B"H

Tuesday, Tammuz 19, 5781 / June 29, 2021

In the Jewish calendar year there are happy periods and sad ones. There are the festive holidays and periods in which we rejoice and celebrate miracles which happened to our people. Then there are the somber times when we remember the tragedies and sufferings of our people.

The next three weeks is one of the saddest periods in Jewish history. During these Three Weeks, from Sunday, the 17th of Tammuz, when the walls of Jerusalem were breached, until the 9th of Av – the day, in which the Holy Temples were destroyed, are days of mourning. During this period we do not perform weddings; we avoid buying new clothes, building or renovating our home or listening to live music. As our sages put it, “We minimize in happiness.”

Although we remember the Holy Temples throughout the year and pray for its rebuilding three times daily, yet we emphasize the loss of our Bet HaMikdash (Holy Temple) more during these three weeks, as the destruction of the Temples took place at this time of the year. Here are some of the ways we recall the destruction of our Holy Temple in our daily lives:

In the 14th blessing of the weekday prayer (Amidah), we ask G-d, "Return in mercy to Jerusalem Your city and dwell therein as You have promised; speedily establish therein the throne of David Your servant and rebuild it soon in our days, as an everlasting edifice.”

In the 15th blessing, we pray for the return of the kingdom of David. "And may our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy..."

When visiting mourners who are sitting Shiva, we comfort them with the words, "HaMakom Yenachem Etchem Btoch Shar Aveilai Zion V’Yerushalaim" - "May the L-rd comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem." In our own loss, we always include the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

At a wedding, which is one of our most joyous occasions, the groom breaks a glass under the Chupah (canopy). This is to remember the destruction of the Holy Temples and the holy city of Jerusalem.

In Psalms it says: If ever I forget you, O Jerusalem, withered be my right hand! May my tongue cleave to my palate, if ever I think not of you, if ever I set not Jerusalem above my highest joy!"

Even at the Passover Seder, when we celebrate the redemption and Exodus from Egypt, we place a hardboiled egg on the Seder Plate. One reason being that mourners eat a hardboiled egg at their first meal after the funeral, it is to remind us of the destruction of our Holy Temples.

But mourning for the Temple should result in positive action. Our sages tell us that during these Three Weeks we should be especially careful in the performance of the mitzvot of, “Love your fellow as yourself.” We should also increase in the mitzvah of Tzedakah (charity). They will hasten the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. May it be speedily in our days. Amen.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY