9th of Av- Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?- A Life Lesson I

What is the Three Weeks . We are now in the period known as the three weeks. It begins on 17th of Tamuz which this year (2001) was Sunday July 8. It is one of the six public fast days. These three weeks are a time of mourning with various laws and customs. The three weeks conclude with the saddest day of our yearly calendar on the 9th day of the month Av. This year it falls out on Sunday July 29.

Why did our nation have to wander in the desert 40 years. The ninth of Av was singled out as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. After our nation went out of Egypt and received the Torah we were supposed to enter Israel immediately. The wandering in the desert for 40 years was a punishment because of the following incident, related in the book of Numbers in chapters 13 and 14.

The sin of the spies . The people came to Moses and requested that before they enter into the land they first want to send spies. G-d agreed that they could. For some reason, which is another discussion, 10 out of the 12 spies returned with the intent of denouncing what they saw. They related a very poor report saying that it is a land which devours its inhabitants. This caused a scene among the nation.

In chapter 14, verse 1 it states that the congregation lifted up there voices that night and cried. That night was the 9th of Av.

A night of crying for generations. Our sages related to us that when this happened, G-d said the following. "You are crying tonight for no reason. This night will be set aside as a time for crying throughout the generations' with a reason"

The 9th of Av was set aside as a day when many tragedies occurred and is the saddest day in the calendar. It is a day of fasting and mourning over the destruction of both Temples and the destruction of our people throughout the generations.

The Great Temples of Jerusalem . The Famous Western wall or Wailing Wall adn called day some is the last remnants of the Great Temple of Jerusalem. This was first built by King Solomon and it is where we offered sacrifices of animals to G_D among other forms of worship. The First Temple stood about 450 years adn was destroyed by the Babylonians. The Second Temple was built 70 years after the second was destroyed. It also stood about 450 years under must harsher conditions though. It was during the second Temple that the events of Chanukah stood place. It was destroyed about 2000 years ago by the Romans

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