R’ Moshe Tzuriel writes: R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch z”l comments that the mourning period of the Three Weeks, beginning on the seventeenth of Tammuz and lasting until the ninth of Av, is to be taken as an unfolding drama and not as a period of isolated afflictions. The various phases of remembrance include: the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, the capture of the city, the burning of the Temple, and the murder of the kohanim. In other words, the historical fact of military defeat at the hands of the Babylonians (First Temple) or the Romans (Second Temple) was not the last word. The punishment for national sins was an ongoing process, capable of being halted at any step; more so, capable of being reversed from catastrophe to victory, if only we would have seized the opportunity to repent. It is never too late to return to G-d. Even as the flames licked at the sacred altar, if our ancestors had changed heart and returned to Torah loyalty, G-d would have reversed the disaster.
That is why when Caramel, a cousin of the Prophet Yirmiyah came to the latter to sell his field, G-d ordered Yirmiyah to make a proper legally-binding deed, with good witnesses etc. (see Yirmiyah Ch. 32). Yirmiyah objected, “Behold the siege-works are being clasped against our city walls so to capture it, the city is falling before the sword, hunger and (subsequent) plague. What you proclaimed will be is being actualized – and yet you say, ‘Make a legal and binding sale of the field’?!” Hashem answered, “True, I am the G-d almighty, is there anything impossible for Me? The Babylonians are burning the houses . . . yet I will still gather together the dispersed Jews from all their places of captivity, I will bring them back to Israel and they will dwell securely. They will be My people and I will be their G-d. I will give them one heart and one path, so that they fear Me forever. Therefore fields will be negotiated, since I will return their exiles.”
We learn from the above that the destruction was done in stages, allowing Bnei Yisrael to halt or alter it. This ability to stem the tide of disaster, this ability to be reborn and start life afresh, stems from G-d’s mastery of history, G-d’s manifest providence. The flood tides of countless persecutions all passes over our heads; individuals die, but the nation as a whole continues in full force. We reel with the forces of the waves, flexible as reeds, but immediately afterwards we stand spiritually erect, firm as oaks (see Taint 20a). We are resigned to our destiny, but steadfast in our obligations. (Hamaayan - From Destruction and Correction, an e-mail lecture)
The Three Weeks: R’ Yechezkel Sarna’s List
R’ Yechezkel Sarna z”l (1890-1969; Rosh Yeshiva of the Chevron Yeshiva in Yerushalayim) lists thirty items/areas to which one should pay particular attention during the period of the “Three Weeks,” each with a source in the Book of Eichah, the text of the Tisha B’Av Kinnot, or the Talmud. They include:
- Loving and appreciating the Torah, and studying it “Li’shmah,” i.e., because Hashem derives pleasure, so-to-speak, from our Torah study (see Nedarim 81a and the commentary of Rabbeinu Nissim there).
- Loving other people and distancing oneself from sin’at chinam / baseless hatred (see Yoma 9b). Also, avoiding fanning the flames of sin’at chinam. R’ Sarna notes that if one would reflect even briefly on why he hates the person toward whom his sin’at chinam is directed, he would immediately change his attitude since, by definition, he would find that he has no reason to hate the other person. The real reason there is sin’at chinam is that some people derive excitement from fanning the flames of such hatred.
- Loving Eretz Yisrael, appreciating its value, and appreciating the value of the Bet Hamikdash. (R’ Sarna writes that this is a recurring theme in the Kinnot and in the teachings of our Sages.)
- Believing and recognizing that Hashem loves the Jewish People in all generations and at all times, whether it is a time of destruction or reconstruction, downfall or elevation. Any suffering we experience is a punishment for our sins, not a sign that Hashem has abandoned us. To the contrary, Hashem so-to-speak suffers with us (see Gittin 56b, describing how the curtain in front of the Holy of Holies appeared to bleed when Titus stabbed it). (These also are recurring themes in the Kinnot.)
- Belief in, and recognition of, the eternity of the Jewish People.
- Maintaining one’s Bitachon / trust in Hashem even in difficult times (a recurring theme in Eichah).
- Crying out to Hashem with a feeling of Bitachon [not hopelessness].
- Distancing oneself from cruelty and other bad traits.
- Know and publicizing that everything that happens to us is from the “hand” of Hashem, and from no other cause. If there appear to be other causes, they are all directly or indirectly brought about by Hashem. This includes every detail of the “Churban” / destruction, even those that appear to be isolated events. There are no coincidences and no “laws of nature” at play; rather, the whole, and each of the details, was a fulfillment of the warnings and curses contained in the Torah in Parashat Bechukotai and Parashat Ki Tavo. [Rabbi Shlomo Katz of Hamaayan notes: From the context, R’ Sarna appears to be referring here to the Holocaust.] (Daliot Yechezkel III p.266 - Hamaayan)
