Abudarham, Fasts, Tishah B'Av/אבודרהם·תעניות·תשעה באב

1The night of the Ninth of Av, they remove their shoes like mourners and go to the synagogue. They do not kindle more than one lamp to recite Lamentations by its light. And when one arrives at "Fallen is the crown of our heads!"1 it is extinguished. And pray the evening servie like on any other days, and say "Answer us"2 And the prayer leader says the complete qaddish and after that recites Lamentations and says qinot, and after that "and to Zion comes" and all the qedusha d-sidra. But one does not say "and as for Me, this is My covenant with them"3, as it would seem to be renewing the covenant on the qinot, and since it is written within, "it will not depart from your mouth," and on the Ninth of Av it is forbidden to read Torah, since it is written, "the precepts of the LORD are upright, rejoicing the heart"4. And so too in a house of mourning it is customary not to say it, since there too the mourner is forbidden from reading Torah. And say the qaddish d-hu 'atid l-ḥadta5 and return home. And one does not greet another except as mourners and the rebuked. And the reason for not lighting lights in the synagogue is as is said in Eikha Rabbati6, that the Holy Blessed One said to the ministering angels at the time of the destruction of the Temple, "What is a king of flesh and blood supposed to do when he is mourning?" They said to him, "He extinguishes the phanases." He said to them, "So too I will do such," as it is said, "Sun and moon are dimmed."7. And the meaning of phanases8 is vessels that carry lamps, that the wind not extinguish them, also called lanterns. And thus the targum of "With lights honor the LORD"9 as "with phanases."

2And if it fell on Saturday night, one does not say "And may it be pleasant." And some of the gaonim wrote that when one does not say "And may it be pleasant" one also does not say the qedusha d-sidra. And Rav Tsemaḥ1 wrote that one does not say "And may it be pleasant" but does say "and to Zion comes" and the entirety of the qedusha d-sidra other than "and as for Me, this is My covenant." And one does not do havdala on a cup until after the Ninth of Av, and one does not smell fragrant plants, since on the night of the Ninth of Av one does not act for peace of mind, but one does bless on the light before reading Lamentations And thus is written in the Halakhot Gedolot2.

3For the morning-service, enter the synagogue and arrange the blessings and say zemirot as on every day. And the Ramban wrote1 that some of the people customarily did not recite the portions of the sacrifices and the fifth chapter of Mishnah Zevachim and the midrash of R. Yishmael in the synagogue, since it is forbidden to read Torah. But this seems incorrect to me, for we have no prohibition on the daily order, for indeed we read the Recitation of the Shema' and bless before and after it, and we read in the Torah and recite a prophetic haftara, and the portions of the sacrifices and M. Zevachim 5 are established permanently, and say them in their way without hesitation.

4And the prayer-leader repeats the standing-prayer but instead of saying "We will sanctify You and praise You" he says "Let us sanctify Your great name as they sanctify it in the highest heavens, and thus it is written by Your prophet's hand, 'and one called to' etc."1 and say qinot within the prayer.2 And do not say the priestly blessing, but when you arrive at "to you it is good to thank"3 say "Maker of peace, bless Your people Israel with great strength and peace. Blessed are You, LORD, maker of peace."4

5And do not say petitionary prayers, nor supplication. And say qinot sitting down, and conclude with "How long will there be weeping in Zion and mourning in Jerusalem? Rise, have compassion on Zion, build the walls of Jerusalem!" 1 and say the qaddish d-hu 'atid l-ḥadta2.

6And the prayer-leader goes to bring out the Torah scroll, without saying "Deity long-suffering!," and brings out the scroll and rests it on a small tower near the ark, and does not say "All sanctify" but starts with "Revealed and shown be His sovereignty" etc. And the reason for changing the location of the Torah scroll is as we said for public fast days: "And they put burnt ashes upon the ark"1, as it is written "I will be with them in stress"2. And the priest, levite, and concluder recite from Parashat Vaetḥanan, Deuteronomy 4:25–40. And say the half-qaddish, and conclude with Jeremiah 8:13-9:23, And bless the concluding blessings up until "shield of David" — in the afternoon as well. And it says in Tractate Soferim that some place the case of the scroll on the ground and say "Fallen is the crown of our heads!"3 and recite eulogies like one whose dead are before him, and some change their place, and some descend down from their benches, and everyone wallows in ashes, and none greets another all night and all day until the people have finished their qinot.4

7And say Ashrei but skip Psalm 20. And so too in a house of mourning one does not say it, because those in judgement do not sing songs. And say the qedusha d-sidra but not "and as for Me, this is My covenant with them." And return the Torah scroll to its place, and say "May they praise the name of the LORD"1 etc, and say the complete qaddish and read Lamentations, and after that read Psalm 137 and say qaddish yehei shlama raba2, and after that read the book of Job, and say Psalm 79, and say qaddish yehei shlama raba.

8And regarding the laying of tefillin on the Ninth of Av, Mar Rav Sheshna1 wrote that it is permitted to lay tefillin, as it is already said that a mourner is permitted to lay tefillin. But the Raavad wrote that nobody ever lay them on the ninth of Av, and said it is better to set burnt ash on one's head. And the Rosh wrote:2 on the contrary, one is required with tefillin when personally mourning on all days but the first, and the Ninth of Av is not more stringent than the six days of personal mourning. And the baraita that all commandments practiced by a mourner are practiced on the Ninth of Av3 is interpreted as referring to those that apply for all seven days — washing and anointing and putting on shoes and sexual intercourse and reading Torah. And the R. Meir4 wrote that it seems that on the Ninth of Av one does not lay tefillin, like on the first day of mourning, for there is no day more bitter than it, the day appointed for generational weeping. And — the Rosh wrote — he enabled it as he was pressed to find support for the Ashkenazi custom5, but what I wrote seems right to me. And the R. Meir of Rothenburg also wrote that our ancestors in all of Ashkenaz were accustomed not to wrap tsitsit on the ninth of Av, and supported this from a verse, as written, "He implemented his statement"6 and in Midrash Eicha Rabbati it says "He tore His raiment"6. And soe do not wish to change the custom. And so too they do not wish to go without tsitsit, and wrap themselves in a small tallit under their clothes.7

9When it says in the qinot "the blood of the prophet Zechariah"1 it is not Zechariah son of Iddo, who prophesied in the time of Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi. Rather, it is Zechariah son of Jehoiada, who you can find in Chronicles was killed by King Joash.2

10It was taught in Pesachim1, a place where they are accustomed to doing work on the Ninth of Av they do so, and a place where they are accustomed not to do so they do not do so, but everywhere students of the sages are idle. And we said in the final chapter of Taaniyot, all who do work on the Ninth of Av will never see any sign of blessing.