THE TWENTY-TWO DAYS
Thus is it written in our Holy Talmud (Tractate Ta'anith):
"Five calamaties befell our forefathers on the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and five on Tish'ah be Ab (the Ninth of Ab).
On the Seventeenth of Tammuz the Tablets of Stone were broken (by Moshe Rabbenu), the daily-offering ceased (in the Temple), the walls of the City (of Jerusalem) were breached, Apostomos burned the Torah Scroll and placed an idol in the Hekhal (Sanctuary). Some say it was actually Apostomos, while another opinion is that it was Menashe.
On Tish'ah be Ab it was decreed upon our forefathers that they should not enter the Land of Israel (because of the sin of the Ten Spies), the First Temple was destroyed, so too the Second, Bittair was seized and the City of Jerusalem ploughed up."
These twenty-two days from the Seventeenth of Tammuz to Tish'ah be Ab are thus, among the saddest in our calendar and the Halakhoth (laws) and the Minhaghim (customs) that we have adopted, reflect this.
Click Here for more of the Laws and Customs of Tish'ah BeAb and The Twenty Two Days, including links to recordings of Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe reciting the "Al Naharoth Babel and speaking about the laws and customs of the 9th of Ab.
(Taken from the writings of Hakham Ya'aqob Menashe.)