Tisha B’av means “The ninth of Av”. It isn’t just an average date on the Jewish calendar, it is a day of mourning for the Jewish people worldwide.  For 2014, the ninth of Av lands on the evening of August 4th and ends on the evening of the 5th. There a long list of tragedies that took place on that date in history. The one bolded below is the one that Yeshua (Jesus) prophesied.

• The twelve spies sent out by Moses to check out the “Holy Land” came back with a negative report. The summary of it was “This places is AWESOME, but we’ll never be able to conquer it”. G-d wasn’t very happy about that and sent them into 40 years of wandering.
• 587 BCE – The First Temple, Solomon’s Temple, was destroyed
• 70 CE – The Second Temple, Herod’s Temple, was destroyed
• 132 – The Romans crushed a rebellion and killed 100,000 Jews
• 133 – The Second Temple was levelled, destroying everything.
• 1096 – The First Crusade started (killing over a million Jews)
• 1290 – Expulsion from England
• 1306 – Expulsion from France (Av 10)
• 1492 – Expulsion from Spain (Av 7)
• 1941 – Began the Nazi plan called “The Final Solution” (killing over six million Jews)

Matthew 24:1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

He was right.  When we go to Israel we walk right beside rocks that were thrown down from the Temple to the street below.  Those rocks have been there for two thousand years, and it is prove that the Romans were really good at wiping out a civilization.

Obviously, the Temple being destroyed changed the day-to-day life of someone living in Jerusalem and the surrounded areas. No sacrifices, no more holiday celebrations at the Temple (Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Passover, etc). It began the period of the Second and the soon to come Third Temple.

Beginning tonight, there will be fasting (no food or drink), no showering, no leather shoes (sorry wing tips!), no sex, and a few more things. The goal is to deny yourself pleasurable things in remembrance of what has been lost over the thousand of years.

Please pray for the soldiers who are fighting in Israel today.  Even though this is a traditionally a horrible day, please pray that the soldiers be protected.

Amen.