Why Do We Mourn on Tisha B’Av?

Tisha b’Av is a day synonymous with sorrow and grief. We mark the day by fasting¹, refraining from washing², from wearing leather shoes³, from greeting one another⁴, and so much more. All this because a building was destroyed over 2000 years ago? Officially, yes, Tisha b’Av is significant because it marks the date on which both Batei Mikdash were destroyed, but really, the negative energy of the day can be traced back long before that. Let’s explore exactly why we mourn on Tisha b’Av.

There’s an interesting feature about the fasts of The Three Weeks (the Seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha b’Av) – they don’t actually have names. Most of the other fasts do; Taanit Esther, Yom Kippur, the Fast of the Firstborn, and Tzom Gedalia. All of these names tell us a bit about why we are fasting. So, why not call Tisha b’Av the Fast of the Beit Hamikdash, or the Fast of the Exile, or something like that? The answer is that the name “Tisha b’Av” is actually already doing that.

What the name of Tisha b’Av is telling us is that the fast isn’t just about the Beit Hamikdash, the date itself is blighted. Let’s go back to the source. 

In parshat Shelach⁵, we read of the infamous sin of the Spies. Hashem accedes to Am Yisrael’s request to spy out the land of Canaan, and twelve righteous men do so for forty days. When they return, ten of them give a terrible report of the land, and the people believe them, denouncing Hashem’s ability to protect them. Despite the efforts of the two good spies and Moshe and Aaron, the people feel completely defeated after the bad report. All of this occurs on the eighth and ninth of Av, and Hashem does not respond kindly. 

While the focus of Tisha b’Av is on the Batei Mikdash, many more tragedies have occurred on the same day throughout history, amplifying our reasons to mourn. The Mishnah Taanit records that on this day Beitar was captured by the Romans – a notable defeat as it was the army of Shimon bar Kokhba who many Jews believed to be Moshiach. The Mishnah also records that Jerusalem was razed, symbolizing that it would never be rebuilt, thus crushing the hopes of the remaining Jews. 

The Gemara⁶ writes that on the ninth of Av, the Jewish people chose to cry for no reason, and so Hashem ensured that He would give the Jews a reason to cry on that day. 

The Seder Olam Rabbah⁷ also acknowledges the self-sabotage of the Jews on Tisha b’Av, stating that the Leviim sang on the stairs of the Batei Mikdash as the temples fell, and the song they sang was “He will make their evil recoil upon them”⁸ from Tehillim. This song is particularly poignant as the original tehilla is David HaMelech desperately asking Hashem to curb the wickedness of the Nations. He cries that their enemies are triumphing unjustly, but ultimately believes that the evildoers’ own deeds will eventually cause their downfall. It is a dismal turn of events that the Leviim sang it to point out that the Jews ended up being their own enemies, and Hashem was treating them as such.  

While the focus of Tisha b’Av is on the Batei Mikdash, many more tragedies have occurred on the same day throughout history, amplifying our reasons to mourn. The Mishnah Taanit⁹ records that on this day Beitar was captured by the Romans – a notable defeat as it was the army of Shimon bar Kokhba who many Jews believed to be Moshiach. The Mishnah also records that Jerusalem was razed, symbolizing that it would never be rebuilt, thus crushing the hopes of the remaining Jews. 

In more recent history, the banishment of the Jews from England and Spain in 1290 CE and 1492 CE, respectively, also occurred on Tisha b’Av. Many historians also link a number of the tragedies of World War I and II to the date of Tisha b’Av.

The multiple historic calamities on Tisha b’Av actually have serious halachic implications compared to the other commemorative fast days. The Gemara¹⁰ discusses the scenarios in which fast days are voluntary, namely in times of peace and prosperity. Except for Tisha b’Av – this one is obligatory. Rav Pappa explains that it is because multiple tragedies happened on the ninth of Av, and consequently it is not optional to drop the fast of Tisha b’Av.

Much of the above has dealt with the practical reasons for why we mourn on Tisha b’Av, but there is also a psychological and emotional aspect to the question. 

We often want solutions and answers to tragedy. We want to seek out the lesson behind suffering, to ascribe meaning to it. Often, we try to rationalize things in order to cope with the emotional affliction. But Tisha B’Av is different. Instead of looking for the bright side, we cement ourselves in sadness. The Shulchan Aruch¹¹ prohibits Torah learning, allowing only material related to the destruction of the Batei Mikdash and other tragedies. There really is no escaping the air of the day.

While this may seem like overkill, it’s actually a very healthy approach. We need to feel the magnitude of the day, especially as the years go by and we continue to lose our connection to the destruction. Even though we live in galut, it often doesn’t feel like it – and that’s dangerous. 

We should not pretend that life swiftly moves on, and doing so is lying to ourselves and doing ourselves a disservice. When we steep in the negativity and sadness of the day, we become that much more sensitive to the good around us. Tisha B’Av is intense, but it’s just one day. Afterwards, we return to regular life in galut, but the goal is that the feeling of Tisha b’Av will linger, charging us to better ourselves in the days where we are not forced to remember and mourn. 

1. Shulchan Aruch, Or HaChaim 554:1 ↩︎
2. ibid. ↩︎
3. ibid. ↩︎
4. Shulchan Aruch, Or HaChaim 554:20 ↩︎
5. Bamidbar 13:1-15:41 ↩︎
6. Taanit 29a ↩︎
7. Seder Olam Rabbah 30:2 ↩︎
8. Tehillim 94:23 ↩︎
9. Mishnah Taanit 4:7 ↩︎
10. Rosh Hashanah 18b ↩︎
11. Shulchan Aruch, Or HaChaim 554:1 ↩︎