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19th-Century Travelogue Revives Tisha B’Av Lamentations Tradition

The resurfacing of a 19th-century travelogue offers new insights into communal lamentations at the Western Wall during a fast that has marked successive Jewish tragedies

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Overview

  • An excerpt from Rev. Henry R. Coleman’s 1880 memoir details weekly gatherings at the Western Wall where Jews wept and recited Lamentations and Psalms in mourning for the Temple’s destruction
  • A recent op-ed connects the Talmud’s teaching on baseless hatred to contemporary political and social divisions and cautions that internal rifts mirror the forces behind past calamities
  • Israel National News has published a chronological list of major tragedies falling on the ninth of Av, spanning from the biblical decree against the spies to medieval expulsions and key Holocaust events
  • Police, Border Police fighters and volunteers have been deployed across the Old City to secure the fast’s observance while tens of thousands of worshippers visit the Western Wall to recite kinnot under full fast restrictions
  • A live-streamed closing ceremony at the Western Wall Plaza will feature communal prayers for unity, the safe return of hostages, the welfare of IDF soldiers and the traditional blessing of the new moon