As we know we just entered the month of Tammuz, on the 17th we fast, also known as Shivah Asar B'Tammuz, and it's the beginning of the three weeks of mourning. Specifically we fast on the 17th of Tammuz for several reasons, some of them are:
- The siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonian empire, the jews were forced to cease the sacrifices
- Moshe Rabenu broke the tablets of the law
- The walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Roman empire.
- An idol was placed in the Beis Hamikdash.
- The Torah was burned by Apostomus
The 17th of Tammuz marks the beginning of difficult times for the jewish people, the real question is: what can we do?
Are Tammuz and Av really dangerous?
Rabbi Shepherd doesn't really likes to refer to these times as dangerous times, there is truth to it, rather harder times. The truth is that everything has a deeper meaning that applies to our lifes, so we also have a Jerusalem with in us, we also have a spiritual Beis Hamikdash with in us and these three weeks is a siege of the other side to our inner Jerusalem and Beis Hamikdash.
First of all, we cannot get paralyzed and not function during these three weeks. Also we shouldn't jump to the other extreme where we just ignore the time we are passing through; rather, we should engage with the time, we should know what is it about, to to be aware of the difficulties we may face and do our best.
The tradition of rabbi Shepherd is that according to Arizal, it is good to recite Tikkun Hatzot at midnight and also at midday; this way it would come to sweeten the judgment in our lives.
