Tonight Starts the Tisha B'Av Fast

So, I'm fasting-it's the fast of Tisha B'av.

The fast is from sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow night. It's not a fancy holiday on the Jewish calendar, but very significant.

Many tragedies have befallen the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av, and it is said that the roots of these tragedies lie in 'baseless hatred'. What does that mean? It means gossip and slander, it means nursing grudges and not forgiving-it means not releasing yourself from anger, and it means living in the past-never for the future. Tisha B'av also reminds us of the centrality of Jerusalem in Jewish life. There are some very interesting links in the Aish Hatorah site, so if you have time-do take a read. More here from Chabad.