The Mishnah (Taanis 26) teaches us: “Mi’she’nichnas Av m’maatim b’simchah,” at the beginning of Av we should moderate our joy. Numerous disasters affected the Jewish people on Tish’ah B’Av, such as the destruction of the First and Second Temple in Jerusalem. Our practices of mourning are increased as we enter the month of Av and become even more intensified in the week of Tish’ah B’Av.
There are several halachos that govern our daily lives as we enter this state of public mourning for the destruction of the Batei Mikdash. Although there is a prohibition to learn most Torah material on Tish’ah B’Av, since Torah learning inherently brings one to simchah, and this would be a distraction from mourning the loss of the Beis HaMikdash, one may always say T’hilim for a sick person. For general recitation of T’hilim, there are several opinions. Some poskim discourage the recital of a lot of T’hilim on Tish’ah B’Av, others are more lenient after chatzos ha’yom, and others are more lenient for women.
The Kaf HaChayim (551:1) brings down that anyone who meticulously observes the halachos of the first ten days of Av, thereby demonstrating his personal mourning over the churban of Yerushalayim, will merit to witness miracles in the times of Mashiach. May we all merit to see these miracles speedily and in our days.
List of People Who Need a r’fuah sh’leimah (a complete recovery)
Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.
Yonasan ben Sigalit
David ben Sarah
Yaakov ben Simchah
Eliyahu ben Margalit
Yitzchak ben Mazal
Yitzchak Chaim ben Sarah
Yosef ben Nosrat
Moshe ben Mazal
Mordechai ben Chanah
Shlomo ben Miriam
Yosef ben Renee
Nesanel ben Miriam
Ariel ben Sarah
Chaim Yonah ben Ilana
Ovadiah ben Avraham
Tinok ben Yocheved
Michael Chayim ben Ilanit
Chai Yitzchak ben Esther Rivkah
Shalom ben Tofucha Malkah
Yisrael ben Raizel Shoshana Miriam
Rafael ben Sveta
Fredel bas Hendil
Rachel Leah bas Esther
Adele bas Sarah
Ava bas Ilana Esther
Sonia bas Rachel
Tovah Yocheved bas Esther Bukas
Ruchama Perel Malkah Leah bas Chanah Serel
Esther Hadasah bas Devorah
Ora bas Naomi
Miriam bas Rivkah
Elka Rachel bas Sarah Malkah
Lielle Devorah bas Esther
Blume bas Esthel Rivkah
Tziporah bas Fruma
Miryam bas Sarah
Shalvah bas Sarah
Ahavah Chayah bas Neda
Rachel bas Batya
To add names of individuals who need a r’fuah sh’leimah to next week’s T’hilim column, please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and complete the Google form.