Tisha B’Av — the ninth day of the month of Av — is a major day of mourning in Judaism, as we remember the destruction in Jerusalem of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. and the Second Temple in 70 C.E. This holiday is a challenging one. We can get lost easily in the sorrow of these memories and fail to see the mental health benefits that lie beneath the poems and practices that have been established to commemorate this admittedly depressing day.
