Ceremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, The Three Weeks, The Three Weeks in a Nutshell
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The period known as the Three Weeks (known in Hebrew as Bein HaMetzarim – “Between the Straits/Days of Distress”) is the saddest period in the Jewish calendar. Customs of mourning are observed during this time to commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples. This three-week period of mourning begins on the seventeenth day of Tamuz, with the fast of Shiva Asar BeTamuz, and concludes on the ninth day of Av, which is the fast of Tisha B’Av.
SHIVA ASAR BETAMUZ
On this day we commemorate the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE. According to the Mishna (Taanit 4:6), there were four other historical calamities that occurred on this day:
Moshe broke the Tablets of Stone upon descending Sinai and seeing the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf.
The daily tamid offering ceased to be brought in the Temple (during the First Temple period).
An idol was erected inside the Temple (during the First Temple period).
Prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Roman military leader Apostomus burned a sefer Torah.
Fasting on the seventeenth of Tamuz begins at dawn and ends at nightfall.
LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF THE THREE WEEKS
Different communities have different customs of mourning during this period, including prohibitions on: haircuts and shaving; listening to live music; weddings and other celebrations; and buying/wearing new clothes. The intensity of mourning increases from the first of Av until midday on the tenth of Av (the period called the Nine Days), when in addition to the mourning customs of the Three Weeks, no freshly laundered clothes may be worn, and meat and wine are not consumed (except on Shabbat). Many Sephardim only observe these extra stringencies from the Sunday before Tisha B’Av. The Three Weeks are also considered to be a time of misfortune, and therefore some are careful to avoid all dangerous situations including swimming, undergoing a major operation, or engaging in a court case that could be postponed until after Tisha B’Av.
TISHA B’AV
This is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, when the destruction of both the First and Second Temples is commemorated. According to the Mishna (Taanit 4:6), the following tragic events occurred on this day in Jewish history:
The twelve spies sent by Moshe to scout the land of Israel returned, with ten of them bringing a damaging report that led to forty years of benei Yisrael wandering in the desert until the entire generation had died out.
The First Temple, built by King Shlomo, was destroyed by the Babylonian King Nevukhadnetzar in 586 BCE, and the population of the kingdom of Yehuda was sent into exile.
The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and signifying the beginning of a two-thousand-year exile.
The subsequent defeat of the Bar Kokhba revolt and destruction of the city of Beitar, killing over 500,000 Jewish civilians in 135 CE.
Also in 135 CE, following the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Roman commander Turnus Rufus ploughed the site of the Temple and the surrounding area of Jerusalem.
The fast observed on Tisha B’Av begins at sundown at the end of the eighth of Av, and lasts for twenty-five hours until nightfall on the ninth of Av. As well as all the customs of the Nine Days, Tisha B’Av shares the five prohibitions of Yom Kippur, which are:
no eating or drinking
no washing or bathing
no applying creams or oils
no wearing leather shoes
no marital relations
Additionally, there are several customs of mourning associated with Tisha B’Av. These include: eating a hardboiled egg dipped in ashes, and a piece of bread dipped in ashes during the pre-fast seuda hamafseket meal; refraining from studying Torah (apart from sad portions) until midday on the ninth of Av (because of the enjoyment it provides); removing the parokhet (curtain of the ark) and dimming the lights in the synagogue; and sitting on low stools or on the floor (as is done during shiva) until midday. Megillat Eikha and special kinnot (sad poems) are read during the synagogue service, and the custom is to not put on tefillin or a tallit at the Shaḥarit morning service of Tisha B’Av, but rather at Minḥa instead.
❖ Points to Ponder
- What do all the historical events that occurred on the seventeenth of Tamuz and the ninth of Av have in common?
- What do you think is the objective behind the laws and customs of the Three Weeks?
- Why do you think Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur share the same five prohibitions?