Jewish Ledger | 7-15-11

The Three Weeks is a period of mourning that commemorates the tragic destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the land of Israel. It begins with the fast of the seventeenth day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz (Shiva Asar B’Tammuz), which marks the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached, and ends exactly three weeks later with the fast on the ninth of Av (Tisha B’Av), the day of the actual destruction of the Temple by fire. According to Jewish chronology, the destruction of the first Temple, by Nebuchadnezzar II, occurred in 421 BCE, and the second, by the Romans, in 70 CE.
This year, the fast of  the 17th of Tammuz begins at sundown on Monday, July 18; the Nine Days begins with Rosh Chodesh Av at sundown, Sunday, July 31; Tisha B’Av begins sundown, Monday, August 8.
These days are referred to as the period “within the straits” (bein hametzarim), in accordance with the verse: “all her oppressors have overtaken her within the straits” (Lamentations 1:3).
On Shabbat during the Three Weeks, the Haftorahs are taken from chapters in Isaiah and Jeremiah dealing with the Temple’s destruction and the exile of the Jewish people. Megillat Eicha – the Book of Lamentations – is read on Tisha B’Av.
As it is written in the Talmud “When the month of Av begins, we reduce our joy” (Ta’anit 26), the three-week period of communal and personal mourning is intensified during the final nine days; a period that begins on Rosh Chodesh Av – the first day of the month of Av.  This heightened level of mourning is in recognition of the many tragedies and calamities that befell the Jewish people at this time (see below). The Nine Days are considered an inauspicious time, fraught with danger even in our day and age.
During this time the additional signs of mourning” include abstaining from meat and wine (except on Shabbat) and from doing laundry or wearing freshly laundered clothes (except on Shabbat). We also do not bathe for pleasure, though it is permitted to bathe in cool water in order to remove dirt or perspiration.
Rather than view the Three Weeks and the Nine Days as times of punishment and self-mortification, religious Jews see them as opportunities to mourn the destruction of property, and forge a closer relationship with God. The Talmud states that all who mourn the destruction of Jerusalem will merit to rejoice in its rebuilding. The Sages also teach that the Messiah will be born on Tisha B’Av. The promise of redemption makes this period one of hope and anticipation.

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Aspects of mourning

Joy and celebration are minimized and various aspects of mourning are observed during the period of the Three Weeks. A stricter level of mourning is observed during the Nine Days, in accordance with the Talmudic dictum (Ta’anit 26): “When the month of Av begins, we reduce our joy.”

The Three Weeks
■ No weddings are held. (However, engagement ceremonies are permitted.)
■ Public celebrations  especially those that include singing, dancing and music – are avoided.
■ Pleasure trips or other unusually entertaining activities are avoided.
■ No haircuts or shaving.
■ The blessing of She-hechianu is not recited on new food or clothes, except on Shabbat.

The Nine Days
In addition to those of the Three Weeks, the Nine Days include the following restrictions:
■ No purchasing of items that bring great joy.
■ Home improvements, or the planting of trees and flowers is avoided.
■ Meat (including poultry) and wine are not consumed, except on Shabbat or at “seudat mitzvot,” such as a brit or celebration following the completion of a tractate of Talmud. (These foods are symbolic of the Temple service, and are generally expressions of celebration and joy.)

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WHAT HAPPENED ON THE NINTH OF AV?

Although Tisha B’Av is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider the many other tragedies of the Jewish people on this day, including the following:

■ During the time of Moses, Jews in the desert accepted the slanderous report of the 10 Spies, and the decree was issued forbidding them from entering the Land of Israel. (1312 BCE)
■ The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar. 100,000 Jews were slaughtered and millions more exiled. (586 BCE)
■ The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, led by Titus. Some two million Jews died, and another one million were exiled. (70 CE)
■ The Bar Kochba revolt was crushed by Roman Emperor Hadrian. The city of Betar,  the Jews’ last stand against the Romans,  was captured and liquidated. Over 100,000 Jews were slaughtered. (135 CE)
■ The Temple area and its surroundings were plowed under by the Roman general Turnus Rufus. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a pagan city  renamed Aelia Capitolina  and access was forbidden to Jews.
■ The Spanish Inquisition culminated with the expulsion of Jews from Spain on Tisha B’Av in 1492.
■ World War I broke out on the eve of Tisha B’Av in 1914 when Germany declared war on Russia. German resentment from the war set the stage for the Holocaust.
■ On the eve of Tisha B’Av 1942, the mass deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka.

Source: Aish.com

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Lamentations: The Book of Eichah

The prophet Jeremiah spent years warning his people that they repent and stop insisting that the Temple would protect them. To his chagrin, the Jews honored the Temple more in spectacle than in spirit.
But, the Jews ignored him, even imprisoned him, and to his unbearable agony, he was proven right. The Temple was destroyed, the people ravaged, the nation dispersed and he was the witness.
The book of Eichah is timeless. Although it was composed in the wake of the end of the first Temple era, the Sages of the Midrash find it full of allusions to the destruction of the second Temple, over 500 years later. This is not at all an anachronism, because Jewish history is a continuum. Just as we live by the Torah that was given over 33 centuries ago, so we are molded by the experiences of our forebears and the historical epochs they created.
Jeremiah weeps and we weep with him, because – if we are thoughtful and perceptive – we can see all of Jewish history in the dirges of Eichah. This is the challenge of Tisha B’Av. Can we realize that this is not merely a day of tears, but of challenge and hope?
The book of Eichah calls Tisha B’Av “a day of Jewish rendezvous with God.”
Rendezvous with God? On a day of destruction and suffering? Yes, because Tisha B’Av proves that God is not indifferent to Jewish conduct. We matter to him. And since we do, we know that He awaits our repentance and that there will be a third Temple, an eternal one.
The Sages say that the Messiah will be born on Tisha B’Av.

Source: OU.org

Five misfortunes befell our fathers … on the ninth of Av. …On the ninth of Av it was decreed that our fathers should not enter the [Promised] Land, the Temple was destroyed the first and second time, Bethar was captured and the city [Jerusalem] was ploughed up. – Mishnah Ta’anit 4:6

…Should I weep in the fifth month [Av], separating myself, as I have done these so many years? – Zechariah 7:3

In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month …came Nebuzaradan … and he burnt the house of the L-RD… – II Kings 25:8-9

In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month… came Nebuzaradan … and he burnt the house of the L-RD… – Jeremiah 52:12-13

How then are these dates to be reconciled? On the seventh the heathens entered the Temple and ate therein and desecrated it throughout the seventh and eighth and towards dusk of the ninth they set fire to it and it continued to burn the whole of that day. … How will the Rabbis then [explain the choice of the 9th as the date]? The beginning of any misfortune [when the fire was set] is of greater moment. – Talmud Ta’anit 29a

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See also “A Debt of Truth: Musings on Tisha B’Av,” By Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe