5. The times of bringing wood for the altar by priests and people were nine. On the first of Nisan,(343) the children of Arach, son of Judah, brought it. On the twentieth of Tammuz,(344) the children of David, the son of Judah, brought it. On the fifth of Ab,(345) the children of Parhush, the son of Judah, brought it. On the seventh, the children of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, brought it. On the tenth, the children of Sinah, the son of Benjamin, brought it. On the fifteenth, the children of Zathva, the son of Judah, brought it, and with them the priests and Levites and all who were ignorant of their tribe. And the children of Gonebi Eli(346) and the children of Kozhi Kezihoth. On the twentieth, the children of Pachath Moab, the son of Judah, brought it. On the twentieth of Elul,(347) the children of Adin, the son of Judah, brought it. On the first of Tebeth, the children of Parush returned the second time. On the first of Tebeth,(348) there was no meeting of the Delegates, as there was on it “The Praise,” and the additional offering at the following prayer, and the offering of the wood.
6. Five things happened to our fathers on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and five on the ninth of Ab. On the seventeenth of Tammuz the stone tables were broken, and the daily offering ceased, and the city was broken up, and Apostemus(349) burnt the law, and he set up an image in the Temple. On the ninth of Ab it was proclaimed to our fathers, that they should not enter the land, and the House was ruined for the first and second time, and Bither was taken, and the city was ploughed up. On entering Ab we must diminish joy.
7. The week in which the ninth of Ab comes, men are not allowed to clip their hair, or wash their clothes; but on Thursday they are allowed, for honor to the Sabbath. On the eve of the ninth of Ab one must not eat from two dishes, must not eat flesh, and must not drink wine. Rabban Simon, the son of Gamaliel, said, “one must change the style of living.” R. Judah “enjoined to turn over the beds,” but the Sages did not approve him.
8. Said Rabban Simon, the son of Gamaliel, “there were no holidays in Israel like the fifteenth of Ab, or like the day of atonement. Because in them the daughters of Jerusalem promenaded in white garments borrowed, that no one might be ashamed of her poverty. All these garments must be baptized. And the daughters of Jerusalem promenaded and danced in the vineyards. And what did they say? ‘Look here, young man, and see whom you choose; look not for beauty, look for family;’ ‘Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised;’ and it is said, ‘Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates,’(350) and also it is said, ‘Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.’(351) The day of his espousals, this is the gift of the Law; and in the day of the gladness of his heart, this is the building of the Sanctuary, and may it be speedily built in our days. Amen.”