Tisha B'Av – A Time for Calamity: An Overview of Historical Events from Ancient Times to Present Day

The Torah recounts that just a few months after their liberation from Egypt, the Jewish people were on the cusp of the Land of Israel. "Eleven days from Horeb, by way of Mount Seir, to Kadesh Barnea" (Devarim 1:2).

By and large, the goal of leaving Egypt was to arrive in the Land of Israel and establish a model society there. Hashem commanded the people: "See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land" (Devarim 1:8).

But the nation sinned in chet hameraglim (the sin of the spies) and refused to enter the land. They worried that the people who lived there were too strong and that the campaign to capture the land would be too difficult: "Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large" (Numbers 23:8).

In fact, the Jewish people were so opposed to entering the land that they cried all night long in protest,  "And all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night" (Bamidbar 14:1). To make matters worse, they wanted to return to Egypt to avoid going to Israel: "And they said to one another, 'Let us select a leader and return to Egypt'" (Numbers 14:4).

Though this generation had seen incredible miracles - such as the plagues in Egypt, and the splitting of the Red Sea, among others, -they still did not trust Hashem. Accordingly, they were punished: "You shall bear your iniquities forty years... in the wilderness" (Bamidbar 14:34-35). The people would wander for 40 years in the wilderness, until all the members of the generation (between the ages of 20 and 60) who had rejected the Land of Israel died out. Only the next generation would be able to enter the land. 

The Talmud notes that the night that the nation wept was none other than the ninth of Av, and this sin would carry repercussions for the people for generations to come: "Hashem said to them: You wept needlessly, and I will establish for you a weeping for generations" (Taanit 29a). On account of this sin, Hashem decreed that this day would become a day of calamity.

It should be noted that future troubles would not befall the nation as punishment for this sin (chet hameraglim). After all, the nation had already paid a steep price for their mistake (namely, 40 years in the wilderness). Rather, the Talmud's statement points to the fact that Tisha B'Av (and the preceding/following days as well) would become a time of calamities and disasters in a spiritual sense.

Indeed, through the years, this prediction has been realized on many painful occasions. 

(Important clarification: The dates mapped out below include Gregorian years, and the years are presented according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars alternately. The correspondence between them is not relevant to us, since we are interested in the Hebrew date.)

• 422 BCE: Destruction of the First Temple: "And he burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem" (Melachim II, 25)

Tisha B'Av 3339 (Hebrew calendar), 422 BCE: Destruction of the First Temple. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroyed the Temple.

• 70 CE: Destruction of the Second Temple: "And the Temple was destroyed" (Mishnah Taanit, 4:6)

Tisha B'Av 3830, 70 CE: Destruction of the Second Temple. Titus, Caesar of Rome, destroyed the Temple.

• 135 CE – Suppression of the Bar Kochva Revolt: "And Beitar was captured" (Mishnah Taanit 4:6)

Tisha B'Av 3895, 135 CE: Bar Kochva Revolt - The city of Beitar, the last stronghold of the rebels under Bar Kochva himself, was captured by the Romans. The revolt was finally suppressed.

It should be noted that this point effectively marks the beginning of the 2,000-year-long exile.

• 136 CE – Destruction of Jerusalem: "And the city was plowed" (Mishnah Taanit 4:6)

Tisha B'Av, apparently in the year 3896, 136 CE: The city of Jerusalem was completely plowed by the Romans, to establish a pagan city in its place (named Aelia Capitolina).

• 1182 CE – The First Expulsion from France

The month of Av 4942, 1182 CE: First Expulsion from France. Philip II, King of France, expelled all the Jews. (16 years later, the Jews were allowed to return.)

• 1290 CE – The Expulsion from England

Tisha B'Av 5050, 1290 CE: Expulsion from England. Edward I, King of England, issued an expulsion order for all Jews.

• 1306 CE: The Great Expulsion from France

Av 5066, 1306 CE: The Great Expulsion from France. Philip IV, King of France, expelled all the Jews. On the 10th of Av, all the Jews in the kingdom were imprisoned and then expelled.

• 1492 CE: The Expulsion from Spain

Av 5252, 1492 CE: Expulsion from Spain. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an expulsion order for the Jews. By the 7th of Av, all Jews had to leave or convert. This date also marked the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition's activities against the Jews.

• 1942 CE: The Holocaust - Liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto

Tisha B'Av 5702, 1942 CE: Warsaw Ghetto - The Great Aktion. On Tisha B'Av, the Aktion began, and Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto (the largest ghetto, with 450,000 inhabitants) began to be sent to death camps.

• 1942 CE: The Holocaust – Jews from Paris Sent to Death Camps

Av 5702, 1942 CE: Jews from Paris were sent to concentration and death camps. On the 2nd of Av, the Jews were rounded up and imprisoned. On the 7th of Av, they were sent to concentration and death camps.

2005: Evacuation/Expulsion from Gush Katif

Tisha B'Av 5765, 2005 CE: Evacuation/Expulsion from Gush Katif. At midnight, as Tisha B'Av ended, the "Disengagement Plan" began, and 8,600 Jews were forced out of their homes, including 3,500 children. The "Disengagement" impacted approximately 2,000 families.

Shortly afterward, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, and a state of terror and murder was established on Israel's doorstep. Through the years, Hamas rocket attacks intensified, and a new reality emerged in which Hamas could fire rockets at almost any part of Israel and force millions of Jews into shelters and safe rooms at any given moment. 

On the holiday of Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023, Hamas breached the fence that divided the Gaza Strip from Israel, and, in the largest terror attack in the history of the State of Israel, massacred more than 1,200 men, women, and children. Hundreds of people were taken captive, thousands were wounded, and, in response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords.

It should be noted that this reality is rooted in the events of Tisha B'Av, 2005.

• 2018 CE: A Stone Fell from the Western Wall

11th of Av 5778, 2018 CE: On this day, a stone fell from the Western Wall, which marked a rare and historic event.

May we all draw closer to our Creator and prevent any future calamities from befalling the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av.

The article is excerpted from the book "Integrated Worlds."

Gil Friedman holds a B.Sc in Physics with honors from the Technion.