B"H
Monday, Tammuz 19, 5776 / July 25, 2016 - Hakhel year
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 the 17th of Tammuz until the 9th of Av – the day, in which the Holy Temples were destroyed, are days in which 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 their 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 Aveilai Zion Viyerushalaim" - "May the L-rd comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem." We always include the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
At a wedding one of our most joyous occasions, we remember the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temples as with the groom's breaking of a glass under the Chupah (wedding canopy).
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 an egg (which mourners eat at their first meal) on the Seder Plate to remind us of the destruction of our sacred 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" and the mitzvah of Tzedakah (charity) for they will hasten the ultimate redemption with Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. May it take place speedily in our days. Amen.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY