July 16, 2013, - 2:05 pm
Tisha B’Av: Jewish Fast Marks Historic Day of Tragedies
Today is Tisha B’Av, meaning the Ninth of Av, a Jewish fast day which marks tragedies that happened on this day throughout Jewish history, primarily the day of the destruction of both of the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem, the eternal Jewish capital.
To my fellow Jewish friends and readers who are fasting today, I wish you an easy fast. To my gentile readers, Jewish fasts are not the wimpy Ramadan BS. We do not eat or drink for 25 hours, and it’s harder on a day like today, given that it’s 92 degrees where I live, today, and more like 102 degrees with the humidity/on the heat index. But unlike Muslims, we don’t whine about it or complain or demand that you stop eating and drinking and shove our religion in your face like the religion of Nidal Malik Hasan and the 9/11 hijackers does. We chose this, so it’s on us and we don’t seek to impose this on anyone else or demand special treatment. We also don’t ask the TSA to send out special messages to the world demanding they acquiesce to our every demand (the way the TSA did for Muslims during this Ramadan festival of increased terrrorism).
Tisha B’Av marks the end of three weeks (and nine days within those three weeks) of deprivation, sacrifice, and mourning in the Jewish religion (though, since most Jews are JINOs–Jews In Name Only–few Jews observe that). The fast began at sundown last night and ends tonight at nightfall. During the fast, we do not eat, drink, take showers, etc. Jewish fasts also mean absolutely no eating, drinking, bathing (no showers), shaving, haircuts, laundry, washing, swimming, make-up wearing, sex, wearing of leather shoes, music, or entertainment.
As I’ve previously noted, Tisha B’Av is a day on which five major tragedies occurred to the Jewish people. It marks the destruction of the Jewish Temples–both of them and many other tragedies in Jewish history, which all occurred on this day in the Jewish calendar. On Tisha B’Av in 1492, the Jews were officially expelled from Spain. Tisha B’Av 1914 (August 1, 1914) was the day World War I broke out, setting the stage for World War II and the Holocaust. On the eve of Tisha B’Av 1942, the Nazis’ mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began. Most were sent to their deaths at the Treblinka Nazi death camp. Just after Tisha B’Av 1994 concluded, Hezbollah and Iran bombed the Jewish community center of Buenos Aires (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina), Argentina, killing 86 and wounding at least 300 others.
In 1942, many American Catholic priests and Christian ministers participated in the holiday, fasting along with their Jewish-American friends, as then reported in TIME Magazine.
More on Tisha B’Av at Judaism 101 and My Jewish Learning.
Tags: Destruction of the Temple, Jewish Holidays, Jewish observances, Jewish Temple, Jews, Judaism, Tisha B'Av
Today on Tisha B’Av:
#Jew-hating Europeans decreed Israel must not recognize Judea and Samaria and “east” Jerusalem as part of sovereign Israel in future EU-Israel agreements. Yup, official apartheid against Jews. The evil decree actually goes into effect July 19th but was announced today. Europe finds the only “occupation” to be officially repugnant is Jews living in the cradle of their homeland, including their eternal capital! They would NEVER do this to any other nation in the world. Hey, its all the Joos’ fault!
#The cowardly and gutless Israel Police, trampling over Israeli laws guaranteeing freedom of access to holy places and freedom of religious worship, have out of fear of Arab rioting, banned Jews from ascending the Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av.
The list of tragedies Jews mourn never seems to be at an end and some of them are are entirely self-inflicted!
NormanF on July 16, 2013 at 2:15 pm