Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Today is the 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av)

At sundown today, Aug 9, the 9th of Av begins.

What is the 9th of Av?

Well, it is a Jewish holiday that is not a 'fun' time.  It commemorates a number of really horrible events that have occurred on the same day over the multiple millennia of Jewish history.

Most folks recall the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  That event, pictured in the picture today, occurred on the 9th of Av.

But that was not the only 'bad' thing that happened on the 9th of Av.

The Temple that was destroyed in 70 A.D. was known as the Second Temple.  But, guess what, the First Temple was also destroyed on a 9th of Av, in 586 B.C.

Now how unusual is that?

But, there is more!

The first recorded 9th of Av event was when 10 of the 12 spies sent by Moses to check out the land of Canaan before entering it  said to not enter the land. 

This lack of faith on the part of the Israelites resulted in God making them wander in the wilderness for 40 years (See Numbers Chapters 13-14 for more details).

Since that first momentous 9th of Av event, there have been many more calamitous events including the expelling of the Jews from England in 1290 and from Spain in 1492.

World War 1 began on the 9th of Av in 1914.

in 1942, on the eve of Tisha B'Av, Jews were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto.

In 1994 the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires was bombed.

And this is not all that has happened on the 9th of Av.

So, the question one must ask is "what is the 'chance' that all these things happened by accident?"

The answer, of course, is that it is an astronomical 'chance' and thus it is obvious that there is a Divine influence re. this date.

To learn more about the 9th of Av, here are a two links that can give more details.
CLICK HERE  and CLICK HERE