The Laws of Three Weeks

On Memory and Disengagement

One disengagement leads to another, and those who disengage themselves from the past cannot bring us to our true future. Perhaps they can bring us to a Swedish or Luxembourgian version of the future, but not to the real destiny of the Jewish people.

Remembering the Temple's Destruction

The sages ruled that when a person builds a house for himself and arrives at its final stage, the whitewashing of the walls, he must remember that the Holy Temple still lies in ruins. He must therefore leave a square cubit of wall without whitewash.

May I Attend a Wedding During the Three Weeks?

I live in a predominantly Ashkenazic community where the “Three Weeks” are observed with no music, and certainly no celebrations or weddings. A Sefardic family in the neighborhood has scheduled a wedding during the Three Weeks.

Nine Days In Av

The Meaning of the Three Weeks

: In mourning over the Temple, we refuse to come to terms with the destruction. We begin with a life in which the Temple plays no role, and, in stages, return to the feeling of "one's dead lying before him."

Do the Clothes Make the Man? Not if They are Washed During the Nine Days!

Explaining the Other Laws of the Three Weeks

Halachot that apply during the three weeks: marriage, dancing, playing and listening to music, singing and reciting the Shehechiyanu Bracha.

Rebuilding the Temple

The Three Weeks

The Three Weeks between the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av are a time of sadness and danger. Rav Kook shows that they are also a time during which we can rebuild the Temple if we learn the secret of Causeless Love.