Conference taveng::bagels

    
    Yes, Tisha B'Av (literally: The ninth of Av) is this Saturday night
    and Sunday.  It's a rabbinically (as opposed to Biblically) decreed
    day, and commemorates the destruction of *both* Temples, as well
    as the expulsion from Spain and several other tragic events, all
    of which occurred on the same day (different years).
    
    Tisha B'Av is considered a day of mourning: at Saturday night services,
    people will sit on the floor, not on normal chairs; and no greetings
    will be exchanged at all (just like shiva practices.)  There are
    prohibitions against eating as well as any kind of Torah learning
    except of material such as Job and Eicha, Lamentations.  

    On this day, Tisha-b'Av, the Temple, Bait Hamigdash, was
    destroyed twice.  In the year 3338 King Nebuchadnezzar 
    of Babylon destroyed it then in 3828 the Roman legions
    under Titus demolished it again.  50 years later the 
    Israelites lead by Barkochba attempted to revolt against
    the Romans however, this attempt was crushed.
    
    Tisha-b'Av falls on Saturday, 7/23/88.  Because of Shabbat,
    it will be observed on Sunday.  One does not greet another
    on this day of mourning and it is a day of fasting.
    Bernice
           

Thanks for the responses.

Do the prohibitions concerning eating match those on Yom Kippur? If so, why is
Tisha-B'av allowed to fall on Sunday (right after Sabbath) when Yom Kippur
is not?

Dave

    The fast is the same as that of Yom Kippur.
    You would have the Havdala Sunday night.
    
    I believe you cannot have Kol Nidre and start
    the fast of Yom Kippur on Shabbat.  Thus, 
    Yom Kippur could never fall on a Sunday.
    B

    I believe the reason that Yom Kippur cannot fall on Sunday has more to
    do with the Shabbat attribute of Yom Kippur than with the fast.  Yom
    Kippur has the same strict definition of forbidden work as Shabbat
    (unlike Pesach, Shevuot, Rosh HaShanah, and Sukkot, which have a more
    lenient definition), and two consecutive days of Shabbat (so to speak)
    would be too difficult.

    I believe that when the rabbis fixed the calendar they arranged
    that Yom Kippur would never fall on a Sunday for the  simple reason
    that it would be very difficult to enter a fast day at Saturday
    night, given that no food could be prepared on Shabbat. Previous
    to the fixing of the calendar the court in Jerusalem would artificially
    delay or advance the date of Y.K. by starting the month of Tishri
    a day late/early. I am sure that Kol Nidrei has NOTHING to do with
    all this since in fact Kol Nidrei (or rather: its Talmudic predecessor)
    was origianlly associated with Erev Rosh Hashana, not Yom Kippur.
    Anyway, as to why Tisha B'av is postponed, whereas Yom Kippur is
    not, when it falls on Shabbat, the reason is that since YK is biblical
    and Tisha B'Av is not, the rabbis could not simply make YK a day
    late. (Aha! you ask, why didn't they fool with the calendar so that
    YK would never come out on Saturday, the same way they prevented
    its coming out on a Sunday (and Friday, for that matter!). Probably
    there is a simple explanation having to do with the impossibility
    of nixing 3 consecutive days (Fri-Sat-Sun) as possible days for
    Yom Kippur.

    Today is Tisha b'Av.  For more information start at .0.
    
    Before I became religious, this was the forgotten fast day.  Maybe it's
    because kids are not often in sunday school during the summer...
    
    ---Av