Tisha B'Av

Parashat Ki Tavo: The basket of first fruits

The world is so beautiful when we look upon it with a good eye; when we bless its creator and are filled with gratitude.

|ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
GRAPES GROW in the Tali Vineyard in Moshav Lachish.
"Jeremiah seated in the ruins of Jerusalem," Eduard Bendemann, 1837.

Leading with libel: Tisha B'Av and the global attack on Israel - opinion

In journalistic jargon, “if it bleeds, it leads,” and tales of Israel’s alleged cruelty and criminal acts against humanity are avidly gobbled up by reporters seeking a salacious story.

|BySTEWART WEISS
WESTERN WALL.

Tisha B’Av in Jerusalem: Reflections on loss, return, and Zionism

Tisha B’Av was not a figment of my imagination; it provided, annually, a poignancy in time which lifted us from the ruins of the past and deposited us in a new Israel.

|ByDAVID GEFFEN
People spend time at a beach in Tel Aviv during the Israel-Iran war, June 21, 2025; illustrative.

Embracing diversity, healing through Tisha B’Av - opinion

As we approach Tisha B’Av, let's reflect on embracing diversity in Israel, honoring each other’s differences, and striving for unity and respect.

|ByJONATHAN LIEBERMAN

Western Wall to limit Tisha B'Av prayers to groups of 20

"These days...obligate all of us to intensify our unconditional love, solidarity and connection to the tradition and heritage of Israel."

JULY 27, 2020ByTZVI JOFFRE
An ultra-Orthodox jew prays at the Westen Wall July 17, 2002 on Tisha B'Av

Chief Rabbi: COVID-19 patients can't fast on Tisha B'Av, shorten prayer

"To our sorrow, the plague is intensifying and we need heavenly mercy," wrote Lau.

JULY 27, 2020ByTZVI JOFFRE
A Jewish worshipper prays next to the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting and lament, in Jerusalem's Old City

Grapevine July 26, 2020: Zooming in on Tisha Be’av

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

JULY 25, 2020ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
FROM LEFT: Meron Reuben, Foreign Ministry chief of protocol; Yoram Rabad, honorary consul for Liberia and Anat Schleien, who heads the ministry’s Africa desk.

Please don’t destroy Israel, our home

The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, the only place on Earth that gathers Jews from all the lands of their dispersal; the only place where Jews must feel safe.

JULY 25, 2020BySHLOMO SOBOL
A BOY wrapped with Israel’s national flag is seen during a parade marking Jerusalem Day last month outside the Old City Walls. Israel, the author argues, needs to assert more sovereignty

Tisha Be’av in corona times

Reflections and online inspiration

JULY 23, 2020ByBENJY SINGER
Tisha Be'Av in Safed

Why the Tzemach Tzedek told his son to beware of dairy

THE TZEMACH TZEDEK acknowledged a letter that his son had sent him and warned his son "not to be stringent – Heaven forfend – at this time, by eating dairy products in the Nine Days."

JULY 23, 2020ByLEVI COOPER
Cows at a dairy farm

Why we can smile on Tisha Be’av

How can a Jew, living in our vastly altered modern world, experience Tisha Be’av mourning during a period in which history has once again smiled upon us?

JULY 23, 2020ByMOSHE TARAGIN
Marching around the gates to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City on Tisha Be'av eve, 2019

Tisha Be’av in the modern age

THE ANGUISH of Tisha Be’av has meaning for us year in and year out because we have never stopped mourning.

JULY 23, 2020ByDAVID GEFFEN
'I was fortunate that at my Boy Scout camp in Georgia, we had a minyan of my fellow Jewish scouts.'

Rabbis pray at Western Wall to end coronavirus - WATCH

Due to the Health Ministry regulations, the public are requested not to attend in person but to take part via the internet.

JULY 21, 2020ByDONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
Jewish men pray at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City. April 19, 2020.

Christians to repent online for antisemitism on Tisha Be'av

While Jews will be reading Lamentations in and out of synagogues, Christians will participate in a nine-hour online vigil of prayers.

JULY 21, 2020ByGIL HOFFMAN
The ruins of the Second Temple that sit next to a part of the Western Wall