OU Staff

Unfortunately, it still remains the annual rite of a Jewish summer, a jarring contrast to the free-spirited summer fun that occupies Western society; we commonly refer to it as the three weeks, – that saddest period of our calendar – one that commemorates our national tragedies, most significantly, the destruction of the two batei mikdash [...]

The Mishnah (Ta’anit 25b) says that once the month of Av begins, during the Nine Days, we have to reduce our joy. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 551:2) rules according to the Rishonim who interpret this rule as meaning that we may not engage in business, build items that bring us pleasure or make preparations [...]

The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 551:16) records a custom practiced by Ashkenazim of not bathing or showering during the Nine Days, from Rosh Chodesh of the month of Av until the end of the Tisha B’Av mourning. Rav Moshe Soloveichik explained the custom as follows: When someone’s relative dies, there are three periods of mourning [...]

Fast days, with the exception of Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av, begin in the morning. Does that mean we can enjoy ourselves the night before? In particular, the Three Weeks, with the custom in memory of the destruction of the Temple of refraining from having parties, begin on Shivah Asar BeTammuz (this year observed on [...]