AvAv (also Menachem Av, ) is the eleventh month of the civil year and the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 30 days, and usually occurs in July–August on the Gregorian calendar. The Babylonian Talmud states that "when we enter [the month of] Av, our joy is diminished". This is because 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, the 9th day of Av.
Ta'anitA ta'anit or ta'anis (Mishnaic Hebrew: תענית) is a fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water. A Jewish fast may have one or more purposes, including: Atonement for sins: Fasting is not considered the primary means of acquiring atonement; rather, sincere regret for and rectification of wrongdoing is key. Nevertheless, fasting is conducive to atonement, for it tends to precipitate contrition. Therefore, the Bible requires fasting on Yom Kippur.
Western WallThe Western Wall (HaKotel HaMa'aravi, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ٱلْبُرَاق, Ḥā'iṭ al-Burāq 'ħaːʔɪtʕ albʊ'raːq), is a portion of ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem that forms part of the larger retaining wall of the hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount. Just over half the wall's total height, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period, and is believed to have been begun by Herod the Great.
Sefer TorahA Sefer Torah (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: סִפְרֵי תוֹרָה Sifrei Torah) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers. At other times, it is stored in the holiest spot within a synagogue, the Torah ark, which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem, the direction Jews face when praying.
Solomon's TempleSolomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, Bēṯ hamMīqdāš hāRīʾšōn, ), was a Temple in Jerusalem believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it was commissioned by biblical King Solomon before being destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 587 BCE.
JewsJews (יְהוּדִים, Yehudim, jehuˈdim) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group, nation or ethnos native to the Levant, originating from the ancient Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people, although its observance varies from strict to none. Jews take their origins from a Southern Levantine national and religious group that arose towards the end of the second millennium BCE.
FastingFasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see "Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal (typically 3–5 hours after eating). A diagnostic fast refers to prolonged fasting from 1 to 100 hours (depending on age) conducted under observation to facilitate the investigation of a health complication, usually hypoglycemia.
Temple MountThe Temple Mount (הַר הַבַּיִת) is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a holy site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for thousands of years. As the site of a large mosque compound, it is also known as Al-Aqsa or al-Aqsa mosque compound (المسجد الأقصى, al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, lit. 'The Furthest Mosque'), known honorifically as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's sacred (or holy) esplanade.
