The Three Weeks

Today, we begin the period known as בין המצרים, or, “the three weeks.” It is a particularly sad time of year, as it commemorates the mourning for the Beit Hamikdash. This mourning that is expected of us, is much more than feeling a sense of loss of not having a place to pray and offer sacrifices.
It is a time when we are supposed to recognize the consequences of not having a functioning Temple. A great deal more was lost than having a sacred building burned to the ground. All of the problems facing the Jewish people, are connected with that tragic event.
The Galut, the exile, which was and has been, a terrible curse, began at that time. This led to a tremendous ignorance of Judaism, its traditions, and Torah study. It led to the plague of intermarriage and assimilation. And it gave Jews a false sense of security, if they were fortunate enough to be living in a place where they felt welcome. They forgot who they were and became unaware of the special mission the Jews were meant to play. I see a double sadness when I see the status of Jews outside of Israel today. On the one hand, there is the huge number of Jews who know so little about their Jewishness. And on the other hand, for observant Jews who are blessed with being able to practice their Judaism freely, and are able to have all of their religious needs close at hand, creates a certain complacency and false sense of security. When we had a Beit Hamikdash, the Torah was the law of the land. There was even a period of 850 years, when every Jew knew the Five Books of Moses by heart. We mourn during these three weeks as we recognize our great loss, -and we long for a return to the days that once were, where we served G-d while feeling him close to us.