Comforting us on Tisha be'Av: an application of Avot

Tisha be'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. Apart from many other tragic events, we mourn the destruction of both the First and Second Temple as well as the dreadful loss of life, livelihood, freedom and human dignity that accompanied these momentous events.

Many customs, practices and rituals are associated with this day of national mourning. One of these is the insertion of a special blessing, Nachem, into the thrice-daily template of the weekday Amidah, the main prayer in the evening, morning and afternoon services.

How many times on Tisha be'Av should we recite Nachem? Rabbi David Abudraham, who flourished in the mid-14th century, cites a dispute between two Geonim as to the answer. Rav Amram Gaon maintained that it should be inserted into all three daily prayers, while Rabbenu Sa'adya Gaon said that it was required only once, in the afternoon prayer -- the third and final prayer of the Jewish day.

What is the ground of their difference? Rabbi Chaim Friedlander (Siftei Chaim: Rinat Chaim) offers the following explanation. On the view that Nachem is a request to be comforted, it is appropriate to recite it right through this tragic date since the entire Jewish people feels the loss and needs the comfort. However, there is a mishnah in Avot (4:23, per Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar) that teaches that we should not seek to comfort a mourner when the deceased (i.e. the object of the mourner's loss) is before him. On the night of Tisha be'Av and in the following morning, it is customary to sit on the ground in mourning but, once the afternoon arrives, the period of full mourning ends and it is only then that the time for offering comfort begins. And that is the time for reciting Nachem.