Zecher Lechurban – ‘Remembrance of the destruction’ of the Temple

In this series, ‘Signs of Faith’, objects, procedures and concepts that express Jewish faith are explained and discussed.

Zecher lechurban means ‘remembrance of the destruction’ of the temple. Tisha B’Av, the 9th of the month of Av (this year it falls on July 27), is the day when the destruction of both the first and second temples is commemorated by fasting and reading the Book of Lamentations. The Romans set fire to the temple in 70 AD on the same day Nebuchadnezzar’s troops had done in 586 BC. These were the most traumatic events in Jewish history. But disasters that befell the Jews later also fell on that day, for example, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. Tisha B’Av has therefore become a symbol for all the calamities that befell the Jewish people in their history.

“Tisha B’Av, the 9th of the month of Av is the day when the destruction of both the first and second temples is commemorated by fasting and reading the Book of Lamentations”

Tisha B’Av is one day. But the destruction of the temple—and the longing for its rebuilding—is so defining of the Jewish experience that its commemoration is shaped in all sorts of moments and ways. One notable custom, for example, called zecher lechurban, is to leave a piece of wall in your house one cubit by one cubit bare, i.e. not wallpapered or painted. You see it in every Jewish house where people live according to Judaism, usually in the living room. Another custom is that when going out, a woman will never wear all her jewellery at once but will always leave at least one item at home. Another, is to leave the dining table not fully set.

For a very long time, it was also a custom not to make music except only for joyous life events like a wedding. I also read that there was a custom for a groom to put ashes on his head under the chupa instead of putting on the tefilien (prayer belts). These are all customs dating back to the time of the Talmud (roughly to the end of the 5th century). In later times, for example, the custom arose of the groom smashing a glass as zecher lechurban after the wedding ceremony.

Joy cannot be complete until Jerusalem and the Temple are rebuilt.