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As a thoroughly secular person and a staunch supporter of freedom of religion, I just can’t understand why the Temple Mount is the only place in the world where Jews who wish to do so are forbidden to pray (alongside Mecca, where Muslims completely ban all “infidels” from…

— תמיר מורג Tamir Morag (@Tamir114) August 3, 2025

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Last night, the night of Tisha B'Av, at the Kotel Hamaaravi (The Western Wall), we met the fox of the famous midrash of Rabbi Akiva that was seen walking among the ruins of Jerusalem and it is perhaps trying to pass along a message to us. History is the only science that can perhaps prophesize the future. Dont make the same mistakes that were made in the generation of the destruction of the Second Temple. Don't be so right, be brothers.

Barak Blumenthal captured the moment

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Thousands of people went up to Har Habayit yesterday on Tisha B'Av. People waited for hours until it would be their turn to go up. This shot is a small slice of that.

I did not pick a picture of the multitudes on Har Habayit. I did not pick one of the pictures of Ben Shapiro and Gabriel Groisman (Mayor of Bel Harbor) on Har Habayit or waiting to go to Har Habayit yesterday. Just a picture of the hamon am, amcha, the people of Israel, with their desire to go up to the place of the mikdash, willing to wait hours in the heat, crowded among other hot sweaty people, the desire for the return of a mikdash. 

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The first is that PM Yair Lapid is going to be taking a vacation up north this weekend.

The second is that MK Benjamin Netanyahu got a haircut.

Neither sounds all that interesting or titillating, does it?

Well, let's look one by one.

The Likud and then the Haredi media made a big deal about Lapid going on vacation from Thursday to Sunday, including Tisha B'Av. They said his is "post-Jewish", it is a chutzpa to go on vacation on Tisha B'Av, disconnected form the people, disconnected from Judaism, etc.

Lapid responded by saying he will cut his vacation short. I guess it is ok to vacation and drive home on Shabbos, but not ok to sit in a tzimmer on Tisha B'Av.

Some Haredi reporters and others on Twitter responded ot the Haredi media attacks pointing out that many rabbonim and Admorim are vacationing in European resort towns and will be there on Tisha B'Av as well. Surely they will be mourning the destruction of the mikdash in their vacation suites, but it does nto change the fact that they are on vacation. One even said he hopes Lapid doesnt retaliate by sending the Mossad around the EUropean resort towns to collect pictures of the Admorim vacationing abroad on Tisha B'Av.

What's the difference if Lapid doesn't commemorate Tisha B'av and the destruction of the mikdash from his home in Tel Aviv or from his home in Jerusalem or from a tzimmer up north?

The second item is more titillating, in my opinion, because it is staged.

Bibi's haircut.

Yinon Magal posted a picture online, which he later deleted once Bibi started to get attacked but you can't really delete things from the Internet, of Bibi getting a haircut today while working in his office.

The picture raised a ruckus, by the people rather than the media. It is the "Nine Days" leading up to Tisha B'Av and haircuts are forbidden, at least for Ashkenazim which Netanyahu is. Magal deleted the post and picture, but what's done is done.

First, look at it. He couldnt stop working for a few minutes to get the haircut? he gets his hair cut while sitting in an office chair wearing a suit, and does not take his glasses off to get a full trim? he doesn't even move his cup of coffee or tea away from the haircutting area? Some think this is obviously staged to look busy, to look multitasking, to look important.

I am not going to look for a hetter to justify Netanyahu's haircut. There is no shortage of possibilities, but the main thing is that Netanyahu is NOT RELIGIOUS! I hope I didn't shock anyone with that statement and revelation. Netanyahu is not religious. He does not keep halacha. Netanyahu eats all forms of treif food. he doesn't keep Shabbos. He doesn't put on tefillin (he supposedly always refuses all Chabad attempts), he cheated on his first wife (supposedly), and he does not keep most of Jewish law. I do not think that getting a haircut in the Nine Days is his most serious violation that this is what we have to call him out on. He probably violates more serious halachot on a daily basis.

That being said, one joke is warranted, I think. Because Dr Avishai Ben Chaim says Netanyahu is "Second Israel", or at least its representative, so even though he is actually Ashkenazi but as part of Second Israel he can follow the minhag of Sefardim and allow himself the haircut this week as there is no "week of" Tisha B'Av.

All that being said, I do not like it when people call out our secular politicians for not keeping specific halachos. Most don't keep any at all and most of the ones that do keep some keep them very minimally.

