Tisha B'Av

Appears in
Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean
Sephardic Flavors

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2000

  • About
Tisha B’Av falls on the ninth day of Av (mid-July to early August) and commemorates the fall in Jerusalem of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. and of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.

From the seventeenth day of Tammuz, observant Jews enter a three-week period of mourning until Tisha B’Av commences. During this time, weddings are not performed, music is not played, and no new clothing may be worn. Beginning with the first day of Av, only vegetarian and dairy menus are prepared. Tisha B’Av is a fast day among Orthodox Jews. Symbolic foods of mourning such as lentil soup are served. The soup is often accompanied by borekas or boyikos de kaser, small cheese pastries.