Tikkun Chatzos
Tikkun Chatzos During The Three Weeks:
It is the minhag of many great tzaddikim to rise each night at midnight for Tikkun Chatzos and mourn bitterly the churban Bais HaMikdash and the galus of the Shechina. Many people who do not say Tikkun Chatzos during the year are noheg to say it during the three weeks.
The Mishna Berura (551:103) cites the writings of the Arizal that one should cry for the Bais HaMikdash for half an hour after midday each day during the three weeks. In the famed Yeshiva of Pressburg they used to say Tikkun Chatzos at midday during the three weeks. Others argue with this minhag and say that Tikkun Chatzos should only be said privately as this is an emotional time an individual should spend alone with Hashem. (Pischei Tshuvos)
Another Segula Of Brotherhood And Love
The Arizal teaches that we should accept upon ourselves the mitzva to love every Jew as ourselves before davening. Many have the minhag to recite this mitzva and accept it upon themselves before Shacharis each morning and it is printed in many siddurim. It should be noted that in Pri Etz Chaim (shaar hanhogas halimud chap. 1), Rav Chaim Vital, the talmid of the holy Arizal, teaches that the pasuk ve’ohavta lerei’acha komocha ani Hashem – “love your neighbor as yourself” – is the same gematria as shin, kuf, vov, tzaddi, yud, sov [the same roshei teivos mentioned above from the last stanza of the tefilla Ana Be Koach].
This is because shin, kuf, vov spells shaku which means a kiss, hinting to tefilla, which is likened to a kiss of the lips, and tzadi, yud, sov spells tzayis, which means “to listen to” or “hear” in Aramaic. Thus, explains Rav Chaim Vital, through ve’ohavta lerei’acha komocha – by loving your fellow and asking for his needs before yours, your tefillos are heard and answered.
