9th of Av

July 24, 2007 - 7:30 AM by Stephanie

If you’re observing the 9th of Av today – the “saddest day in Jewish history” marking the destruction of both the 1st and 2nd Temples in Jerusalem (both were destroyed on the same date 656 years apart) – may your fast be swift.

Growing up in the Midwest I vaguely knew about Tisha B’Av; my family didn’t fast or mark the day and because it falls during summer months, school structure wasn’t in place to serve as an educational reminder. Only in later years years during months spent at summer sleep-away camp – where it was mentioned and optional fasting was observed by a few kids – did I become aware of the date and its significances.

Reading up yesterday on the 9th of Av, I discovered interesting information about this day. It has been historically ominous for the Jews and rightfully so.

The aforementioned temple destructions notwithstanding, this date in history marks…
– the signing of an edict in 1290 by King Edward I to expel Jews from England
– the arrival of the first transports of Jews to Treblinka and the extermination of Warsaw Ghetto’s Jews in 1942
- Germany’s declaration of war against Russia during WWI in 1914
- the razing of Jerusalem in the 1st century

In Israel, says this story citing a recent poll, 25% of society sees the day as one for “soul searching” while 57% of the secular population is indifferent to the date.

The poll mentions that inner-societal hatred among different community sects, thought to be the driving force behind both Temples’ destructions, is alive and quite well in today’s society.

It’s up to us, ladies and gentlemen…You and me.

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