Tisha B'Av is the day on the Jewish Calendar - when major disasters struck

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http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayd.htm

Five misfortunes befell our fathers ... on the ninth of Av. ...On the ninth of Av it was decreed that our fathers should not enter the [Promised] Land, the Temple was destroyed the first and second time, Bethar was captured and the city [Jerusalem] was ploughed up. -Mishnah Ta'anit 4:6
...Should I weep in the fifth month [Av], separating myself, as I have done these so many years? -Zechariah 7:3
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month ...came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... -II Kings 25:8-9
In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month... came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... - Jeremiah 52:12-13

How then are these dates to be reconciled? On the seventh the heathens entered the Temple and ate therein and desecrated it throughout the seventh and eighth and towards dusk of the ninth they set fire to it and it continued to burn the whole of that day. ... How will the Rabbis then [explain the choice of the 9th as the date]? The beginning of any misfortune [when the fire was set] is of greater moment. -Talmud Ta'anit 29a

Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which have occurred on the ninth of Av.

Tisha B'Av means "the ninth (day) of Av." It occurs in July or August.

Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).

Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider on this day the many other tragedies of the Jewish people, many of which occurred on this day, most notably the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and from England in 1290.1

1 The Alhambra Decree, issued March 31, 1492, ordered all Jews to leave Spain by the end of July 1492. July 31, 1492 was Tisha B'Av. The Edict of Expulsion from England was issued on July 18, 1290. Note that if you use a Jewish calendar converter to check this, it will probably show these dates as a few days before the 9th of Av. These expulsions occurred before the Gregorian calendar reform, which altered the way the secular calendar works, and converters don't take this into account, which causes the discrepancy.

There are aspects of mourning that we observe over the destruction of the first and second Temples on Tisha B'Av.
See the Web page which I linked to above for more details.

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http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-world-war-erupts-in-europe
1914
First World War erupts in Europe

On August 1, 1914, four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, two more great European powers—Russia and Germany—declare war on each other; the same day, France orders a general mobilization. The so-called “Great War” that ensued would be one of unprecedented destruction and loss of life, resulting in the deaths of some 20 million soldiers and civilians and the physical devastation of much of the European continent.
If you convert Aug. 1 1914 to the Hebrew date you arrive at Tisha B'Av (Tisha in Hebrew should be translated as Ninth and B'Av means in the month of Av)
This site does Calendar conversions and this is the result
http://www.hebcal.com/converter/?gd=1&gm=8&gy=1914&g2h=1
Sat, 1 August 1914 = 9th of Av, 5674

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It says in Tehillim/Psalms chapter 106
http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16327#showrashi=true

They rejected the desirable land; they did not believe His word.They complained in their tents; they did not hearken to the voice of the Lord.He raised His hand to them to cast them down in the desert,And to cast their seed among the nations and to scatter them in the lands.   

Rashi comments on the last verse I quoted

And to cast their seed among the nations: From that time, the destruction of the Temple was decreed upon them, for on the night of the ninth of Ab{Av} they went, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “They wept for nothing, and I shall establish for them weeping for generations.”

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Some Midrashim don't make any strong connection between the sin of the spies, where the people cried for no justifiable reason about Eretz Yisrael and the destruction of the Temple.
It is possible that some Midrashim just view Tisha B'Av as the day G-d chose to give the Jewish people a real reason to cry in the future and make no more further connection.
Midrash Bamidbar Rabba however, makes a deeper connection.
It views the Temple as a merit, shielding us from the exile. So that if G-d does want to send us into exile, he first has to remove this shield, namely the Temple and then he can send us to exile.
Here's the original Hebrew for those who have the ability to understand it.

במדבר רבה (וילנא) פרשת שלח פרשה טז

כ [יד, א] ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם זש"ה (משלי יח) דברי נרגן כמתלהמים והם ירדו חדרי בטן דברים שרגנו אחר הקדוש ברוך הוא גרמו להם צרה גדולה שאלו לא נשתוו למרגלים לא היו לוקין עמהם אלא השלימו אחריהם שנא' (דברים א) ותרגנו באהליכם ותאמרו מהו ותרגנו תרתם גנות א"י שקראה הקדוש ברוך הוא ארץ טובה, ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם זש"ה (ירמיה יב) נתנה עלי בקולה על כן שנאתיה אותו קול שבכיתם גרם לכם להיות שנואין ועל אותו הדור אמר ישעיה (ישעיה יז) ביום נטעך תשגשגי ובבוקר זרעך תפריחי ביום שאמר ליטע אתכם בארץ נעשיתם סיגים ובבוקר זרעך תפריחי עד שלא בא השרב פרחתם נד קציר ביום נחלה ביום שעברתי ליתן לכם נחלת אביכם נעשיתם קלון בעולם וכאב אנוש זה הפורענות ששלחתה ירושה לדורות שבכו בליל ט' באב ואמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא אתם בכיתם בכיה של חנם לפני אני אקבע לכם בכיה לדורות ומן אותה שעה נגזרה על ביהמ"ק =בית המקדש= שתתחרב כדי שיגלו ישראל לבין האומות שכה"א (תהלים קו) וישא ידו להם להפיל אותם במדבר ולהפיל זרעם בגוים ולזרותם בארצות נשיאות יד כנגד נשיאות קול.

