The 9th day of Av, known as the fast of Tisha B’av, has been, historically, a bad day for the Jews. Tisha B’Av is, of course a sad day because it commemorates the destruction of not one,but two Holy Temples, and presaged our loss of national independence and descent into exile.

Tisha B’av got its bad rep way back when the Jews cried over the evil report of the spies who had gone to the Land of Israel for undercover espionage work. Ever since then, the day has been appointed by history, so to say, as a day when bad things happen. Many people, for example, might know that the final edict of expulsion of the Jews of Spain in 1492 took effect on Tisha B’Av. Whether Ferdinand and Isabella knew what they were doing is not clear, but those who still lived as open Jews in inquisitorial Spain certainly were not overly surprised that, of all days, they were to be thrown out on the ninth of Av.

Many people also know that World War I began on Tisha B’Av in 1914, as Britain and Russia declare war on Germany. That war, many historians argue, led directly to the rise of Hitler, since the future mastermind of the Holocaust was able to take advantage of the miserable economic condition of the German people, due to the onerous Versailles Treaty reparation payments Germany had been forced to pay after WW1.

But there were other less known, but just as notorious events that occurred throughout the centuries on Tisha B’av. Along with the better and lesser known tragedies listed at this site, there was, Tisha B’Av in 1242, a mass burning of the Talmud and other Jewish books. This event occurred in Paris, and was ordered directly by Pope Gregory IX and King Louis, who were fed up with the Jews’ refusal to convert.

And it wasn’t the first, nor the last time Jewish books were burned. From Cairo in 1190 until the Nazi era, book burning was a common practice for anti-Semites who thought that if they could destroy the Word, they would be able to destroy the Jew. You don’t attack something unless you perceive that it is a threat – that it has the power to change reality, or influence and inspire people; so obviously Jewish books have a great deal of important, inspiring – maybe even radical – things to say.

Traditional rabbinic literature from the Middle Ages and beyond often makes reference to other works that are no longer available, having been published with only a few copies being printed. Even today, thousands of books are published every year in amounts as small as 100 copies, usually to be distributed in the writer’s community.Until now, making them available to a wider audience has been an insurmountable challenge – but thank to the Internet, Jews around the world can read a wide body of literature that not too long ago would never have gone beyond the writer’s immediate circle – and might have been lost forever because of anti-Semitism.

The basic books in the Jewish library are, of course, the five books of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings, or the Tanach, the Hebrew acronym of Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim. After that comes the Mishna and the Talmud – the Oral Law and its rabbinic exegisis. And then come the commentaries, compendia of the law, rabbinic answers to halachic problems, midrash, etc. Believe it or not, almost all the basic (and many not so basic) Jewish writings are avaialble to read or download for free on the Internet. You can check out the 1917 Jewish Publication Society English translation of the 24 books of the Tanach here. This is, of course, a traditional, old time translation, with lots of “thees” and “thous” – but most people like their English bible that way. An online Hebrew edition of the Tanach is available here, which also has on-line copies of the Mishna, Tosefta, Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, and Maimonides’ Mishne Torah.

The Talmud is what really set off the medieval powers that be, but unfortunately many Jews never have the opportunity to study it – mostly because it is largely written in Aramaic, which most of us are rusty on. There are several English translations of the Talmud, most notably the one out out by Artscroll, which was completed this year. But if you want a taste of Talmud on-line, try the original English translation by Michael Rodkinson, available on-line. If you’re used to Artscroll you’ll probably roll your eyes in frustration at Rodkinson’s writing style, and at the fact that he only got to about a third of the Talmud altogether, but you have to give him credit for trying, and credit to the Sacred Texts site for giving many people what could be their only exposure to the original Talmud.

Then there are the later works which provide commentaries to some aspect of the Torah and Talmud, discuss a specific point of law or other subject, or contain stories about great rabbis or midrashim about events in Jewish history. Hundreds of these books from diverse authors spanning 1,000 years are available to read online or download in PDF form at Seforim Online, where a dedicated staff spent years gathering and scanning original works; in some cases, the print version the scan was made from is one of only a few copies of that book still in existence. Almost all the works are in Hebrew (with a smattering of Aramaic, Arabic and Yiddish), but each entry has an English description, giving you an idea of the vast topics covered by rabbinic literature. http://www.hebrewbooks.org has nearly 40,000 books on-line, many of them published in America – and has a special link that lets you see how Coca Cola got its kashrus certification, even thought it’s based on a super-secret formula (in Hebrew and English).

English readers can also experience the words of the people of the book. The American Jewish Archives has a huge collection of papers, rabbinical speeches, studies, etc. from individuals and groups. While much of the material is not on-line, there are interesting descriptions of life, people, communities and background to much of the archive. Publishers Row provides free previews of dozens of books on Jewish topics, and many of them are available to download as PDFs for a fee. And don’t miss http://www.jbooks.com, which has excerpts, reviews, talkbacks with modern authors, and lots of other treats for Jewish bibliofiles.

And after you’re done with all that reading, take a break – and head for the movies. And for a truly unique Jewish film experience, head on over to the virtual cinema of the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive, which has hundreds of films on-line. The archive is a fantastic collection of films made by Jewish organizations, promotional material for Israel, films about Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East, films about the Holocaust, and even cartoons, newsreels and shorts shown in theaters in prestate Israel.

While some of the footage is obviously low budget, some of them look like Hollywood productions – like 1954’s “The Big Moment,” a promotional film for the United Jewish Appeal, with an all star cast, including Robert Young, Donna Reed, John Derek, and Forrest Tucker. “The Big Moment” is a half hour dramatization of three vignettes of how the UJA helps immigrants, local communities, and Jews in Israel. Watch out for an especially good line that could come right out of today’s headlines, where John Derek tells Donna Reed “Dammit, Debbie, I’m a settler. This country doesn’t need lawyers.”