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David Friedman, the former US ambassador to Israel, commented on Sunday on the push to pass legislation to repeal the use of the reasonableness standard tweeting: "Given the striking parallels between Israel’s current internal rift and the infighting that caused the destruction of the Second Temple 2000 years ago, why would the Israeli government proceed with its Judicial Reform bill on the eve of Tisha B’Av? Very bad timing." Friedman, who is Jewish, was appointed to serve as the UN ambassador to Israel by former US President Donald Trump - and served in the position between May 2017 and January...

Four years old, but absolutely heart rending. Click on the link to view the video.

How hath the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!The LORD hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his...

HOUSTON, Texas — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following statement in recognition of Tisha B’Av:“To all those observing the mourning of Tisha B’Av, I wish you a time of meaningful reflection on the destruction of the holy Temples and the calamities that befell our Jewish brothers on this day. As our Jewish friends hope for the rebuilding of the Temple speedily in our days, I share their joy in the establishment of a Jewish State after 2,000 years of exile. Especially today, with stakes so high, we can never allow there to be a threat to Israel’s destruction....

Monday marks the advent of Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth Day of the Hebrew month of Av, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people from their homeland. This year marks 1,946 years since the destruction of the Second Temple by Roman soldiers in 70 CE, who razed Jerusalem and murdered millions of Jews in order to solidify their rule over the Land of Israel. The Ninth of Av concludes a mourning period that commenced three weeks ago, on the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which marked the...

Jewish people arguably more than any other nation have their history marked with suffering and sorrows. Almost every hundred years this nation has been oppressed with new strength of the methods revealing viciousness and hostility in its fullness. The primitive cultures conceived its own form of the anti-Semitism, which had characteristics of the religious belief. This ancient hatred did not clash but merged with Western rationalism and theology causing world catastrophes.

Jews around the world and particularly in Israel on Tuesday marked the solemn fast of Tisha B'Av, the annual commemoration of the destruction of the Temple and numerous other tragedies to befall the Jewish people. Under threat of Muslim violence, Jews (and Christians) were barred from entering Jerusalem's Temple Mount as part of the ceremonies, a situation many said proves the Tisha B'Av tragedies have not come to an end despite the rebirth of Israel as a nation state. >>SNIP<< On Monday, the eve of Tisha B'Av, a few hundred Jewish worshipers did ascend the Temple Mount, only to be...

Note: The following laws are based on Ashkenazi tradition, and some points are subject to varying opinion. When in doubt, AYLOR (ask your local Orthodox rabbi)1. What are the main changes when Tisha B'Av falls on Shabbat or Sunday?When Tisha B'Av falls on Shabbat, the main changes are: The fast is postponed until Sunday.Bathing is permitted on Rosh Chodesh.Marital relations are forbidden on Friday night.Washing any part of the body with hot water is forbidden on Shabbat. When Tisha B'Av falls on Shabbat or Sunday, the main changes are: There is no special Seuda Hamafseket before the fast.Some of...

Tisha b’Av is the saddest day of the Jewish calendar. On the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, Jews remember the tragedies that have marked our history, beginning with the destruction of our Temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and continuing through the centuries of expulsions, pogroms and massacres to the catastrophes of our own era. The day is marked by the signs and customs of mourning. From sundown Monday night until nightfall Tuesday evening, Jews engage in a complete fast—abstaining from eating, drinking, bathing, wearing leather shoes, putting on cosmetics and from sexual activity. During the synagogue...

There was a noticeably quieter atmosphere along the length of Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard on Monday evening, as Tisha Be’av came in after sunset. Trance parties and impromptu jazz parties were replaced by a series of lectures and a number of campsites where readings of the Book of Lamentations were held. At busier spots throughout the boulevard, such as the Student Union headquarters and the main kitchen at the corner of Rothschild and Marmorek, signs were posted calling on people to respect the fast, and notifying passersby that there would be no music parties, performances or entertainment scheduled for the...

