Tisha b-Av

“Tisha b-Av”
The following blessing is said in place of the regular “Dwell within” blessing:
“Have mercy O MAR’ YAH our ALLAHA, upon us and upon Israel Your people, and on Jerusalem Your city, the city of mourning and desolate destruction, which is given over to the hand of foreigners, sitting with her head veiled like a barren women who never gave birth. Legions have swallowed her up; idolaters inherited her. You have given the corpses of Your servants as food for the fowl of the sky and the beasts of the earth. Therefore, Zion weeps bitterly and Jerusalem gives forth her voice: ‘My heart! My heart – [it anguishes] for the slain! My bowels, my bowels – for the killed. See, O MAR’ YAH and look down! Have compassion for her desolation. Comfort her, for You O MAR’ YAH established her with fire, and in the future with fire You shall rebuilt her, as it is written: ‘And I, says the MAR’ YAH, shall be a towering wall of fire all around; and I shall be glorious within her. Worshipful are You O MAR’ YAH, Builder of Jerusalem.


Gate of Truth Fire of the Word
Sha’ar Emet Aish d’Miltha Introductory Note: Igeret Yoseph is a short Epistle within the Sefer Avkadmonim composed by Mar Yoseph, a Bishop of the Assembly of Jerusalem in Persia, around 100 CE in an Aramaic dialect unique to the Assembly. The Igeret (Epistle) begins with the phrase “Sha’ar Emet Aish d’Miltha”, which means “Gate of Truth Fire of the Word”, and is followed with a single verse from the Sh’ma. The Igeret is oftentimes referred to as the “Sha’ar Emet”.