B"H

Tuesday, Menachem Av 7, 5786 / July 21, 2026

This Wednesday night begins the fast of Tisha B’Av – the fast of the 9th day of Av. The fast is in remembrance of the destruction of the two Holy Temples. The fast begins Wednesday night and continues until Thursday night. It is the second strictest fast after Yom Kippur.

While Yom Kippur is a fast day, which is decreed in the Torah, the fast of Tisha B’Av was decreed by The Prophets and The Rabbis. It is in commemoration and in mourning for the destruction of both Holy Temples which were destroyed on Tisha B’Av. The Second Temple was destroyed close to five hundred years after the destruction of the First Temple.

The First Temple, which was built by King Solomon, stood for 410 years, and was destroyed on the 9th of Av by King Nebuchadnetzar of Babylon. The second Temple was built 70 years later and stood for 420 years. It was also destroyed on the 9th of Av, by the Romans.

It’s already close to 2000 years since the destruction of the second Temple, yet Jews in every generation never lost faith in the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the third Holy Temple in their days. We lived with the “Ani Maamin” – “I firmly believe in the coming of Moshiach.”

Three times a day, day after day, we pray in the Amidah, for the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Beth Hamikdash – the Holy Temple. In the Torah, Moshe calls the Jewish people a stiff-necked people. It also works for the positive. During the worst of times, throughout our history, in good times and in difficult times, we never gave up on our deep belief in Moshiach’s coming.

A Chassid of the Third Chabad Rebbe had an inn, which he rented from the local landowner in a village in Russia. He would pay the owner ten rubles at the beginning of the year for the entire year.

One year the Chassid fell ill and couldn’t go to the owner in the beginning of the year. He sent his son instead to renew the contract and pay the rent for the entire year. The son decided to get a better deal. He offered the landowner thirty rubles for a five-year contract, thus saving his father twenty rubles. The owner was happy to get the extra rent in advance and agreed to the deal. He paid him thirty rubles and signed a five-year contract.

The son returned to his father all excited and told him about the deal he made and that he saved him twenty rubles over the next five years. “Why did you do a foolish thing like this?” his father said. “Instead of saving me twenty rubles, you overpaid forty rubles for nothing. Don’t you believe that Moshiach is coming any day and we will all go to the Holy Land. The money you paid for the next four years was a waste!”

One of the principles of our faith is that we believe with complete faith each day that Moshiach is coming NOW. The fact that he didn’t come until now doesn’t diminish our faith. In fact, it makes it stronger, for we were guaranteed by our prophets that he IS coming, and every day brings him closer.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY