In the past, the month of Tammuz was associated with unhappiness, destruction and exile, because of the events of the seventeenth of Tammuz and the Three Weeks from 17 Tammuz until Tishah B’Av, when the Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed. In our times, though, it has been transformed into the “Month of Redemption”! The Rebbe Rayatz (father-in-law of the Rebbe King Moshiach Shlita) was redeemed from imprisonment in Communist Russia in the month of Tammuz. He said that this was not only a redemption for him, but for every Jew, because he was imprisoned for his activities in spreading Judaism and Chassidus, and his freedom was a victory for Judaism. This redemption gave the month of Tammuz the name “Month of Redemption”. We are getting closer and closer to the building of the third and everlasting Beis Hamikdash, when the good of these days of destruction will be revealed; the whole purpose of the destruction was to reach the greatness of the third Beis Hamikdash. The closer we get, the more we feel the positive in this time of year. It’s a time to learn about the Beis Hamikdash, with the awareness that this is very practical, relevant information that we need to know because soon we will have the Beis Hamikdash! This is very happy and exciting!
(See talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe King Moshiach Shlita, Balak 5751 (1991))
