Hebrew Month: Av

§ The mishna teaches that from when the month of Av begins, one decreases acts of rejoicing. Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: Just as when Av begins one decreases rejoicing, so too when the month of Adar begins, one increases rejoicing.

Five events befell out ancestors on the seventeeth of Tamuz and five on the Ninth of Av. On the seventeenth of Tamuz, the Tablets were broken, the Tamid offering was ended, the city walls were breached, Apaustamous burned the Torah, an idol was placed in the temple courtyard. On the Ninth of Av, it was decreed upon our ancestors that they would not be allowed to enter the Land of Israel, the First and Second temples were destroyed, Beitar was captured, The city of Jerusalem was plowed over. From when the month of Av starts, we reduce joy.

Five things (i.e., calamities) befell our forefathers on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and five on the ninth of Av. On the seventeenth of Tammuz, the tablets were broken [For on the sixth of Sivan, the Ten Commandments were given, and early on the seventh, he (Moses) went up (to Sinai) to receive the rest of the Torah and remained there forty days, which are thus found to have ended on the seventeenth of Tammuz; and upon his descent, he broke the tablets.], the tamid (the daily burnt-offering) was abolished, [no lambs being available, the city being under siege], the city was breached, and Apostamus burned the Torah and placed an image in the sanctuary. [Amoraim differ on this in the Yerushalmi. One says, the image of Menasheh, in the first Temple. Another, the image of Apostamus, one of the later Greeks, in the second Temple.] On the ninth of Av, it was decreed upon our ancestors not to enter Eretz Yisrael, the first and second Temples were destroyed, Betar was captured, and the city was plowed up. When Av enters, joy is diminished.