Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht serves as rabbi at Beth Israel Chabad of Westport/Norwalk CT and is a Presidium Member of the Rabbinical Alliance of America
Thursday, the 2nd of July this year, as the world is filled with uncertainty about the future of the Hormuz Strait through which 20% of its energy sources navigate, the Jewish world is entering into the Straits of Tammuz during which it prays for spiritual energy in order to merit the restoration of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Known in Hebrew as Bein HaMetzarim, literally “between the straits," the days begin with the 17th of Tammuz marking the breaching of Jerusalem’s protective walls by the ancient Babylonians, during the first Temple period in 432 B.C.E. (others place it in 586 B.C.E.) and the rupturing of Jerusalem’s walls, by the Romans in 69 BCE. They end three weeks later with the 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av), marking the destruction of both the first and the second Holy Temples in Jerusalem.
The 9th of Av is the saddest day of the Jewish year, and is observed as a 24-hour fast day, with the recitation of many elegies and mournful prayers marking the tragedies associated with the 17th of Tammuz - 9th of Av period.
For a total of 830 years - from 833 to 423 BCE (or according to others 1000-586 BCE) and again from 349 BCE to 69 CE (516 BCE-70 CE) - the first and then the second Holy Temple (Beit- HaMikdsh) in Jerusalem served as the focal point of Judaism and the Jewish people.
So central was this edifice to our lives as Jews, that nearly two-thirds of the Mitzvot (commandments of the Torah) are contingent upon its existence. Its destruction is regarded as the greatest tragedy of our history, and its rebuilding will mark the ultimate redemption - the restoration of harmony within G-d's creation and all of humanity. (Chabad.org)
With the restoration of the third eternal Temple in Jerusalem, the Messianic era of world peace and redemption of the world will be a reality.
This year as we navigate the straits between the dates of 17th of Tammuz (July 2nd) and Tisha B’Av (July 23rd) we need to adhere to the straightforward and unambiguous direction of our Prophets, and later on by the Sages as recorded in the Talmud. They adjured us to strengthen our sense of responsibility for each other as a Jewish people.
That means: A sense of unity and support, expressing love and brotherhood towards each other. Less criticism, and more acts of encouragement and help for one another. It begins within our nuclear family, parents, siblings, extended family and then by extension the community at large.
As G-D sees His people uniting as one, making the efforts and navigating our interactions with others, through sensitivity, respect and care, the people of Israel and all of world Jewry will have the merit to direct the blessings of peace, security and prosperity, both material and spiritual, for all the world to enjoy.
Let us take the words of the Prophet Isaiah (4:3-5) to heart:
In the days to come,
The Mount of G-D’s House
Shall stand firm above the mountains
And tower above the hills;
And all the nations
Shall gaze on it with joy.
And the many peoples shall go and say:
“Come,
Let us go up to the Mount of G-D,
To the House of the G-d of Jacob;
That we may be instructed in God’s ways,
And that we may walk in G-d’s paths."
For instruction shall come forth from Zion,
The word of G-D from Jerusalem.
Thus [G-d] will judge among the nations
And arbitrate for the many peoples,
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks:
Nation shall not take up
Sword against nation;
They shall never again know war.
׃
O House of Jacob!
Come, let us walk
By the light of G-D.