The 9th of Av: What Are We Mourning?

This year, since the 9th of Av falls on Shabbat, the 24-hour observance begins immediately upon the conclusion of Shabbat. In Judaism there are two concepts, “new mourning” and “old mourning.” “New mourning” occurs when we lose a loved one. The immediate grief is intense. We disengage from the world until, through mourning, we come back to a functioning equilibrium. With “old mourning,” like Tisha B’Av, the process goes in reverse.

Playbook of the Haters of Israel, Then and Now

In his great wisdom, King Solomon stated in the beginning of Ecclesiastes “There is nothing new beneath the sun.” Since human nature does not change over time, the way modern man deals with current events is no different from how past generations handled the events of their time.