The Three Weeks is an annual mourning period that falls out in the summer. This is when we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple and our launch into a still-ongoing exile. With an eye to the future, we also learn about the Third Temple, which is yet to be built.
The period begins on the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, a fast day that marks the day when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in 69 CE.
It reaches its climax and concludes with the fast of the 9th of Av, the date when both Holy Temples were set aflame. This is the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, and it is also the date that many other tragedies befell our people . . . read more Tisha B’Av and the 3 Weeks
TISHA B'AV
The Ninth of Av Fast Day
Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av (August 6-7), is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, on which we fast, deprive ourselves and pray. It is the culmination of the Three Weeks, a period of time during which we mark the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Because the 9th of Av falls on a Shabbos the fast is pushed off to Saturday night and Sunday.
The Fast Begins on Shabbat Night, August 6, 2022 at 8:01 pm
The Fast Ends nightfall of Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 8:36 pm
OBERVANCES
Besides fasting, we abstain from additional pleasures: washing, applying lotions or creams, wearing leather footwear, and marital relations.
Until midday, we sit on the floor or on low stools. We also abstain from studying Torah—besides those parts that discuss the destruction of the Temple.
On the eve of Tisha b’Av, we gather in the synagogue to read the Book of Lamentations. Tallit and tefillin are not worn during the morning prayers. After the morning prayers we recite Kinot (elegies). We don the tallit and tefillin for the afternoon prayers.
THIS YEAR:
Tisha B’Av That Falls on Shabbat or Sunday
The following rules apply to any year on which Tisha B’Av is observed on Sunday—whether it originally fell on Sunday, or whether it fell on Shabbat and the fast was postponed until Saturday night.
On Shabbat, all public displays of mourning are strictly prohibited. On this day we eat, drink and rejoice as is customary—and even more so.
There are two exceptions: On this day we eat, drink and rejoice as is customary—and even more so(a) If Shabbat is actually the 9th of Av, then marital relations are forbidden in Ashkenazi tradition.1 (b) In all cases when Tisha B’Av is observed on Sunday, it is forbidden to study Torah starting with Shabbat midday (aside for those sections of Torah which are permitted to be studied on Tisha B’Av). As such, on this Shabbat we do not recite a chapter of Ethics of the Fathers, as is the custom in many communities on summertime Shabbat afternoons.
No mournful “separation meal” is conducted before the fast. Instead, shortly before sunset we partake of a sumptuous and joyous pre-fast meal. Care must be taken, however, that this meal ends before sunset.
We sit on chairs of regular height and wear normal footwear until nightfall. Only washing, eating and drinking are prohibited starting with sunset.
Havdalah is recited on Sunday night.2 In the evening prayers, the usual Shabbat night insertion, “Atah Chonantanu,” is included. The prayer “Vihi Noam” is omitted. Those who have not recited the evening prayers should say, before doing any activity that is forbidden on Shabbat, “Baruch hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol” (“Blessed is He who separates between the holy [day of Shabbat] and the mundane [weekday]”).
Sometime on Saturday night (ideally right before the reading of Eicha), kindle the havdalah candle and recite the appropriate blessing. (We do not recite the blessing of the spices.)
Immediately after the “Barchu” passage is recited in the Saturday night prayer service, remove your leather shoes and don non-leather footwear.
Recite the havdalah on Sunday night before eating. We sit on chairs of regular height and wear normal footwear until nightfall—omitting the blessings on the spices and candle. When 9 Av is on Sunday, if possible, the havdalah wine or grape juice should be given to a child—younger than bar/bat mitzvah age—to drink.
If the ninth of Av falls on Shabbat, in which case the fast is delayed until the tenth, many of the restrictions applicable to the Nine Days end when the fast ends, and havdalah wine, music, bathing and haircutting are permitted. We do not eat meat or drink other wine until the next morning, however.
FOOTNOTES
This is because abstaining from relations does not constitute a public display of mourning. However, on this Shabbat only actual marital relations are banned (as opposed to Tisha B’Av itself, when all forms of intimacy are forbidden). This prohibition does not apply if Friday night is mikvah night.
If there’s an ill person who needs to eat during the fast, he or she should recite the havdalah before eating.
© Copyright, all rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with Chabad.org's copyright policy.
Schedule at Chabad
Friday night, August 5
7:49 pm Candle lighting
8:00 pm Mincha / Kabbalat Shabbos
Shabbos afternoon: Finish your meal by 8:01 pm - The Fast begins
Shabbos ends 8:51 pm - Change into non leather shoes
9:30 pm Maariv and Eicha (Lamentations)
Tisha B'Av, Sunday, August 7, 2022
9:00 am Shacharit (without Tallis and Tefillin)
Followed by Kinus with our Kollel Rabbis
7:30 pm conclude Shacharit with Tallit and Tefillin, Mincha
Maariv 8:30 pm
Fast Ends: 8:36 pm