Tisha B'Av

How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has
become,
she that was great among the
nations!
She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt
treacherously with her,
they have become her enemies.
Lamentations 1:1-2

Last Thursday on Jewish calendars marked Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av). Both the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE by the Babylonians and the destruction of the second temple by the Romans in 70 CE are believed to have occurred on this date. To understand the significance of this event for modern Jews, see these links to Judaism 101 and My Jewish Learning.