Rabbi Yochanan said that this day [when the spies returned and delivered their derogatory report about Eretz Yisrael] was Tishah B'Av eve. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said, "You wept in vain. I will establish this date for you as a time of real weeping for all generations." (Tannis 29a)
What is Tisha B'Av?
Tishah B'Av, which literally translates to the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning, fasting, tears and lamentations, on which, many terrible events befell the Jews, including the destruction of the first and second Temples, the expulsion from Spain in 1492, and the beginning of World War One, to name a few. Why did all of these events occur on this one day? It all began in the desert, just after we left Egypt...
Hashem told us that we were to receive the land flowing with milk and honey, the Land of Israel. But we had never seen this land before - and how could we know if we can win a war against its inhabitants? The people went to Moses and asked him if they could send spies, one from each tribe, to see the land. While Hashem did not approve of this, He agreed, and instructed them to take a route that would show them the most beautiful areas.
The Torah tells us that the spies returned from the land of Israel, and ten of the twelve gave a bad report based on exaggerations and pessimism. A report that caused tears to flow for no reason at all - After all the miracles that G-d performed for them, they doubted that they would be able to conquer the land?! And so the Children of Israel cried, weeping that the land Hashem promised was no good and even if it was, we would never be able to conquer the land.
Hashem was angered by this - their tears showed their lack of faith, or emunah, in G-d. For this reason, Hashem said, "You wept in vain. I will establish this date for you as a time of real weeping for all generations." And this was the first Tishah B'Av.
Kinnos - The poetry of tears
There are various customs that we observe during the nine days that lead up to Tishah B'Av. (These nine days begin on Rosh Chodesh Av, which this year, starts Tuesday night, Aug 1st.) During these nine days we do not wear freshly laundered clothes, we do not bathe for pleasure, we do not eat meat, wine or grape juice, we do not sew, weave, and we do not celebrate in anyway.
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