A few halachot (laws) regarding Tisha B'Av. Tisha B'Av is a very, very serious day. One of the most famous questions a person would ask, or one of the questions that comes in, is, “Rabbi, what are we supposed to do on Tisha B'Av? It’s boring. It’s boring.” First of all, I want to tell you that the halacha (Jewish law) is very clear in the Sefarim HaKedoshim (holy books). You definitely are not allowed to watch movies on Tisha B'Av. Tisha B'Av is not a movies day. It’s not national Netflix day, chas v'shalom (God forbid).
Tisha B'Av is a day when a person is actually supposed not to space out, not to be mesi'ach da'at, which means not to forget why you’re fasting. We are fasting to remember the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple). A person shouldn’t think this is like an extra-credit type of halacha. It’s a chumra, it’s a stringency. It’s halacha l'ma'aseh (practical Jewish law). One is not allowed to watch a movie on Tisha B'Av. Holocaust movies—or, let’s say, right now, October 7th movies—Holocaust books, or books that came out right now on October 7th; anything that relates to the destruction, unfortunately, unfortunately, unfortunately, of the Jewish people, especially the Holocaust, or learning about the first Beit HaMikdash, the second Beit HaMikdash, anything that relates more to tza'ar (sufferings), that makes you sad and reminds you of what’s going on with the Jewish people in galut and exile—all those books, and all those documentaries, you’re allowed to watch.
But definitely the best thing to do is to learn about what happened in the times of the Beit HaMikdash. What happened in the times of the Temple? The Rambam writes very clearly in Hilchot Ta'aniyot, based on the Gemara in Ta'anit, why we fast: the reason we don’t eat and drink is that when one eats and drinks, they have more of a ga'ava, more comfort with themselves; they have an ego, so they forget about the Torah, they forget about the Torah, they forget about Hashem, and they don’t even think about repenting. It’s harder to repent when your stomach is full, when you’re distracted with food and drink. So therefore, we fast. When we fast, we take away the food, we take away the drink, so the Yetzer Hara, the laziness, the evil inclination of laziness, melts. It becomes smaller, and then a person awakens themselves to repent and do teshuvah (repent). When one doesn’t eat, and when one doesn’t drink, they can’t focus on sin. They can’t focus. They can’t focus on desires. So therefore, what do they focus on? Getting close to Hashem, repenting from the sins, doing teshuvah, getting close to Hashem. That is the point of fasting: to awaken the person to do teshuvah.
So what should a person do on Tisha B'Av? A person should do teshuvah, should repent. How do you do that? By sitting on the floor, not by watching movies, chas v'shalom, getting distracted, not by reading newspapers. The halacha is that one cannot go on walks on Tisha B'Av. Don’t take a walk in the park; don’t go to the mall. A person is not allowed to do any of these things. I’m going to read to you very clearly from the Shulchan Aruch. What’s the goal of Tisha B'Av? To remind ourselves: Why was the Beit HaMikdash destroyed? Why is it that we’re not in Eretz Yisrael with Melech HaMashiach (King Messiah) and with the Beit HaMikdash? Why is it that we’re still in exile? All the sufferings of the world, all the tza'ar in the world, have a Shoresh: what it boils down to is one common denominator. And that is the fact that we’re in exile. The fact that we’re not in Eretz Yisrael with the Shechina (Divine Presence), with the Beit HaMikdash, is the cause of all problems. The cause of all tza'ar is the fact that we don’t have the Beit HaMikdash.
After what we went through on October 7th as a Jewish people, this Tisha B'Av should be easier, unfortunately, but it should be easier to wake up—and I’m talking to myself—to do teshuvah and get close to Hashem. And take this Tisha B'Av very seriously: repent, and try to understand, how do we get ourselves out of the mess that we’re in as a Jewish people? We’re in a mess. We’re in exile. We’re in galut. People are not religious. What do we do? How do we become better people? How do we bring Mashiach (Messiah)? Jews are dying. Jewish blood is not cheap. What do we do about it? October 7th was horrible. What are we doing about it? Am I growing? Am I changing? Am I making a difference in the world? Am I becoming more righteous? So, if you sit down on Tisha B'Av and get distracted with news, newspapers, movies, or walks—all these things—then you miss the boat. The point of Tisha B'Av is to repent and actually look deep inside your heart. What can I do to make the world a better place and bring Mashiach closer? That is the point of fasting. I want to read to you from the Shulchan Aruch. And again, Shulchan Aruch was a Sefer written for halacha for everyone.