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The Three Weeks : Selected Videos and Articles

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muman613:
Shalom,

The Jewish people, specifically the religious Jewish people, are currently observing a period on the calendar known as 'The Three Weeks'. These three weeks are a period of collective mourning of the Jews who long for Hashem's divine presence in this world. It was during this period that the Romans started destroying our Holy Temple. The Holy Temple was a conduit between the Jewish people and Hashem, through which our offerings and prayers rose to the Holy One, Blessed is he. Starting on 17 Tammuz (last week) the invasion began, and through the weeks we commemorate various states of destruction till all that was left was the Western Wall. We read Lamentations (Eicha) on Tisha B'Av which concludes the period of the Three Weeks.

muman613:
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/947558/jewish/What-are-the-Three-Weeks.htm

What are the Three Weeks?
The Three Weeks in a Nutshell

The Three Weeks is an annual mourning period that falls out in the summer. This is when we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple and our launch into a still-ongoing exile.

The period begins on the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, a fast day that marks the day when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in 69 CE.

It reaches its climax and concludes with the fast of the 9th of Av, the date when both Holy Temples were set aflame. This is the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, and it is also the date of other tragedies spanning our nation’s history.

Observances:

There are various mourning-related customs and observances that are followed for the entire three-week period (until midday of the 10th of the Hebrew month of Av, or—if that date falls on Friday—the morning of that day). We do not cut our hair, purchase new clothes, or listen to music. No weddings are held.

17 Tammuz is a fast day, on which we refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to nightfall.

The final Nine Days of the Three Weeks are a time of intensified mourning. Starting on the first of Av, we refrain from eating meat or drinking wine, and from wearing freshly laundered clothes.

9 Av is a more stringent fast than 17 Tammuz. It begins at sunset of the previous evening, when we gather in the synagogue to read the Book of Lamentations. Besides fasting, we abstain from additional pleasures: washing, applying lotions or creams, wearing leather shoes, and marital relations. Until midday, we sit on the floor or on low stools.

There is more to the Three Weeks than fasting and lamentation. Our sages tell us that those who mourn the destruction of Jerusalem will merit seeing it rebuilt with the coming of Moshiach. May that day come soon, and then all the mournful dates on the calendar will be transformed into days of tremendous joy and happiness.

muman613:

muman613:

Sveta:
It seems that during the three weeks, I get a lot of music stuck in my head. I can't listen to it, but I just play it in my mind most of the day. Why is that? It's the yetzer hara?

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