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 Midrash Yalkut Shimoni connects their crying on the 9th of Tisha B'Av (after hearing from the spies) to the following verse in Yishayahu/Isaiah 17:11
as translated by http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15948#showrashi=true

On the day of your planting you mingled, and in the morning you cause your seed to blossom; a heap of harvest on a day of sickness and mortal pain.

Rashi on that verse explains the following:

On the day of your planting you mingled: Heb. תְּשַׂגְשֵׂנִי, an expression of mingling. Your branches became mingled with sorts of grasses and mixtures that spoil the branches of the vine. That is to say that in the place where I planted you for Me as a vineyard, there you corrupted your deeds. That is what Ezekiel said to them (20:5): “On the day I chose Israel, and I lifted My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and I became known to them in the land of Egypt.” And it says further (verse 8 ): “And they rebelled against Me and they refused to obey…” Here, too, תְּשַׂגְשֵׂנִי, you became mingled with the abominations of Egypt.
    
and in the morning you cause your seed to blossom: And on the morrow, when I took you out of there, and I brought you into the land, there, too, your evil seed you caused to blossom.
    
a heap of harvest on a day of sickness: a heap of bad harvest that lies by day and by night, that harvest is stricken ill, it has reached a day of distress. [Rashi in printed editions.] [Since it is difficult to make sense of this comment of Rashi, Parshandatha prefers the reading of most mss.:]
    
a heap of harvest on a day of sickness: a heap of bad harvest, as “on a day of sickness” proves, that harvest reached a day of distress.
    
a heap: Heb. נֵד. This is an expression of a tall heap. Comp. (Exodus 15: 8 ) “Running water stood erect like a heap (נֵד).” Also (Ps. 33:3), “He gathers like a heap (כַּנֵּד).” [The words:] נֵד and נוֹד are not the same [i.e., נֵד is a heap or a stack, and נוֹד is a flask.]
    
and mortal pain: that you were paid your reward.
    
mortal: Heb. אָנוּשׁ, distressed by severe illness. Comp. (II Sam. 12: 15) “And he became mortally ill (וַיֵּאָנַשׁ) ,” also (Micah 1:9), “For her wounds are mortal (אֲנוּשָׁה).” Alternatively
    
and in the morning you cause your seed to blossom: Before the heat comes, you have blossomed, and it is customary for the vineyard to blossom when the heat comes, and the one that blossoms in the morning does not thrive. This is in the Midrash of Rabbi Tanhuma (Sh’lach 12).

By combining what Rashi said with the midrash I understand that Yalkut Shimoni holds that the influences of foreign culture on the Jewish people, surfaced at the time of sin of the spies and these bad influences like certain grasses that are harmful to the crop, came to the surface both at the time of the sin of the spies and also later on in Jewish history and they spoiled to some degree the good in the Jewish people and led to destruction.

The disciple of the Vilna Gaon in Kol Hator provides some remedies for the original sin of the nation on Tisha B'Av. Bli Neder, I later will try to present his remedies.

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excerpt from http://www.vilnagaon.org/book/wtc2.htm

And now here is a quote from the Vilna Gaon's disciple in Kol Hator, which both explains the connection between the building of the Temple with the sin of the spies and which concludes with the revelation that the Koresh prophecy applies to the future:

The sin of the spies in the desert in the days of Moshe(Moses) is one of the major general sins that rests upon the nation of Israel for all generations until this day. According to the midrash of our sages the cry for generations was decreed because of the sin of the spies. A cry over the destruction of the Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the desolation of the land. In great measure Israel suffered and suffers in all generations, sufferings and travails of the bitter exile because of the sin of the spies. A major portion of this punishment for the sin was cast in the midst of the days of the act of the sin, namely in the generation of the desert, as explained in the Torah. However, the remainder of the punishment was divided into parts and cast upon all the generations, may the Merciful One protect us.

