Tisha B'Av Fast Begins Wednesday Evening Across Israel Until Thursday Night

The Tisha B'Av fast for the Hebrew year 5786 (2026) begins Wednesday evening at sunset and continues until Thursday night after stars appear. This day is an official day of mourning in the Jewish calendar, observing the same prohibitions as Yom Kippur. The fast commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.

Specific start times for the fast on Wednesday evening include 19:47 in Jerusalem, 19:45 in Tel Aviv, 19:48 in Haifa, and similar times across other major Israeli cities. The fast ends Thursday evening at times ranging from 20:08 in Eilat to 20:15 in Haifa and Netanya.

Tisha B'Av observances include strict mourning laws that are more severe than other fast days, such as five forms of affliction, reciting kinnot (lamentations), and reading the Book of Lamentations. In the days leading up to Tisha B'Av, traditional mourning customs are observed, including refraining from haircuts, shaving, eating meat, drinking wine, wearing freshly laundered clothes, and laundering garments.

Historically, five calamities are remembered on Tisha B'Av: the decree barring the Jewish people from entering the Land of Israel, the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, the fall of Betar (the last stronghold of the Bar Kokhba revolt), and the razing of Jerusalem, which was plowed over and turned into a field. These events underscore the solemnity of the day and its significance in Jewish history and collective memory.