WHAT TO DO DURING THE THREE WEEKS
by Rabbi Zalman Melamed
Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio
Broadcast on July 13, 1998 / Tammuz 19, 5758
In This Article:
1. For Many Generations...
2. The Light has Begun to Shine
3. Building the Land
4. WORKING TO CARRY OUT OUR PRAYERS
1. FOR MANY GENERATIONS...
We are now in the period of the Three Weeks, known as "Between the
Straits," between the fast of the 17th of Tammuz and that of Tisha B'Av.
These are days of mourning and remembrance of the destruction of the Land
and of the Holy Temple. For many generations, we were not able to carry
out concrete acts for the redemption of Israel. We were in exile, under
the yoke of the nations, and there was nothing we could do to change the
situation - except to pray, and to strengthen ourselves via the fulfillment
of the Torah and its precepts. This was all we could do - to ask the Holy
One to redeem us, in His mercy, and to wait expectantly for it to occur.
The content of the Three Weeks, therefore, came to be practices of mourning
on the destruction, refraining from joyous occasions, the recital of Kinot
(dirges), and turning inwards in prayer and supplication.
2. THE LIGHT HAS BEGUN TO SHINE
We have now merited, thank G-d, that the Master of the Universe, the G-d of
Israel, has begun to shine His countenance upon us, and to remove - to some
extent - the yoke of the nations from upon us. He has opened the gates of
the Land of Israel for us, and we have merited that a considerable
proportion of Jews have made aliyah - immigration - to the Land. G-d has
removed the subjugation of the nations from the Land, and helped us
establish a State, open to Jews from around the world.
3. BUILDING THE LAND
When we approach the days of Between the Straits, they are no longer only
days of sadness and mourning, rendering us helpless in the face of our
fate. We are now able to take concrete steps on behalf of Israel's
redemption. True, we are still unable to build the Holy Temple, but it is
within our power to gather together in the Land of Israel, and to settle
it, and to build it, and to build Jerusalem. For this reason, the days of
the Three Weeks must arouse us to act and to do all that we can for the
Redemption. We must call upon those Jews who have not yet made aliyah to
Israel - to do so! Specifically, we must address this call to those Jews
who continue to mourn during this period, but do not come to live here.
4. WORKING TO CARRY OUT OUR PRAYERS
It is not sufficient to say during the daily prayers, "Please gather us
together from the four corners of the earth to our Land," when it is
possible to actually carry it out. It is not enough for you to cry over
the destruction; you must work for the reconstruction. [Ed. note: Rabbi
Avraham HaKohen Kook said that just as we do not rely on our recital of
"May the Merciful grant us honorable livelihood," but we rather do all we
can to ensure our standard of living, so too we need not rely solely on our
prayers to return to the Land of Israel but should rather take concrete
steps to come here.] We certainly all mourn the destruction of the Beit
HaMikdash, the heart of our nation - yet it is this mourning that obligates
us to do all that we can to hasten the Redemption. This is carried out by
the building and settling of the Land of Israel, and of Jerusalem, and of
course by carrying out the will of G-d.
The Maharal [R. Yehudah Loewy of Prague, 17th century] lists three
characteristics of the Exile:
a. the expulsion from the Land of Israel;
b. the subjugation by the nations of the world;
c. the dispersion amongst the nations.
It is within our power to remedy all three of these, by gathering together
in the Land of Israel, under Jewish rule. The very act of doing so brings
about the glorification of G-d's Name, as R. Moshe Chaim Luzatto writes in
Chapter 19 of his classic Mesillat Yesharim [Path of the Just]: "It is
impossible for the glory of G-d to rise without the Redemption of Israel
and without the increase of Israel's honor, for these two elements are
truly interdependent."
These are the matters to which we should arouse ourselves during this
Between the Straits period. May we merit speedily the complete Redemption.
Shalom, shalom.
Rabbi Melamed, Chief Rabbi of Beit El, is the Dean of Beit El Yeshiva
Center Institutions and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arutz-7.
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