The Three Weeks By S. Winiarz The wheel of time inexorably continues to turn, and at the present moment we find ourselves in what is colloquially known as “The 3 Weeks.” One of the longest observances in the Jewish Calendar, these 21 days make up the time period between Shiva Asar B’Tammuz and Tisha B’Av. Our prophets enacted inter alia that during these 3 weeks one may not get married, listen to music, make a celebration, take a haircut, or buy new clothing. What every growing Jew should be asking himself during this period is: what were the prophets intending when they instituted these restrictions on these weeks? What is it about this calendric period that necessitates putting a damper on our normally joyous lives? For most of us, the answer is pretty obvious. This time period is the time of mourning over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash – our holy Temple. However, what strikes me as odd is as follows. Isn’t Tisha B’Av set as the day of mourning for the Temple? Why did our prophets ordain that we must begin the mournful observances three weeks earlier? Chances are, you’ll tell me that it is appropriate to start mourning on Shiva Asar B’Tammuz because that is the anniversary of the day our enemies breached the walls of Jerusalem. Now, you’d be correct in saying so; I’ll even support that supposition by pointing out that all the sefarim refer to these 3 weeks as ‘Bein Ha’Mitzarim’ – ‘Between the Distresses’, referring to Shiva Asar B’Tammuz and Tisha B’av. However, I think you’ll agree that it is quite abnormal for our Sages to consecrate such a large period of time for any observance. Granted, we believe that all our distresses stem from the destruction of our Temple. But even if you argue that all events which relate to the said destruction should be mourned as well (a debated point amongst the commentators), you still could question the necessity of three weeks being dedicated to such an end. Why do the anniversaries of the walls being breached and the actual destruction not suffice? Why did the Sages also legislate these additional weeks? Perhaps one could suggest structurally that the answer is as follows. If all that was necessary was the mourning of the historical tragedies that took place during this time, then truly the 2 days of Tisha B’Av and Shiva Asar B’Tammuz would suffice. However, our wise prophets intended much more than that. Our prophets knew the dictum of our Sages that “Any generation that does not see the rebuilding of the Temple in their days is as if they saw it destroyed in their days.” Our prophets knew the exposition of the aforementioned quote that states that any generation that is “as if they saw it destroyed in their days” is obviously suffering from the same sins that caused the Temple to be destroyed in the first place, for if they weren’t - why wasn’t it rebuilt in their days? Therefore, the prophets saw fit to decree a three week time period during which the causes of the tragedies which are mourned on either side of these days could be worked on and rectified to some extent. What that means for us is that we have two choices in front of us right now. We can either submit to the restrictions placed on us for the duration of these weeks and then move on with our lives, or we can utilize the guidelines set forth by the great prophets to grow during this time period and fix the problems that make us need to mourn in the first place. I’m going to assume that you chose the latter choice; as Jews we are always aspiring to grow. Come; let’s discover how our Sages intended for us to become bigger and better people. The Talmud teaches that the destruction of the Temple which brought about the exile we are currently in was caused by baseless hatred. Our ancestors brought about their exile because they did not properly fulfill the mitzvah to “love your fellow as yourself”. Their strife and infighting caused the Shechina to depart from the Beis Hamikdash, and once the Shechina was gone, the hollow Temple shell didn’t stand a chance against our enemies. By extension, if the Beis Hamikdash still hasn’t been rebuilt, that means that we too have yet to purge ourselves of baseless hatred. Thus, the conclusion I draw is that these 3 weeks were enacted specifically for us to eradicate this issue. What still needs to be addressed, however, is how exactly did our Sages want us to work on this issue? In which ways are we supposed to work on loving our neighbor as ourselves? I suppose that simply each person is supposed to fashion his own strategies and come up with his own methods of improving himself in this area. But perhaps based on the previous structure (that the 3 Weeks were enacted to focus oneself on improving in the necessary area) I could suggest that the restrictions of the 3 Weeks themselves are geared towards eliminating baseless hatred. Perhaps lessening our indulgements in certain aspects of life will bring us to love our fellow Jew more. How does that work, you may ask? Come, let’s see the Kli Yakar. The Kli Yakar (Leviticus 16,30) explains why Moshe gathered Bnei Yisrael specifically the day after Yom Kippur to build the Mishkan. “Only when they were a unified congregation… would Hashem accept..[them]. [But] it is normal for people to beg forgiveness from their friend on Yom Kippur and then.. go back to their evil ways. So Moshe gathered them [immediately] after Yom Kippur and unified them into one congregation. This [immediacy was a necessary ingredient] because all strife stems from interpersonal dealings…” I think what this enigmatic Kli Yakar means is that the source of baseless hatred is that we are so involved in our everyday transactions and dealings that we grow to be self-centered. Since we are constantly fending for and taking care of ourselves, we naturally become more and more self-serving. Therefore Moshe knew that the best chance he had at uniting Bnei Yisrael into a unified whole was to do so immediately following Yom Kippur – that is to say – immediately following the day when everyone removed themselves to the greatest degree from indulgements and self-service. I think that now we perhaps can understand what the prophets intended with the restrictions of the 3 Weeks. Perhaps when we were told not to get married, listen to music, make a celebration, take a haircut, or buy new clothing, we were really being told to stop focusing so much on ourselves. Perhaps the Sages were telling us to actively practice not being so selfish and instead think of others more often. Perhaps the Sages wanted us to come across a certain pleasure during this time period and decide not to indulge but rather to go give joy to somebody else instead. If we can lessen our self-love which is the source of baseless hatred and manage to increase our love of others, then maybe this year we’ll merit being redeemed from this bitter exile and the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash. Amen.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 18:57:46 +0000
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