“Bitterly, she weeps in the night, Her cheek wet with tears. There is none to comfort her of all her friends. All her allies have betrayed her; They have become her foes.” Lamentations 1.2 Today is Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning that commemorates the many calamities that have befallen the Jewish people. The destruction of the first and second temples occurred on the ninth of Av, as well as the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and the adoption of the Final Solution by the Nazis. And here in America, the image of Jerusalem weeping with none to...

I've never been in Tel Aviv or Haifa for Tisha B'Av, but my guess is that it probably doesn't feel too much different than Tisha B'Av in Seattle--a few hardy souls sitting on the floor of their synagogues in the evening and then spending the day itself struggling to keep awake through some talks and appropriate films, while the rest of the city goes about its usual business oblivious to the significance of the day. That's not how Tisha B'Av is observed in Jerusalem--the focal point of much of the mourning. Here,as restaurants and places of entertainment close down, thousands...

I have a hard time with the Kinot (Tisha B'Av lamentations). In my opinion, the Kinot have become nothing more than lip service. We are actually in love with destruction. We have exchanged the essence of the Temple Mount for the Western Wall, the candy for the wrapper and the purpose of the lamentations for the lamentations, themselves. The longing for the Temple that kept us whole as a nation during 2000 years of exile and returned us to our land and our state, has somehow morphed into a horror show in the minds of too many Jews - both...

Politics reared its ugly head at the Olympic Games once more on Saturday after an Iranian swimmer refused to compete alongside Israeli Tom Be'eri. Mohammad Alirezaei was due to race against Be'eri in the fourth heat of the 100 meter breaststroke, but pulled out, apparently under the orders of the chiefs of the Iranian delegation. "This isn't the first time this has happened and it doesn't surprise me anymore," Olympic Committee of Israel General Secretary Efraim Zinger told The Jerusalem Post. "Politics takes precedence over sport with the Iranians and the Olympic spirit is as far from them as east...

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Israel Remembers Her National Tragedies (Photo) IDF Major-General Uzi Narkiss, Chief-of-Staff General Yitzhak Rabin and the Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan open up Jerusalem during the 6 Day War. In his diary, Narkiss detailed the occasion. "We arrived at the Western Wall. The crowd now is larger than this morning. Cheering soldiers clear a place for the Minister of Defense and his entourage and we all get to the Wall. Dayan takes a piece of paper from his pocket and pushes it in a space between two stones, Koby Sharett asks him what was written on it and Dayan replies,...

What happened to the 50 tons of gold, silver and sacred treasures looted from Herod's Temple following the Roman legionnaires' sack of Jerusalem on Tisha b'Av in the year 70 CE? The Arch of Titus in Rome, erected shortly after the death of Titus who reigned as emperor from 79 to 81, clearly depicts Roman soldiers bearing on their shoulders the golden candelabrum, silver trumpets and bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence which the Roman emperor Vespasian and his son Titus carted back to Rome as trophies of war. Between 75 CE and the early 5th century, the treasure...

Tisha b’Av is the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the ancient Jewish temples, which both fell on the same day of the calendar. Last year, Tsh’a b’Av fell on August 14, the day Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. This year August 14 marked the day when Israel’s cabinet accepted the UN’s cease fire in the current war. Because Judaism follows a lunar calendar, Tisha b’Av this year fell on August 3. I, nonetheless, believe that this year’s Tisha b’Av marks not only the end of the sacred temples but, with the withdrawal from Gaza and now the...

This coming Monday night marks the beginning of Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, when we commemorate the torrent of tragedies that have engulfed our people over the millennia. From the destruction of the First and Second Temples in ancient times, to the expulsion from Spain in 1492, on through the outbreak of World War II, Tisha B'Av has always been a day filled with calamity, grief and sorrow. As the ninth day of the eleventh month on the Hebrew calendar, it is the Jewish 9/11, our people's national day of infamy. Then again, in our current...

Tonight (Monday) marks the beginning of Tisha B'Av - the ninth day of the month of Av - the Jewish People's national day of mourning and fasting. Commemorating several sad events in our history, it is most noted for being the date of the destruction of both Holy Temples in Jerusalem - some 2,500 and 2,000 years ago, respectively. They both stood on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. In keeping with the Jewish tradition of showing our longing for the rebuilding of the Holy City, many thousands of people are expected to participate in tonight's tenth...