Get this. Neither Netanyahu nor Lapid are religious. The Nine Days don't mean much to either of them. If they do anything religious it is most likely to keep their religious and Haredi political partners (or potential partners) happy and to sway some [potential] voters. There is no need to act surprised and shocked every time they do something against halacha or minhag.

Slightly different is the psak of the dual Chief Rabbis of Bnei Braq, Rabbis Shevach Rosenblatt and Chaim Yitzchak Landau.

the Chief Rabbis of Bnei BRaq published a letter with their guidance on how to act on Tisha B'Av this year.

the main points and differences from Rabbi Lau are:

Everyone should be extra cautions, wear masks, wash hands, keep distance, etc

On Tisha B'Av itself one can use alcogel on his hands as that is not washing but is disinfecting, and especially in light of the danger it is allowed. They do not say anything about washing hands with soap on Tisha B'Av - presumably they are of the opinion one should not, except perhaps in a situation of clear danger, but that is just my assumption based on its absence.

Tisha B'Av is a more stringent fast than many of the others, so, upon consultation with God Fearing doctors:

Anyone healthy and over bar/bat mitzva, even if in quarantine, must fast

Anyone who tested positive for CoronaVirus but has no symptoms at all, must fast

Anyone who has symptoms, even light symptoms, must NOT fast

Anyone fasting and over the course of the day develops symptoms, such as fever, coughing, achy muscles, loss of taste and smell, etc, must break the fast and eat (how is he going to know if he lost the sense of taste?)

Anyone who has suffered from CoronaVirus over the past two months in a serious way, such as with pneumonia or shortness of breath, should NOT fast even if right now he has no symptoms

Stay healthy and may our mourning turn to joy

Rav Lau said that anyone who has tested positive for CoronaVirus must not fast, even if he feels fine

Anyone with fever above 38C must not fast.

Anyone with symptoms of CoronaVirus such as weakness, lack of smell, coughing, etc, must not fast

Anyone n the process of recovering from CoronaVirus must not fast

Anyone who has already recovered form CoronaVirus but still feels weak must not fast

Anyone in quarantine but with symptoms, must fast. if he feels any weakness he should drink bshiurin (37ml of water every 9 minutes). If he gets weaker he should eat as regular

Everyone should be extra cautious regarding hygiene including washing hands with soap and using alcogel

Anyone who is not supposed to fast should not even start the fast and should eat regularly

Anyone instructed to eat should eat only one dish per meal, and only eat what is necessary

Even if not fasting, all other customs of mourning should be kept

This year because of the need to minimize the time spent out in public and the extreme heat expected, the saying of kinos should be kept to a minimum. Kinos can be said in private and it is not necessary to say them in shul. In public the only kinos to be said are "Shabbos Suru Mimeni", "tzion Halo Tishali", and "Eli Tzion", The rest can/should be said at home privately.

Be healthy and may our mourning turn to joy.

Q: One of the questions asked was if a person could eat while walking nit he street of he is wearing a face mask. Normally one is not supposed to eat while walking in public, as the Gemara says one who does so is compared to a dog and invalidated form serving as a witness. Perhaps with a face mask on (because of Corona) and the eating not visible to the public, it might be acceptable.

Rav Zilbershtein paskened that technically it is ok as the eating is not noticeable, but the real problem is that it is a character flaw - a prince would not want to do something that makes him the equivalent of a dog. While technically it is ok, one should not do so.

Q: If one sees his friend walking outside with no mask and he knows that there is a policeman nearby giving out tickets, is he allowed to warn his friend to put a mask on because of the nearby policeman (even possibly being a form of hashavas aveida)or should he let the friend get fined so that he (and maybe others) will learn the lesson and know to wear the mask when going outside?

Rav Zilbershtein paskened that it is a mitzva to warn him to put on the mask - there is no mitzva of dina dmalchusa dina in this case, especially when they are harassing the haredim and giving fines while only telling the secular to wear masks.

I wonder what he would say about a similar question about warning drivers about a speed trap set up by the police or about a spot that has a policeman waiting to check seatbelts and talking on the phone...

Q: Is it allowed, on Tisha B'Av, to apply alcogel and the like to one's hands, or does that fall into the prohibited category of washing hands? As well, what about washing hands with soap and water as a way to prevent catching the CoronaVirus?

Rav Zilbershtein paskened that this is not considered pleasurable washing. That would make it ok,. Someone who does enjoy it, but needs to wash, should not enjoy it.