The events surrounding the 9th of Av began with the account of the ten spies. In Numbers chapters 13 and 14, Moshe sends 12 men into the Promised Land to check out the land. When they return forty days later, ten of the men are discouraged by the ‘giants in the land’ living in fortified cities fearing that they will be destroyed if they even try to go up against them in war. Their fears are passed onto the Israelites who spend the night, the 9th of Av, crying and mourning.
"Your eyes will see Jerusalem: A tent which will not be folded; its stakes will never be pulled up" (Isaiah 33:20).
