The Three Weeks

The People of the Moon

Have you ever noticed that from the Earth, the Sun and the Moon look exactly the same size? Is it just a coincidence? Maybe there's a deeper meaning to this?

The Other Side of the Coin

The Breaking of the Tablets on the Seventeenth of Tammuz

The Tree of Knowledge contained a mixture of elements - both good and evil. This, then, was Adam's sin: He ate from the tree, and this caused existence to fall to a level whereupon there existed a mixture of both good and evil.

The Temple, Our Link With Eternity

Tisha B’Av

Tisha B’Av

Why is Tisha B'Av Called a Festival?

Just before the somewhat sorrowful Tachanun prayer in our prayerbooks appears a small notation saying that we are not to say it on Tisha B'Av – because this day is a mo'ed, a festive day. How can it be that a day commemorating such a grave national calamity as the destruction of the Holy Temples and the exile of the nation could actually be considered, in any way, a festival?

Laws Relating to the Three Weeks

If, during the Three Weeks, a person accidentally blessed "boreh pri ha'etz" over a new fruit, some authorities hold that the fruit should not be eaten. Others hold that pronouncing God's name in vain is a greater offense than eating the new fruit.

What do we mourn during this time of Redemption?

When half of the People of Israel reside in the Land of Israel, Jerusalem is continually being built, the birth-rate increases, our enemies destroy themselves, the Land gives of her fruit luxuriously, and anti-Semitism becomes less frequent, it is incumbent on us to define for ourselves what we mourn on the 9th of Av, and what we lament during the weeks of "between the straits".

When Tisha B’Av Eve is on the Sabbath

Even if Shabbat Chazon falls on the eve of Tisha B’Av (Ninth of Av), or if Tisha B’Av itself coincides with Sabbath and the fast is postponed to Sunday, we eat meat, drink wine, and sing Sabbath songs as usual, for mourning is forbidden on the Sabbath.