The Seventh of Av

Q. What happened on the 7th of Av? How is this observed?

A. The Gemara (Taanis 29a) relates the events that led up to the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. Although the walls of Yerushalayim were breached on the seventeenth of Tammuz, the fighting continued. It was not until the seventh of Av that the Babylonians entered the Beis Hamikdash and desecrated it. On the ninth of Av, close to sunset, they set the Beis Hamikdash on fire.

The Magen Avrohom (554:9) writes that even those who must eat meat or drink wine during The Nine Days, if possible, should refrain from meat and wine beginning the 7th of Av, in recognition of the increasing calamity. Nonetheless, the Mishnah Berurah (551:61) writes that the restriction of the Magen Avrohom does not apply to someone who is ill and must eat meat for reasons of health.

Piskei Teshuvos (551:38) cites sefer Otzer HaChaim that even those who permit serving meat at a siyum during The Nine Days may not do so beginning the 7th of Av. Similarly, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt’l ruled that one may not serve meat or wine at a seudas Bar Mitzvah from the 7th of Av and onward (Mivakshei Torah vol. 48, chapter 4).

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.