The Light in the Darkness

Despite the dreadful, heartbreaking nature of Tisha B’Av, an element of happiness is concealed within it.  Tisha B’Av  is called a mo’ed,  meaning festival, and certain prayers associated with sadness that are omitted on happy occasions are, in fact, not said on this day.  What is the source of the joy that lightens our mourning on Tisha B’Av?  Some commentaries explain that it springs from the knowledge that eventually, at ...

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The Three Weeks

The Seventeenth of Tammuz (in 2016 this falls on July 23) begins a three week period of mourning that culminated with Tisha B’Av, the Ninth of Av.  The Mishnah states: Five things happened to our ancestors on the 17th of Tammuz — The First Tablets were broken, the daily offering ceased, the walls of Jerusalem were breached, the evil Apostomus burnt a Torah scroll, and an idol was set up in ...

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