Malaise and Medicine

The Three Weeks are a time of sadness and introspection for the Jewish people--but, buried within them, there is a message of happiness and positivity for our future. Our member Rabbi Steven Ettinger explains:

The Rabbis manipulated the weekly order of Torah readings within the yearly calendar so that select parshiyot are aligned (or nearly aligned) with certain festivals and fasts. A few examples: Miketz or Vayigash are usually read on Shabbat Hannukah, Bamidbar before Shavuot, and Devarim before Tisha b’Av.

Parshat Pinchas is one such reading. In most years it is read on the week following the fast of 17 Tamuz. The sages performed this subtle manipulation, juxtaposing the parsha and the fast, or more accurately, a day that is the gateway to the period of the “bein hametzarim” (the Three Weeks), to convey a deeply comforting message.

If you stop and think about it, we read from Pinchas more often than any other parsha in the Torah. Pinchas contains the details of the musaf offerings for all of the holy days – Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, etc. On every sacred day other than for a regular Shabbat, we take out an extra Torah scroll and read the section corresponding to the offering for that day. Thus, during the very week that as a nation we begin the descent into deep national mourning and sorrow—a generational malaise—we receive a booster shot of joy and hope, a reminder of our best days.

This connection, however, is even more direct. The unique number of holiday days is…20! (Note: we get there as follows: Shabbat – 1, Rosh Chodesh – 1, Pesach mentioned as a 7-day holiday, Shavuot – 1, Rosh Hashanah – 1, Yom Kippur – 1, Succot – mentioned as a 7-day holiday, Shemini Atzeret – 1 – TOTAL – 20). And there are precisely 20 days bridging 17 Tamuz and 9 Av.

This, perhaps, though, is a pollyannish view. Maybe the glass is not half full, but rather half empty. After all, during these three weeks we mourn the fact that we cannot bring these offerings, that we cannot rejoice since we no longer have the Temple. It seems that the sages might be tormenting us rather than consoling and inoculating us.

The key to understanding Chazal may well be a verse in Zechariah (8:19):

כֹּה אָמַר ה צְבָ-אוֹת צוֹם הָרְבִיעִי וְצוֹם הַחֲמִישִׁי וְצוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וְצוֹם הָעֲשִׂירִי יִהְיֶה לְבֵית יְהוּדָה לְשָׂשׂוֹן וּלְשִׂמְחָה וּלְמֹעֲדִים טוֹבִים וְהָאֱמֶת וְהַשָּׁלוֹם אֱהָבוּ

Thus said GOD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth month, the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity.

The Rambam in Hilchot Ta’aniyot (5:9), quoting this pasuk, writes that in the days of Mashiach the four fast days, including 17 Tamuz (the fast of the fourth month) and 9 Av (the fast of the fifth month), will be nullified and will become days of happiness and joy—in other words, holidays. This is likewise prophesized by Yirmiyahu (Jer. 31:12) וְהָפַכְתִּ֨י אֶבְלָ֤ם לְשָׂשׂוֹן֙ “and I will transform their mourning into joy,” and expressed in the Book of Eicha itself (1:15) קָרָ֥א עָלַ֛י מוֹעֵ֖ד “call unto me a holiday.”

In other words, this is not “mere” tradition, it is a matter of Divine promise. Our sages know that these days are destined to be elevated to great heights. This means that they already contain the seeds, the sparks, the potential for this ecstasy. They used parshat Pinchas to place a sign, to point a big finger to these weeks that says to our people while you are despairing reach into your joyful experiences, your Succot, your Pesach, your Simchat Torah and recognize that very soon these solemn days will feel just like those.

עתיד הקב"ה להפוך ט' באב לששון ולשמחה שנאמר כה אמר ה' צבאות לצום הרביעי ולצום החמישי... ולבנות ירושלים הוא עצמו ולקבץ גלויות ישראל לתוכה שנאמר: "בונה ירושלים ה' נדחי ישראל יכנס" (מדרש איכה)

In the future, HKB”H will transform 9 Av to [a day] of joy and happiness…and rebuild Jerusalem Himself and ingather the exiles, as it says, God will build Jerusalem and gather the dispersed.

We are witnessing miracles and great salvation; may He complete this job soon!

The Three Weeks -- why do we need them?

According to Ashkenazic custom, the period beginning with the fast of 17 Tammuz and ending after the fast day of 9 Av is the longest slice of time in the Jewish calendar that is dedicated to remembering any historical event that happened to the Jewish people.  In the world a large, such days and commemorations are usually limited to a single day. But to stretch this period of time over three full weeks is a particularly Jewish phenomenon.

One of the reasons that such a considerable period has been set aside for sad remembrance is that mourning and self-reflection are processes that build themselves up on a cumulative basis. Our emotions and mindset require time if we are to be able to understand and respond to tragedies, both personal and national. If the fast day of 9 Av were to arrive without preparation or introduction, it could very well be deemed only a formality and become an insignificant day on the Jewish calendar. It is the build-up that allows for a true assessment of the events in the history of the day itself.

 These three weeks that lead to 9 Av are necessary in order that this special day be imbued with significance and historical meaning. Almost two millennia have passed since the events of that day of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the holy Temple in the year 70 CE. The fact that that they have been remembered and commemorated over such a long period of time is testimony to the power of the ritual and observance that this three-week period imposes upon Jewish life.

 It is interesting to note that the apparent discomfort that this period imposes upon us is relatively of minor consequence. Even the restrictions regarding eating meat and drinking wine during the days immediately preceding the fast of 9  Av are of relatively little discomfort to us. Fish restaurants look forward all year long to these days. Yet all the restrictions of the three weeks that precede 9 Av do have a spiritual and emotional effect upon us, even if only subliminally. 

 Somehow, over the centuries and through the dark and abysmal nights of Jewish history, this time of remembrance kept our memory of Zion and Jerusalem, of the holy Temple, and of Jewish sovereignty alive and real. Today's State of Israel is a product of this three-week period. There have been many twists and turns in the Jewish story over the past millennia. However, the one constant has been the fact that the Jewish people instinctively realize that, wherever they live in the wider world and no matter how successful and peaceful their sojourn might be, they are not really at home. Home is our ancient land, promised to us by Heaven and which Jews have contended for over all of the ages.

 There are those who say that, since we have been privileged to regain Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel and that Jerusalem is now a large, modern and inhabited city, there is little reason for us to preserve the observances that these three weeks have imposed upon us. In my opinion this would be a classic example of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It is only because of this three-week period that we can appreciate the gift that Heaven has bestowed upon our time, in restoring the Jewish people to their homeland and to national sovereignty.

 Without perspective, nothing in life can truly be appreciated. Generations now born, 77 years after the founding of the state of Israel and 58 years after the liberation of Jerusalem, really have no background against which to judge the wonders that have occurred—and continue to occur. These three weeks allow us to frame the events of our time and our current situation. They give us a sense of gratitude and understanding instead of just relying upon sometimes vapid patriotism and formal staged commemorations. The ninth of Av will yet be a day of joy and feasting, when Jewish history has finally completed its long journey.