The Three Weeks

The Babylonians conquered the Temple on the seventh of Av and set it ablaze toward evening on the ninth of the month, and it continued burning throughout the tenth. The Jewish people refrained from eating meat and drinking wine on that date.

We remove the curtain from the synagogue’s ark prior to Ma’ariv. Many have a custom not to wear a talit or tefilin at Shaĥarit.

The laws of reciting Aneinu on Tisha Be-Av are the same as on the other fast days. The Sages instituted that one should add the Naĥem prayer to the berakha of Boneh Yerushalayim in the Amida whenever Aneinu is recited.

The Sages state: “Anyone who works on Tisha Be-Av will never see any sign of blessing from it”.

We read Eikha after praying Ma’ariv. It is customary to darken the synagogue on the night of Tisha Be-Av. Many people have a custom to read it again during the day, after reciting the Kinot.

It is clear that one should not refrain from going to the Kotel (the Western Wall) out of concern that he might meet friends there and become happy.

Technically, there is no obligation to sleep or lie on the ground on Tisha Be-Av. Some people sleep on the ground on Tisha Be-Av; others sleep without a pillow. It is customary to sit on the ground like mourners on Tisha Be-Av.

Just as mourners may not greet others, so too, one may not greet others on Tisha Be-Av.

Just as a mourner may not study Torah during the shiva period, one may not study Torah on Tisha Be-Av, so that one’s attention is not diverted from the mourning.

The fifth way in which we afflict ourselves on Tisha Be-Av is by abstaining from sexual relations.