The Mishnah (Taanis 26) teaches us, “Mi’she’nichnas Av m’maatim b’simchah,” at the beginning of [the month 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 Temples in Jerusalem. Our practices of mourning are increased as we enter the month of Av, and they 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 (destruction) of Yerushalayim, will merit to witness miracles in the times of the 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.
David ben Liza Leah
Shmaryahu ben Raizel Shoshanah Miriam
Yisrael ben Raizel Shoshanah Miriam
Zhenya ben Zoya
Arvin Nesanel ben Sonia
Yotam ben Efrat Michal
Michael ben Naomi Sarah
Moshe Meir ben Chanah Etel
Shlomo Zalman ben Golda
David Yair ben Aliza
Yisrael Moshe ben Sarah
Yitzchak Shlomo ben Gittel
HaRav Yeshayah Yaakov ben Reizel
Zoya bas Rachel Raya
Zhanna bas Zoya
Chayah Adelya Hagilo bas Rachel
Esther Hadassah bas Devorah
Mitali Naomi bas Gilah Farcha
Eden Libi bas Chanah
Orli Danielle bas Chanah
Nancy Elisheva Sarah bas Roza
Heleni Ornah bas Chen Chanah
Eliana Liel bas Yocheved Leah
Rachel bas Blima
Avigayil bas Sarah
Ariella bas Sarah Zelda
Chayah Sarah Leah bas Brachah
Israeli Soldiers (Please recite Psalms 25, 26, 46, 83, 142.)
Yehoshua ben Aliza Esther
Menachem ben Aliza Esther
Gavriel Efraim ben Chanah Yafah
Nesanel Akiva ben Chanah Yafah
Yonasan Ezra ben Chanah Yafah
Chaim Aba Menachem ben Naomi Baila
Daniel Moshe ben Devorah
Gavriel Yehudah ben Yaakov
Shmuel ben Aharon
Moshe ben Shoshanah Esther
Yehoshua ben Tzvi
Dvir Moshe ben Dinah
Oriel ben Dinah
Moshe Eliyahu ben Dinah Yehudis
Yosef ben Shlomis
Yosef ben Sarit
Yosef Daniel ben Anat
Yosef Chaim ben Hadas
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.
