Av

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The 9th of Av, Tisha B'Av, is a fast commemorating what's been called the saddest day in Jewish history,[1] which is when the Holy Temple was set aflame.
Month Number:	11
Number of Days:	30
Season:	summer
Gregorian Equivalent:	July-August

Av (Hebrew: אָב‎, Standard Av Tiberian ʾĀḇ ; from Akkadian abu) is the eleventh month of the civil year and the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name is Babylonian in origin and appeared in the Talmud around the 3rd century. This is the only month which is not named in the Bible. It is a summer month of 30 days. Av usually occurs in July–August on the Gregorian calendar.

In the Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 29a, we read "When we enter [the month of] Av, our joy is diminished". This is due to the fact that the darkest events in Jewish history occurred during the first week and a half of this month, particularly The Nine Days which culminate in Tisha B'Av. However, there is a minor and largely unknown holiday during the full moon of the month called Tu B'Av which was, in ancient times, one of the happiest days of the year.

In 1290 – on the 9th day of Av, which is the same day that the Temple in Jerusalem was twice destroyed, and which is therefore the worst day in Jewish history – the Jews were expelled from Israel and not permitted to return for almost four centuries.

The month is also sometimes referred to as Menachem Av (Hebrew: מנחם אב‎) (Av of Comfort), but most only use this title in the sanctification of the month recited on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh and following Tisha B'Av.

Holidays in Av

Av 9 -Fast of Tisha B'Av - (fast day)
Av 15 - Tu B'Av

Av in Jewish history

1 Av - (1273 BCE) - Death of Aaron

• The High Priest Aaron, who was the brother of Moses and Miriam, died at age 123 of the Hebrew year 2488 (1273 BCE). This is the only yahrzeit (date of death) explicitly mentioned in the Torah (Numbers 33:38).

1 Av - (513 BCE) - Ezra and Followers Arrived in Eretz-Yisroel

• Following their journey from Babylon, Ezra and his followers arrived in the land of Israel so they could be near the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

5 Av - (1572) - Death of Rabbi Isaac Luria

• Rabbi Isaac Luria Ashkenazi, known as "Ari HaKadosh" ("The Holy Lion") died on the 5th of Av of the Hebrew year 5332 (1572 CE). He was born in Jerusalem in 1534, and he spent many years in secluded study near Cairo, Egypt. In 1570 he settled in Sefad, where he lived for two years until he died at age 38. During that brief time, Luria would change the study of Kabbalah. He has since come to be considered one of the most important figures in Jewish mysticism.

7 Av - (586 BCE) - First Temple Invaded

• After a month of fighting in Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar's armies of Babylonia broke through, into the Holy Temple, where they feasted and vandalized until the afternoon of Av 9, which at that point they set the Temple on fire.

7 Av - (67 CE) - Civil War in Jerusalem

• Fighting broke out inside the besieged city of Jerusalem between different Jewish factions divided on the question of whether or not to fight the Roman armies who had encircled the city. One group set fire to the city's food stores, which is said to have quickened starvation. Jerusalem would fall three years later.

7 Av - (1492) - The Spanish Inquisition

• The Jews of Spain were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella on the 7th of Av of 1492, which destroyed many centuries of Jewish life there.

9 Av - (586 BCE and 70 CE) - Holy Temples Destroyed

• The first and second Holy Temples which stood in Jerusalem were both destroyed, on Av 9. The First Temple by the Babylonians, and the Second Temple by the Romans. The Temples' destruction represented the beginning of Galut (exile).

9 Av - (133 CE) - Fall of Betar

• Betar, the last stronghold of the Bar Kochba rebellion, fell to the Romans on the 9th of Av of the Hebrew year 3893 (133 CE) after a three-year siege. 580,000 Jews are said to have died by either starvation or the sword, including Bar Kochba, the leader of the rebellion.

10 Av (70 CE) - Holy Temple burns

• The Romans set the Temple on fire on the afternoon of Av 9. This is why the mourning practices for Jews of the "Nine Days" are observed through the morning hours of Av 10.

10 Av - (1994) - AMIA Bombing

• Arabs bombed the Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which killed 86 and wounded more than 300. This is the deadliest attack in Jewish diaspora since the Holocaust.

10 Av - (2005) - Gaza Disengagement

• Thousands of Jewish were evacuated from 25 towns and settlements in the Gaza Strip (including 16 settlements in the "Gush Katif" belt) and Northern Shomron in the summer of 2005, as part of the Israeli government's, Disengagement Plan.

12 Av - (1263) - Nachmanides' disputation

• King James I of Aragon (Spain) ordered Nachmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, 1194-1270) to participate in a public debate, held in the king's presence, against the Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. His defense of Judaism and refutations of Christianity's claims served as the basis of future disputations through the generations. Because his victory was an insult to the king's religion, Nachmanides was forced to flee Spain and came to Jerusalem.

13 Av - (1885) - Death of Sir Moses Montefiore

• Av 13 is the day Sir Moses Montefiore died at age 101. He was a very famous philantropist and an advocate of Jewish causes. (1784-1885).

15 Av - (148 CE) - Betar dead buried

• The Betar fortress was the last holdout of the Bar Kochba rebellion. Betar fell on the 9th of Av, Hebrew year, 3893 (133 CE), Bar Kochba and many thousands of Jews were killed by the Romans. Afterwards, the Romans would not allow the Jews to bury their dead for 15 years afterwards. The dead of Betar were brought to burial on Av 15 of the year Hebrew year 3908 (148 CE), an additional blessing (HaTov VehaMeitiv) was added to the "Grace After Meals" in their commemoration.

15 Av - Tu B'Av

• In ancient Israel, it was the custom that on the 15th of Av "the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed linen garments... and dance in the vineyards" and "whoever did not have a wife would go there" to find himself a bride (Talmud, Taanit 31a). The reason they would wear borrowed linen garments was so those without nice clothes of their own wouldn't be embarrassed.

15 Av - The Day of the Breaking of the Ax

• When the Holy Temple still existed, every year there was the cutting of firewood for the altar. This was finished on the 15th of Av. The event was celebrated by feasting and rejoicing, which is the custom upon the conclusion of any holy doing, and it included a ceremonial breaking of the axes which is what gave the day its name.

17 Av - (1929) - Hebron Massacre

• 67 Jewish adults and children were killed, and others were wounded, raped or injured, by Arabs in Hebron. These Arabs rioted for three days yelling out cries to "Slaughter the Jews." The survivors fled to Jerusalem. This massacre destroyed the ancient Jewish community of Hebron, which had existed there relatively peacefully for centuries. Jews would not return until after Israel's capture of Hebron in the 1967 Six Day War.

21 Av - (1918) - Death of Rabbi Chaim Brisker

• Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik of Brisk (1853-1918) died on this day. He was a famous Talmudic scholar and Jewish leader.

24 Av - (circa 100 BCE) - Hasmonean Holiday

• Sometime around 100 BCE, the Hasmoneans reinstated Jewish civil law which replaced the Hellenist secular law, and declared this day a holiday.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Other uses

• In the story of Xenogears, Av is the name of a country, named after the Hebrew month. In the official Japanese version translation, however, it was transliterated Ave. This was later further changed by the translation process to Aveh for the English version.
• Ab (Arabic: آﺏ‎) is the name for the month of August in the Levant (see Arabic names of calendar months).

 "Ab". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

References

• This Month in Jewish History

External links

• Resources on the Month of Av