The prayers on Tisha BeAv differ from those of the rest of the year, both in the morning service and the afternoon service. The changes are reflected in the structure of the prayer as well as with regard to wearing a tallit or tefillin.

Ashkenazim have the custom of praying the morning service without wearing a tallit or tefillin. Among the Sephardim, some wear a tallit and tefillin at home, read the Shema, and then remove them and go to the synagogue. Others wear the tallit and tefillin in the synagogue, as on every morning. For those who follow this custom, the order of the morning service will differ from that of other communities, as detailed below.

On Tisha BeAv morning, some have the custom of reciting Pesukei DeZimra (the series of psalms between the blessings of Barukh She’amar and Yishtabah) silently.

Some recite the song of Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1–43) instead of the Song at the Sea (Exodus 15:1–18); others recite it after the morning prayer service.

Further reading: Ha’azinu can be found in A Concise Guide to the Torah, p. 508.

At the end of the Amida prayer, the Torah reading is from Deuteronomy (4:25–40). This passage relates that if the children of Israel sin, they will be exiled from their land, but when they repent, they will be redeemed and return to Israel. Afterward, a haftara is read from the book of Jeremiah (8:13–9:23), which also deals with the sins of the Israelites and the ensuing destruction and exile. The Ashkenazic custom is to read the verses of the haftara in the melancholy tune of the book of Lamentations.

At this stage, the congregation recites kinnot that deal with the destruction of the Temple and the other troubles that have plagued our people over the years. Paying attention to the meaning and tone of the poetic words will increase one’s identification with the theme of Tisha BeAv. It is proper to draw out the recitation of kinnot until midday.

At the end of the kinnot, the congregation recites Ashrei (Psalms 145) and the Uva LeTzion passage, followed by Aleinu. According to the Ashkenazic custom, the morning prayer service ends here, and the recitation of the Song of the Day and the description of the daily incense offering are postposed until later, when they are said at the beginning of the afternoon service. Sephardim complete the prayer service as usual. For those Sephardim who wear tefillin for the entire morning service, they finish the whole morning prayer in its usual order, including Aleinu, and then remove the tefillin. Only then do they proceed to recite kinnot and the other additions of mourning.

After the prayer service, some have the custom to go to a cemetery. There are several reasons for this custom: The dead also share in the sorrow of the living; the dead can help us by beseeching God for the complete redemption; it shows that in our present state we are comparable to the dead.

Those who follow the customs of the Arizal do not go to the cemetery on Tisha BeAv.

After midday, the intensity of mourning of Tisha BeAv diminishes, and several leniencies come into effect: It is permitted to sit on a proper chair, at the normal height, and one may start preparing and cooking the meal for the end of the fast. Some even have the custom to clean the house in order to express their anticipation and preparation for the coming of the messiah.

The common practice is that tallit and tefillin are worn at the afternoon prayer service. Those who already prayed in the morning while wearing tallit and tefillin do not wear them again for the afternoon service.

Before the afternoon service, some Ashkenazim complete those portions of prayer that they had omitted in the morning, namely, the Song of the Day and the description of the incense offering.

After Ashrei, the Torah is removed from the ark and the passages generally read on a fast day are read aloud (Exodus 32:11–14; 34:1–10). These passages deal with Moses’ request of God to have mercy on the children of Israel and to forgive them after the sin of the Golden Calf. Furthermore, the reading includes the list of God’s Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which are mentioned as a plea to God to be merciful toward us. The Torah reading is followed by the haftara generally read on fast days (Isaiah 45:6–56:8), which also deals with abandoning sin and returning to God.

Further reading: For more on Moses’ prayers for atonement on behalf of the children of Israel, see A Concise Guide to the Torah, p. 219; A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 123.

In the Amida prayer, the Nahem paragraph, beseeching God to have mercy and rebuild Jerusalem, is added in the regular blessing about rebuilding Jerusalem, and the paragraph of Aneinu (“Answer us, God, answer us, on the day of our fast”) is inserted into the blessing of acceptance of prayer (Shome’a Tefilla). As with the morning prayer, the prayer leader inserts the prayer Aneinu in the Amida after the seventh blessing. In Israel, it is customary for the priests to bless the congregation with the priestly benediction (Numbers 6:24–26) if the prayer is taking place close to the end of the day.

The fast ends upon the emergence of the stars; the precise time is publicized in synagogue calendars.

Since the Temple was set on fire at the end of the ninth of Av and continued to burn throughout the next day, the tenth of Av, the mourning customs observed from Rosh Hodesh Av are still observed until midday of the day following Tisha BeAv. Among other things, one may not have a haircut, recite the Sheheheyanu blessing over a new garment or a new fruit, eat meat or drink wine, nor listen to music during that morning.