בס״ד

MT. SINAI JEWISH CENTER OF CONGREGATION MT. SINAI ANSHE EMETH & EMES WOZEDEK OF WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, INC. and CONGREGATION BETH HILLEL & BETH ISRAEL

July 2015

Dear Members of the Mt. Sinai Family,

As the sad day of Tisha B'Av approaches, I’d like to review with you some of the unique halachot of Tisha B'Av which falls on , as it does this year, as well as lay out the schedule for Shabbat (Tisha B'Av itself) and for Sunday when the fast is observed. Please note that some times have been changed since the monthly calendar was distributed.

We will have an additional early , Shabbat afternoon at 6:00 PM. Our practice is to study as regular throughout this Shabbat without restriction (MB 553:10). Consequently, my regular gemara will meet Shabbat afternoon after the 6:00 mincha. The regularly scheduled 8:00pm mincha will also meet for those who prefer to daven at that time.

On Shabbat afternoon, there will be no Seuda Shelishit in Shul. After mincha (or beforehand if attending the 8:00 pm mincha), you are encouraged to partake of healthy seuda shelishit at home. One who regularly eats seuda shlishit with company may do so (MB 552: 23), as this seuda shlishit is not considered a seuda hamafseket. In fact, writes that one may eat k’seudat Shlomo b’shato, a sumptuous meal that includes meat and wine, at seuda shlishit (Shulchan Aruch 552:10). Since it is likely to be very hot, please remember to hydrate yourselves adequately in advance of the fast. However, since one may not prepare for Tisha B’Av on Shabbat, care should be taken not to explicitly state that you are eating or drinking to prepare for the fast. All eating must be completed by 8:17 PM; Birkat haMazon may be recited after that time.

Since Shabbat is the day of Tisha B’Av, Ashkenazic practice is that private practices of mourning apply. Consequently marital relations are prohibited and married couples should refrain from other forms of physical intimacy as well (RAMA 554:19). The lone exception to this is when mikva night falls out on Friday night (MB 554:40). Other harchakot do not apply.

It is forbidden to prepare from Shabbat to Tisha B’av. Hence, one may not don Tisha B’Av shoes while it is still Shabbat. Tisha B’Av shoes should be brought to Shul before Shabbat and put on after Barchu. Alternatively, those who will be at home at the conclusion of Shabbat (9:01 pm) should say "Baruch Hamavdil bein Kodesh L'Chol," and then put on their Tisha B'Av footgear and come to Shul for . Maariv will begin at 9:11 PM. (Please note the changes in time.)

At Maariv on motzei shabbat we will say attah chonantanu in shmoneh esrei and recite borei me’orei ha’eish on two candles before reading Eicha and reciting Kinnot. (Men and women who will not be in Shul should recite a borei me’orei ha’eish for themselves at home.) We will have a second reading of Eicha at 10:30 PM for those who are unable to attend the first reading.

At the conclusion of Tisha B'Av (Sunday evening), an abbreviated havdala with the brachot of hagafen and hamavdil are recited. We do not recite the bracha on besamim on either night. In fact the TAZ assumes that one should not smell besamim at all on Tisha B’Av (Shaar Hatziyun 556:1).

One who received halachic guidance to eat on Sunday when the fast of Tisha B’Av is observed should recite havdala (with the brachot of shehakol and hamavdil) over beer, coffee, or pure orange juice before eating; one should not recite havdala on wine or grape juice on the date Tisha B’Av is observed. One who eats a full meal on Tisha B’Av should insert Nachem in Birkat haMazon according to RAMA (end of 557); GRA and others maintain that Nachem need not be inserted into birkat haMazon.

On Sunday when Tisha B’Av is observed, please remember the five main prohibitions: washing, using perfumes and other lotions for pleasure, wearing leather shoes, marital relations, eating and drinking. Additionally study of most portions of Torah, and greeting one’s friends is forbidden. On Sunday we will have two Minyanim for : 7:00 AM, and 9:00 AM with kinnot explained by me. Chatzot is at 1:02 PM.

After chatzot one may sit on normal chairs. However the other restrictions of Tisha B’Av, including the prohibition to study most sections of Torah, continue to apply until the end of the fast.

Early mincha will be at 1:40 pm. Talit and are donned at mincha on Tisha B’Av, rather than during shacharit when they are usually donned.

A number of shiurim and a movie appropriate for the day are scheduled, as follows:

”Memorializing Tragedy :ו"תתנ גזרת/1:02pm-1:40pm - Jesse Abelman: “The First Crusade

2:30pm-3:10pm - Sarah Steinberg: “Mourning and Repentance in Megillat Eikhah”

3:15pm-4:50pm - Movie: “God on Trial” (running time approx. 90 min)

5:00pm-5:40pm - Kimberly Hay: “Yirmiyahu's Message for Jewish Survival in Exile”

5:45pm-6:35pm - Rabbi Mordechai Schnaidman: “Yerushalayim- The Beracha, The Hosafa (Nachem)”

6:40pm-7:30pm - Yoni Teitz: “The Humility of R. Zecharia ben Avkulas Destroyed the Temple and the Crisis of Rabbinic Leadership”

A later mincha will be held at 7:45 PM, (please note change in time). Mincha will be followed by appropriate divrei Torah to mark the end of Tisha B’Av. Maariv will be at 8:45 PM . Please remember not to eat until havdala is heard. The fast ends at 8:54 PM.

Sunday night following Tisha B’Av the restrictions of the Nine Days pertaining to not eating meat and not drinking wine still apply. All other restrictions are lifted. (RAMA 558 and MB 4)

Tisha B'Av is the saddest day in the Jewish year, but it is also a day that foretells of our future great redemption. Let us all pray that that redemption comes quickly, in our time, and that all of us will experience the building of the Third Beit HaMikdash in Yerushalayim.

Bivirkat nechamat tziyon,

Ezra Y. Schwartz, Rabbi