Introduction
Tisha B'Av (the Ninth day of the Hebrew month Av) is the second most severe fast day of the Jewish calendar (behind Yom Kippur). It marks the culmination of a three-week period mourning the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem, known as "bein ha-metzarim" (literally, "between the straits") or more colloquially known as the "Three Weeks". The period begins with another fast day, the 17th of Tammuz, when the second Temple walls of Jerusalem were breached in 70 CE. On Tisha B'Av both the first and second Temples were burned to the ground. Tisha B'Av and the Three Weeks period has become a national time of mourning for the Jewish people, commemorating a host of tragedies that have befallen us throughout the generations. Restaurants and theaters are closed in modern day Israel on Tisha B'Av.

Resources:
Download the following documents to enrich your Tisha B'Av experience:
(PDF documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or higher.)

Learn more about the practices and traditions of Tisha B'Av in this guide:
Tisha B'Av guide (PDF file 44Kb)

Download a text study based on the Mishnah Ta'anit 4:6 that discusses the cause of our mourning on both of these somber days:
Tisha B'Av text study (PDF file 49Kb)

On Tisha B'Av we read the Biblical book of Lamentations, which is called AyKah in Hebrew. The following midrash plays on the name AyKah and draws a connection between the corruption of Adam and the subsequent corruption of the Jewish people that led to the destruction of the Temple:
AyKah midrash text study (PDF file 24Kb)

Visit MyJewishLearning.com for more about Tisha B'Av