TISHA B’AV · 5786
It can be hard to connect to Tisha b’Av.
We’re here to help.
What to watch on Tisha b’Av
Kamtza And Bar Kamtza: What Is Baseless Hatred, Anyway?
Free PreviewKamtza And Bar Kamtza: What Is Baseless Hatred, Anyway?
Rabbi David Fohrman - 5 episodes - 38 min video
When was the last time that you hated someone for absolutely no reason? Could it be we’ve been misunderstanding the true meaning of “baseless hatred” this whole time?
Video Series
Finding Purpose in Grief: The Lesson of Rachel's Tears
Free PreviewFinding Purpose in Grief: The Lesson of Rachel's Tears
Rabbi David Fohrman - 5 episodes - 58 min video
We spend Tisha B'Av trying to be sad. But is that really all the day is about? How do we channel our grief towards a greater end? This film turns to Rachel Imeinu, her struggle with infertility, and her conflict with Leah, to discover a timeless lesson about how to mourn with purpose.
Video Series
Grappling with Loss
Free PreviewGrappling with Loss
Rabbi David Fohrman - 6 episodes - 92 min video
If God loves us, why does He let us suffer? This question may be impossible to answer, but on Tisha B’Av it’s just as impossible to ignore.
Video Series
Why Should the Beit HaMikdash's Destruction Still Matter?
Free PreviewWhy Should the Beit HaMikdash's Destruction Still Matter?
Rabbi David Fohrman - 7 episodes - 82 min video
It’s one thing to mourn the suffering of actual people. But why, and how, are we supposed to feel genuinely sad over the loss of a building?
Video Series
Tisha B'Av After October 7th
Free PreviewTisha B'Av After October 7th
Rabbi David Fohrman - 6 episodes - 219 min video
In the shadow of October 7th, Tisha B'Av can feel more real. But also more challenging. We aren't performing mourning. We're asking from the recesses of our own sorrow: Where was God when we needed Him most?
Video Series
Tisha B'Av and the... Moshiach
Free PreviewTisha B'Av and the... Moshiach
Rabbi David Fohrman - 7 episodes - 117 min video
Did you know that according to Chazal, King Hezekiah could have been the Messiah? Instead, he made one small mistake and his reign became the beginning of the end. Stand at that fork in the road and it has a lot to teach about what Tisha B'Av is - and what it might have been.
Video Series
These videos come at the day from every angle: the choices that led to it, the texts we read on it. But more than that, we hope they will help you feel the day — the grief, the regret, the anger and the doubt. As well as the hope and faith that persists.
Starting a free trial will give you unrestricted and unlimited access to all of them, all day. And two weeks to explore the entire library. Cancel before then, and you won’t be charged at all.
Megillat Eicha Study Guide
Prefer to read?
Print this guide to Megillat Eicha
After the devastation of the first Temple, Jeremiah starts his Lamentations with the cry of “Eicha” – “How?”. How was the great Jerusalem destroyed? Rabbi David Fohrman studies the text of Megillat Eicha in search of what this tragedy means to us today.
Yours with free trial
Let us introduce ourselves
Not just a library to watch — a different relationship with the text
Rabbi Fohrman
Our lead scholar
Rabbi David Fohrman is the founder and lead scholar at Aleph Beta. Over the last two decades, he’s pioneered a way of reading Biblical text that feels both rigorous and revelatory. Through Aleph Beta, he’s given expression to that, developing what is now a vast library of content, spanning all types of media: animated videos, podcasts and books. He’s also embarked on an effort to train a team of Torah scholars adept at the close-reading methodology he’s pioneered – and their work can be found at Aleph Beta, too.
Prior to his founding of Aleph Beta, Rabbi Fohrman served as a senior editor and writer for the ArtScroll Talmud Project. He also taught Biblical themes as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University, where he had earlier received a Master’s degree in Western intellectual history. Rabbi Fohrman received his rabbinical and Talmudic training at the Ner Israel Rabbinical College, but some of his earliest and most profound exposure to Biblical text analysis came from his encounters with Rabbi Yosef Leibowitz, in his childhood years in Northern California.
It doesn’t end with the fast
Tisha B’Av brought you here. Membership will get you through the year.
This one day might have brought you to Aleph Beta — but there’s so much more waiting for you to discover. Close, beautiful readings of the text, ready for every Shabbos and every chag. Designed to fit seamlessly into your life.
Show up to Shabbos with something to say
Walk into the meal with a fresh insight on the parsha — the kind that makes the table lean in.
Walk into every holiday prepared
Seder prep, Megillah, the Yamim Noraim, Tisha B'Av — arrive spiritually ready instead of scrambling.
Ask the hard questions — and find real answers
The troubling stories, the never-ending lists of names. Read God's book cover to cover without skipping the "boring" parts or avoiding the challenging ones.
And it all fits in your pocket
Learn on the train, in the kitchen, on a walk — the whole library in the Aleph Beta app.
Why do you charge for Torah?
Well...Aleph Beta is a nonprofit. But we don’t do a lot of fundraising — no galas, no appeals, no ads. Instead, we turn to you, the people we actually serve, and ask for your partnership. So don’t think of membership as a fee. Think of it as a small monthly donation to support the scholars, editors and animators who make this Torah. That said, money should never be the reason you can’t learn. If the price is a barrier — for any reason, in any season of life — Aleph Beta is free for you. No application essay, no proof, no awkward conversation.
Those who can, carry those who can’t.
it’s genuinely no problem
“I have not come across an organization that treats its members with such kindness. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
— SARAH, member since 2019
Don't sit with the day alone.
Join Aleph Beta, and let this Tisha B'Av actually mean something.
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