Erev Tisha B’Av Prayer

On Monday, July 19th  at 7:00pm, we will join the greater Jewish community in its observance of  Tisha B'Av (the ninth day in the Jewish month of Av). It is a day of mourning and fasting to commemorate the destruction of the first and second Temples. The first Temple was destroyed on the ninth of Av by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E., and the second Temple was destroyed on the ninth of Av by the Romans in 70 C.E. In addition to being the day on which the first and second temples were destroyed, many other tragic events occurred on this day.  Please come and show your solidarity with the Jewish community as we remember these tragedies, and also, the faithfulness and mercy of G-D. Childcare will be provided for children 5 yrs. and younger.

Let us be in prayer that what the L-rd has written in Zechariah 8:19 may soon be fulfilled: “This is what the LORD of hosts says: ‘The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joy, gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’”

Tisha B’Av Information

Tisha B'Av means "the ninth (day) of Av”.  It is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which coincidentally have occurred on the ninth of Av. It was on this day that the first and second temples were destroyed, the Jewish people were expelled from Spain in 1492 and several other tragedies occurred in Jewish history. This day marks a day of sadness and fasting for the Jewish people.

Tisha B’Av, the ninth day in the Hebrew month of Av, usually July or August marks a day of tragedy, sadness, and fasting for the Jewish people. On this same day in history a series of calamities are linked in a supernatural way, beyond the realm of coincidence:

1. Traditionally, this is the day the spies sent out by Moses to explore Canaan returned with a false report, believed by the people in spite of the exhortation of Joshua and Caleb. For this they were punished by wandering forty years in the wilderness. However, the rabbis predicted in the Talmud that for crying over the false report, the Jewish people would cry on that day for generations to come.  
2. In 586 BCE the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, led by Nebechadnezzar. 100,000 Jews perished, and millions were exiled.  
3. On the same day 656 years later, in 70 CE the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, led by Titus. Again many Jews died and were exiled.  
4. 65 years later, in 135 CE, the Bar Kochba revolt was crushed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The fortress of Betar, a Jewish stronghold, was liquidated and over 100,000 Jews were slaughtered.  
5. The Temple area and its surroundings were plowed under by the Roman general Turnus Rufus. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a pagan city named Aelia Capitolina, and access was forbidden to Jews.  
6. Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade. Tens of thousands of Jews were killed, and many Jewish communities were obliterated.  
7. In 1290 this day marked the first nation-wide rejection of Jews when the official decree expelling them from England was signed.  
8. On the same date in 1492 one of the greatest upheavals in Jewish history occurred when the large Jewish community in Spain was expelled.  
9. Jews were first ordered into a ghetto on this date in 1555 when the Jews of Rome were ordered to live in a district near the Tiber.  
10. W.W.I broke out on Tisha B’Av in 1914 when Germany declared war on Russia. German resentment from the war set the stage for the Holocaust.  
11. In 1941 on the same day Reinhard Heydrich was ordered to carry out the “final solution” for European Jewry.

Not all the calamities for the Jews occurred on this day, for history records too many for an entire month of Tisha B’Avs. The important thing to remember on this day is not man’s inhumanity to Jewish people, but that God has preserved His people in spite of the best attempts of Ha Satan.

Tisha B’Av is mentioned in scripture:

Zechariah 8:19
This is what the LORD Almighty says: " fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace." (NIV, emphasis added)

The month of Av is the fifth month, and even in the days of Zechariah it was known as a fast. The megillah traditionally read on this day is Lamentations. It is appropriate on this day of sad memories to recall God’s enduring love and faithfulness, giving us hope in any of the Tisha B’Avs we may face in our personal lives...

Lamentations 3:21-26
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: [22] Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." [25] The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; [26] it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. (NIV, emphasis added)

Yeshua is our hope and our salvation!