The Three Weeks
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The Three Weeks or Bein ha-Metzarim (Hebrew: בין המצרים, "Between the Straits" cf "In Dire Straits") is a period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples. The Three Weeks start on the seventeenth day of the Jewish month of Tammuz — the fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz — and end on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av — the fast of Tisha B'Av, which occurs exactly three weeks later. Both of these fasts commemorate events surrounding the destruction of the Jewish Temples and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the land of Israel. According to conventional chronology, the destruction of the first Temple, by Nebuchadrezzar II, occurred in 586 BCE, and the second, by the Romans, in 70 CE. Jewish chronology, however, traditionally places the first destruction at about 421 BCE. (See Missing years (Hebrew calendar) for more information.)
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[edit] Observances
As an extension of the mournful mood during the three weeks, standard Ashkenazic custom, or minhag, restricts the extent to which one may take a haircut, shave or listen to music. No Jewish marriages or other major celebrations are allowed during the Three Weeks, since the joy of such an event would conflict with the expected mood of mourning during this time. Many Orthodox Jews refrain from eating meat during the Nine Days from the first of the month of Av until midday of the day after the fast of Ninth of Av, based on the tradition that the Temple burned until that time.
[edit] History
The first source for a special status of the Three Weeks—which is also the oldest extant reference to these days as Bein ha-Metzarim—is found in Eikhah Rabbathi 1.29 (Lamentations Rabbah, fourth century CE?). This midrash glosses Lamentations 1.3, "All [Zion's] pursuers overtook her between the straits," interpreting "straits" as "days of distress"—namely the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av .
Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau (who lived in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries) wrote in his book Minhagim, a record of Austrian customs, that haircuts are not taken during the Three Weeks. His opinion was cited as halakha by Moses Isserles in Rema on Shulchan Aruch, which is the foundation for most of current Ashkenazic practice.
[edit] The Nine Days
The last nine days of the three weeks — the first nine days of the month of Av — constitute a period of more intense mourning, leading up to the fast of Tisha B'Av. This final period is known as the Nine Days. According to the Mishna in Ta'anit (B.T. Ta'anit 26b), "from the beginning of Av, happiness is decreased." The Talmud relates that meat consumption is forbidden only on the eve of the ninth of Av, and even then not as a blanket rule. However, during the Nine Days (except for Shabbat), many Jewish communities have adopting the following customs as a sign of mourning: refraining from poultry, red meats and wine; not wearing freshly laundered clothes; in Ashkenazi communities, not taking warm baths. Yemenite Jews do not maintain these customs. Sephardic tradition observes these restrictions beginning the Sunday before Tisha B'Av and dispenses of them entirely on years when Tisha B'Av falls on a Sunday.
[edit] See also
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