A great rectification for the sin of the spies can come by the redemption of Jerusalem and its building and by the activities for the ingathering of the exiles. In accordance with the well known principle, of "this in contrast to this did the L-rd make".
Now measure for measure is applicable both for liabilities and merits. Fix what you damaged; namely, fix every thing in accordance to its place, its time and according to the activity and the publicity of that activity. Now behold, the sin of the spies that brought the cry for generations in accordance to what our sages expounded on the verse "And they cried on that night" took place on the night of the ninth of (the Hebrew month) Av, the same date (years later) on which the Temple was destroyed.

It turns out that the rectification of the sin of the spies has to be by means of building the Temple and before the building of the Temple, there has to be the building of Jerusalem as explained by our Rabbi in accordance with the verse "Jerusalem shall be built and the Temple Sanctuary shall be founded", (Yishayahu/Isaiah 44:28) which was said concerning the beginning of the final redemption, similar to the days of Koresh.

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Aish Hatorah movie on connection between the original Tisha B'Av sin and future tragedies

[Yerusha]

Edward I's act to expel the Jews from England was made on 18 July 1290 - a Tisha b'Av.



Comet Shoemaker Levi hit Jupiter on Tisha b'Av 1994.

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Before quoting the following article, I would like to state that it is problematical to try to decide history based on Gematria alone. It is best used as a backup to a more solid analysis of History based on classical Jewish sources.
In any case I find the following Dvar Torah by Rabbi Brody interesting even if I would not back it completely.
http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2015/06/the-imminent-geula-mister-v-before-and-after.html

In case you've forgotten, "Mister V" was our code name for then-presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama, who became the 44th President of the USA. In July of 2008, three months before the election, we predicted that he would be elected and why. Looking at events through lenses of emuna, we also predicted that he would get close to Iran, which became true as well.

How did we know? Very simple. As we wrote in the original article from seven years ago:

On July 27th, 2004 Senate candidate Barack Obama spoke to delegates during the Democratic National Convention in Boston.  Some call it "The Speech", a 17 minute star-making turn.  Obama walked on stage an unknown, and walked off as a star. Four months after the convention, Obama won the U.S. Senate seat in a landslide. Hashem aroused my curiosity; I looked at a 120-year Hebrew-English calendar and discovered that July 27th, 2004 was the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, "Tisha B'Av." This is a perpetual day of calamity for the Jewish people when among other disasters, both Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed. So if this was the day that Obama's star took a rise, then it surely wasn't good for the People of Israel...

Why is Obama so dangerous to the Jewish People? As an American who grew up with a Muslim education and orientation and who still holds the strongest affinity for Islam, he combines the power of Edom and Ishmael, who come together at the end of days in attempt to destroy Israel. This too is indicated in his name, for the gematria (numerical value) of writing Barack Hussein Obama in Hebrew, like this - בראק חוסיין אובאמה - is 502. The gematria of "Edom Ishmael", like this - אדום ישמעאל - is also 502. In Hashem's world, there's no such thing as coincidence.

Hashem is talking to us loud and clear. This year, the 239th USA Day of Independence falls on Shabbat, the 17th of Tammuz, also a perpetual day of calamity that marks the start of the historical "Three Weeks" of tragedies between then and Tisha B'Av, when the Jewish People curtail joyous activities such as playing music and holding weddings. This is the beginning of the USA's 240th year. On this very day, we will be reading the Torah's prophecy in Parshat Balak, how Amalek, Israel's arch-enemy, will become the leader of the nations. The Hebrew numerical equivalent of Amalek - עמלק - is exactly 240.

The days of hedging - straddling both sides of the fence - are over. The Jewish People, both in Israel and America, are faced with a clear choice: do you want your fake 4th of July celebrations and giving your continued homage to America, or do you yearn for Hashem's kingdom on earth and the rebuilding of His holy temple? If the Jews were punished for participating in Achashverush's celebration of his monarchy, then you certainly want to steer clear of the Amalekite celebration this Shabbat. And by the way, if you're not yet convinced what we're talking about, ארור המן, or "cursed Haman" is also gematria 502. What's the connection?

Mr. Obama came to power because Hashem put him in power. Like Haman of old, he too has and will continue to betray Israel and the non-assimilated Jewish People, but he's only a stick in Hashem's hands to prod us to teshuva - fast. Only a Haman-Amalek president would make an official celebration of legislation that tramples G-d's will.

As I wrote 3 months ago, Mister V is now fully exposed. Those Jews who have made the mistake of supporting him should sever themselves fast. As you can see in the above juxtaposed images, the veneer has completely warn off.