The Three Weeks - Overview

For eight hundred and thirty years there stood an edifice upon a Jerusalem hilltop which served as the point of contact between heaven and earth. So central was this edifice to the relationship between man and G-d that nearly two-thirds of the mitzvot are contingent upon its existence. Its destruction is regarded as the greatest tragedy of our history, and its rebuilding will mark the ultimate redemption-the restoration of harmony within G-d's creation and between G-d and His creation.

"But there is more to the Three Weeks than fasting and lamentation. The prophet describes the fasts as "days of goodwill before G-d"-days of opportunity to exploit the failings of the past as the impetus for a renewed and even deeper bond with G-d."

A full three weeks of our year-the three weeks "between the strictures" of Tammuz 17 and Av 9-are designated as a time of mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temple and the resultant galut-physical exile and spiritual displacement-in which we still find ourselves.

On Tammuz 17 of the year 3829 from creation (69 CE), the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the armies of Rome; three weeks later, on the 9th of Av, the Holy Temple was set aflame. Av 9 is also the date of the First Temple's destruction by the Babylonians in 3339 (423 BCE), after the Temple service was disrupted on Tammuz 17 (the breaching of Jerusalem's walls at the time of the first destruction was on Tammuz 9). These dates had already been the scene of tragic events in the very first generation of our nationhood: Tammuz 17 was the day Moses smashed the Tablets of the Covenant upon beholding Israel's worship of the Golden Calf; Av 9 was the day that G-d decreed that the generation of the Exodus shall die out in the desert, after they refused to proceed to the Holy Land in wake of the Spies' demoralizing report. In these events lay the seeds of a breakdown in the relationship between G-d and Israel-a breakdown which reached its nadir in the destruction of the Temple.

Tammuz 17 is a fastday, on which we refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to nightfall. Av 9 (Tishah B'Av) is a more stringent fast: it commences at sunset of the previous evening, and additional pleasures (washing, anointing, wearing leather shoes, and marital relations) are also proscribed. On Tishah B'Av we gather in the synagogue to read the Book of Lamentations composed by Jeremiah and kinot (elegies) on the Destruction and Exile.

During the Three Weeks we read the "Three of Rebuke"-three weekly readings from the Prophets which prophesy the Destruction, describe the sins which caused it, and admonish us to repent our ways. During the Three Weeks, no weddings or other joyous events are held; like mourners, we do not cut our hair or purchase new clothes. Additional mourning practices are assumed during the "Nine Days" beginning on Av 1, such as refraining from eating meat, drinking wine and enjoying music.

But there is more to the Three Weeks than fasting and lamentation. The prophet describes the fasts as "days of goodwill before G-d"-days of opportunity to exploit the failings of the past as the impetus for a renewed and even deeper bond with G-d. A sense of purification accompanies the fasting, a promise of redemption pervades the mourning, and a current of joy underlies the sadness. The Ninth of Av, say our sages, is not only the day of the Temple's destruction-it is also the birthday of Moshiach. The "Three of Rebuke" are thus followed by "Seven of Consolation"-seven weekly readings describing the future redemption and the rebuilding of the marriage of G-d and Israel.

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Two short introductory essays open this section. The Pinch explains the prophet's reference to the Three Weeks as "between the strictures"; Good Grief defines the difference between destructive and constructive sadness.

The next four essays focus on the Holy Temple and its role as the "marital home" of our relationship with G-d. Shabbat of Vision speaks of an annual window of opportunity on the Shabbat before Tishah B'Av; The Subterranean Temple describes a 3000-year journey through the "hidden, convoluted tunnels" built into the Temple by King Solomon; The Legalities of Destruction questions the legality of G-d's actions on Av 9 even as it shows them to have been the salvation of Israel; and The Intimate Estrangement defines the Destruction as the most intimate moment in the marriage of G-d and Israel, and explores the mystical significance of the "Three of Rebuke" and the "Seven of Consolation."

Galut is the subject of the last two essays of our chapter. Regret describes it as an existence whose essential quality is that it does not, in truth, exist. Cholent expresses our profound yearning to escape galut even as we acknowledge it as the most fruitful epoch of our history.