Tisha B’Av may not be as well known as say the Passover or High Holy Days. So what exactly is this day?

For some people, the concept of fasting for 24-25 hours can be a difficult aspect of Tisha B’Av or any of the other holidays observed with fasting throughout the year.

Tisha B’Av is a day of many mournful prayers throughout Jerusalem and all of Israel.

As covered in previous articles on Shalom Adventure, Tisha B’Av is officially the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, lamenting the destruction of both temples and several other tragedies inflicted on the Jewish people over the course of history.

Lamentations is considered one of the five megillot (scrolls) in the Hebrew Bible along with the Books of Esther, Song of Songs, Ruth, and Ecclesiastes which collectively comprise the Ketuvim, or section of the BIble referring to writings.

It is not unusual for the Jewish people by the tens of thousands to flock to the Western Wall to commerate Tisha B’Av each year to pray, recite liturgy and/or the book of Lamentations, or simply sit in solemn silence on this annual day of mourning and remembrance of the destruction of the Temples in ancient Jerusalem.