central to the observance of this day is fasting.
Meaning and Significance
Contents
Practice on the Day
The day of Tisha B’Av (9th of Av) is observed as a day of communal mourning, which is expressed through fasting and the abstention from pleasurable activities and extraneous diversions. A whole literature of kinot (elegiac poems and lamentations) appropriate to this day of mourning, beginning with the biblical Book of Lamentations on the destruction of the First Temple, has been created to serve the needs of the Jewish community at this time.
Tisha B’av in ladino
The severity of this day has always been on the tongues of the Sephardic Jews as evidenced by common folk sayings in Ladino, some of which Rebecca Amato Levy recorded in her memoir, I Remember Rhodes (pp. 103-113): Este es Yermia el profeta (so-and-so cries like the prophet Jeremiah). Ke darshe mi iju ke sea en dia de Tisha B’Av (let my son prove himself, even on the day of Tisha Be-Av). When someone was impatient and felt that something was taking too long they might say, Esta arastado komo la aftara de Tisha Be-Av (dragging on like the haftarah of Tisha Be-Av), a sarcastic reference to the lengthy Ladino translation of Jeremiah read in the Sephardic liturgy.
The severity of this day has always been on the tongues of the Sephardic Jews as evidenced by common folk sayings in Ladino, some of which Rebecca Amato Levy recorded in her memoir, I Remember Rhodes (pp. 103-113): Este es Yermia el profeta (so-and-so cries like the prophet Jeremiah). Ke darshe mi iju ke sea en dia de Tisha B’Av (let my son prove himself, even on the day of Tisha Be-Av). When someone was impatient and felt that something was taking too long they might say, Esta arastado komo la aftara de Tisha Be-Av (dragging on like the haftarah of Tisha Be-Av), a sarcastic reference to the lengthy Ladino translation of Jeremiah read in the Sephardic liturgy.
Recollections of Tisha B’av from “I Remember Rhodes” by Rebecca Amato Levy
Aside from the fast observed on Yom Kippur, the next most important fast day is Tisha B’ab which occurs in the summer. This day commemorates the destruction of the Beth-a-Mikdash, (the Temples of Jerusalem). The period of fasting was from sunset to sunset.
The men spent the morning in the “Kal” seated on the floor, with the lights dimmed, reading and lamenting until noon. After noon, the mood changed from “limunio a dia bueno.” This meant from a sad day to a happy day or from sadness to happiness.
Since the women were not supposed to do any housework, they would spend some of their time making Kulikas as minudas, or pigtails with their daughters hair, or neighbours daughters’ hair. On the evening before Tisha Bab, the women would gather in the courtyard and would pass the time singing, trying to stay awake as long as possible. The belief was that this was the night that snakes and insects would invade the house. To ward off this possibility, they would place a head of garlic on the pillow.
It seemed like many of the disasters on Rhodes happened around Tisha B’ab, the last being the deportation of Jews from the Island in 1944.
Aside from the fast observed on Yom Kippur, the next most important fast day is Tisha B’ab which occurs in the summer. This day commemorates the destruction of the Beth-a-Mikdash, (the Temples of Jerusalem). The period of fasting was from sunset to sunset.
The men spent the morning in the “Kal” seated on the floor, with the lights dimmed, reading and lamenting until noon. After noon, the mood changed from “limunio a dia bueno.” This meant from a sad day to a happy day or from sadness to happiness.
Since the women were not supposed to do any housework, they would spend some of their time making Kulikas as minudas, or pigtails with their daughters hair, or neighbours daughters’ hair. On the evening before Tisha Bab, the women would gather in the courtyard and would pass the time singing, trying to stay awake as long as possible. The belief was that this was the night that snakes and insects would invade the house. To ward off this possibility, they would place a head of garlic on the pillow.
It seemed like many of the disasters on Rhodes happened around Tisha B’ab, the last being the deportation of Jews from the Island in 1944.
History
The rabbis of the Talmudic age made the claim that God ordained this day as a day of disaster as punishment for the lack of faith evidenced by the Israelites during their desert wanderings after the exodus from Egypt. For Sephardic Jews, the 9th of Av is also the infamous date attributed to the expulsion from Spain in 1492. It is also tragically associated with the German deportation of the Jews of Rhodes who spent their final Tisha B’Av onboard small cargo boats headed to the Haidari concentration camp in Athens from which they were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz. Indeed, the rabbis of the Talmudic age made the claim that God ordained this day as a day of disaster as punishment for the lack of faith evidenced by the Israelites during their desert wanderings after the exodus from Egypt.
Pre-Tisha B’Av Practices
A three week period of low-level mourning leads up to Tisha B’Av. The three weeks commemorate the final siege of Jerusalem that led to the Second Temple’s destruction in 70 C.E. During this period it is traditional to refrain from public celebrations, such as weddings, and many traditional men refrain from shaving, reflecting their practice during personal mourning periods.
Additional Resources
Tish A B’Av in ladino according to tradition of the Sephardic Jews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zRvSr480ZYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWQZmcPdPiQ&t=87s
Sources and References
- “Tisha B’Av”. Jewish Rhodes. Available at: https://jewishrhodes.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Tisha-B-av.pdf.
- “Tisha B’Av: A Sephardic Seattle Ladino Journey from the Old World to the New”. Jewish Studies, University of Washington. Available at: https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/sephardic-studies/tisha-av-sephardic-seattle-ladino-journey-old-world-new/.
- Rebecca Amato Levy, I Remember Rhodes (1987).