Tisha B'Av

17 & 18 July 2021

8 & 9 Av 5781

This year, we need Tisha B’Av more than ever. We need to recognise and sit with everything that is broken. Everything that needs to be repaired. Everything we have lost. We need to make space to understand it all. Only then can we rise for another 364 days of actively making our world a better place.

Tisha B'Av is a 25-hour experience which, this year, begins at sunset on Shabbos and finishes at stars out on Sunday.

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The Tisha B'Av experience has two dimensions to it. One is the aspect of mourning. In this, we are guided by the laws of sitting shiva, because that, in a sense, is what we are doing. We are mourning a broken world; a world filled with suffering, an unredeemed world, a world in which Hashem's presence is obscured and many feel distant from Him. In particular, we are sitting shiva for the tragedies of Jewish history – the destruction of the First and Second Temple, the pogroms, the Holocaust – which are an expression of the brokenness of this world.

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The laws of Tisha B'Av put us in the right space to mourn. Like the laws of sitting shiva, they include: no washing, no applying oils or perfumes, no wearing of leather shoes, no marital relations and we sit on a low chair (within 30 centimetres of the ground). Just as we do not greet mourners, we do not greet each other on Tisha B'Av. Just as mourners cannot learn Torah, as it brings joy to our lives, we, too, refrain from learning Torah on Tisha B’Av – except for that which relates to Tisha B'Av and to the ideas of confronting human suffering in this world.

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The second element of Tisha B'Av is the fast. We don't eat and drink from sunset until stars out (which includes even the last bit of Shabbos this year). The fast has nothing to do with mourning (mourners are allowed to eat). Fasting is about repentance. It is a form of spiritual purification and a means to spiritual upliftment. (It is for this reason that we fast on Yom Kippur, a Yom Tov.)

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Remember to always consult with your doctor and your rabbi if you have any medical concerns regarding fasting.

Fasting is a catalyst for self-improvement and self-reflection, and for refocusing our priorities. On Tisha B’Av, we focus on how to deepen our faith in Hashem and our connection to Him. We give thought on how to improve our interpersonal relationships, on rectifying what our sages describe as “senseless hatred”, which, they teach us, led to the destruction of the Second Temple. In particular, we reflect on how we can improve the way we speak to and about others, treat others with respect and dignity, and refrain from speaking lashon hora – speaking negatively about them. 

This year, Tisha B'Av begins on Saturday night and runs throughout Sunday, so some of the laws of Tisha B'Av come into effect on Shabbos.

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Even so, we do not observe the laws of mourning until the stars are out and Shabbos is over. Our mourning begins at stars out, after Shabbos.

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Our process of mourning takes effect on Saturday night, and is observed until nightfall on Sunday, though the intensity of the mourning lifts somewhat at midday (Johannesburg (12:14), Cape Town (12:52), Durban (12:02) East London (12:14) and Port Elizabeth (12:24)). At this point, we are permitted to sit on a normal chair, and men put on their tallis and tefillin for mincha. These are not worn earlier in the day as a sign of the more intense mourning. Tefillin, in particular, is referred to in the Torah as our “glory”, and on Tisha B’Av, at least until midday, that glory is absent.

These two dimensions of Tisha B'Av – mourning and repentance – combine to make it an immersive and potentially transformative experience. It is so important to maximise this opportunity for personal growth, and we should plan the day accordingly – filling the time with meaningful things to read and to watch, and taking time out to think and reflect. In this way we can, paradoxically, draw strength and comfort from the day, and position ourselves for real positive change in the build-up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

In terms of the basic davening of the day – on the night of Tisha B'Av, and again the next morning, we read Eicha, authored by the Prophet Jeremiah at the time of the destruction of the First Temple. It expresses the horrific suffering that generation experienced, but also the pain of the exile that followed, and which engulfs us to this day.

Fascinatingly, we omit the solemn supplicatory prayer of Tachanun on Tisha B’Av, just as we do on festivals. Our sages explain that although Tisha B'Av is a day of mourning, it also has a festive element to it, because it has within it the seeds of redemption – indeed, we have a tradition that Tisha B'Av will be instrumental in the coming of Mashiach and the Final Redemption.

That is the extraordinary dichotomy of the day. On Tisha B’Av, we mourn the broken state of the world – and then we assert our power to fix it by fixing ourselves. We fast to show that we are not passive victims in a turbulent world, but active players in transforming ourselves, and through that, fixing the world.

Important Times

17 & 18 July 2021

8 & 9 Av 5781

Events Listing

17 & 18 July 2021

8 & 9 Av 5781

SATURDAY 17 JULY

Here is a list of some online programming and activities. See here​ for more information.

SUNDAY 18 JULY

Here is a list of some online programming and activities. See here for more information.

Resources

For collating this comprehensive list, we would like to thank Rabbi Yossi Chaikin

Chairman, SA Rabbinical Association