Tisha B'Av
Fasting from a Functional Perspective
The practice of fasting evokes many of the worst associations with religion: asceticism, self denial, and fear of the body and its pleasures. Moreover, because most fasts in the Jewish tradition are associated with the destruction of the Temple, many liberal Jews see them as irrelevant or obsolete. Yet fasting has transformative potential, if we approach the practice from functional, rather than mythic, terms.
Read moreBasics
Tisha B'Av History
The sadder side of the Jewish past.
Rituals & Practices
What to do (and not do) on Tisha B'Av.
Observances
The customs and rituals all relate to mourning practices.
Tisha B'Av Quiz
Test your knowledge of this day of mourning.
Tisha B'Av: Texts, Readings, And Insights
This book offers insights and explanations of Talmudic and traditional sources that shed light on this sad day.
Traditions
Eicha Lamentations
A special reading for Tisha B'Av that sets the tone for this tragic day.
Kinot
Poetry recounting the sorrows.
The Three Weeks
The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem is commemorated with a period of mourning.
Shabbat Hazon & Shabbat Nahamu
The Sabbaths before and after Tisha B'Av provide a message of comfort and consolation.
Synagogue Service
There are some unique aspects to communal worship during Tisha B'Av.
Fasting
Fasting
Recovering the benefits of denial.
Fasting and Asceticism
The prohibitions of Yom Kippur also apply on Tisha B'Av.
Blintz Souffle
A traditional recipe for breaking the fast.
God in Your Body
This book on Kabbalah, Mindfulness, and Embodied Spiritual Practice looks at Judaism's take on everything from fasting to walking.
Learning to Mourn
How can we mourn a loss that happened thousands of years ago, and what is the value of that grieving?
The Temple & Destruction
The Temple
A look into the psyche of ancient Judaism.
A Communal Mourning
Re-enacting the sorrow felt by those who survived the destruction of the Temple.
Jerusalem
The Holy City changed hands many times in history.
After the Temple
Stories from the Talmud about coping with destruction and building for the future.
The Book of Lamentations (Eichah)
Buy the volume we read from on Tisha B'Av. Full Hebrew text, with English translation and commentary.