Fast of Tisha B’Av 258 articles

Jewish Holidays

Tisha B’Av is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, not just because it is the day on with both temples were destroyed but also because many other tragedies have occurred on that day as well. We focus on these historical events as part of the kinot we say on Tisha B’Av night and during the day.

The Millennial Generation: Kinot 22 & 25 – The First Crusades
The Millennial Generation: Kinot 22 & 25 – The...
A Watershed Moment in Ashkenazic Jewry. The first crusade, like the death of the students of Rabbi Akiva would have wiped out the entire mesorah, had it not been for Rabbi...
Jul 11, 2012
By Rabbi Steven Weil
Kinah 11: The Man Who Could Have Stopped the Churban
Kinah 11: The Man Who Could Have Stopped the...
Who was Yoshiyahu and how could he have stopped the churban? He, like Moshe, built up the Jewish nation from nothing (Torah-wise) but he made 1 fatal flaw.
Jul 11, 2012
By Rabbi Steven Weil
The 23rd Kinnah – The Seventh Million
The 23rd Kinnah – The Seventh Million
The Survivors’ Unspoken Tragedy. We can’t relate to large numbers like 6 million. We can, on the other hand, relate to individuals, like Anne Frank. This is the idea of Kinnah 23...
Jul 11, 2012
By Rabbi Steven Weil
The Three Weeks and Tisha b’Av
The Three Weeks and Tisha b’Av
The Rambam states in the Mishnah Torah that the purpose of fast days is to arouse us to do Teshuvah, not simply to refrain from food and drink.
Jul 6, 2012
By Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Tisha B’av Kinot 5771: Rabbi Weil
Tisha B’av Kinot 5771: Rabbi Weil
“Tears of Faith…Visions of Hope” – Rabbi Weil’s Kinot from Tisha B’Av 5771. As humans, we cannot relate to macro destruction intellectually or emotionally. We can relate to personal accounts. Only...
Aug 10, 2011
By Rabbi Steven Weil
Tisha B’av Kinot 5771: Rabbi Weinreb
Tisha B’av Kinot 5771: Rabbi Weinreb
Rabbi Weinreb regrets an error he made in the Tisha B’Av 2011 presentation. He spoke of Eyal Noked, z”l, who died of a tragic illness, but was not the victim of...
Aug 10, 2011
By Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Tisha B’Av Video 5771: Rabbi Weinreb
Tisha B’Av Video 5771: Rabbi Weinreb
The Holocaust was radically different than any tragedy before it. Does it warrant its own day of mourning or should it be mourned on Tisha B’Av?
Aug 10, 2011
By Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Tisha B’Av Video 5771: What Does the Churban Mean to Us?
Tisha B’Av Video 5771: What Does the Churban Mean...
If we can’t cry on Tisha B’Av for what happened, we can at least cry about the fact that we don’t fully understand Tisha B’Av & what we lost with the...
Aug 10, 2011
By Rabbi Yaakov Glasser
The Love of Brothers
The Love of Brothers
Adapted for this series from Rabbi Yaacov Haber’s “REACHINGS” Short Story: Two brothers lived on two sides of a mountain. One was rich but had no children, one had many children...
Jul 19, 2011
By Rabbi Yaacov Haber
The Prophecy Shall Come True
The Prophecy Shall Come True
The Talmud, on the last page of the Makkot tractate (24b) relates a story about Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva who were on their way...
Jul 19, 2011
By OU Staff

Discover More

email logo

Subscribe To The OU’s Shabbat Shalom Weekly Newsletter

Weekly email newsletter filled with articles, Divrei Torah, upcoming events and more! Sign up today.