Judaism is meant to be a joyous faith. 334 days, 94% of the year, it is a spiritual duty to be besimcha, spiritually joyous.

And then there are 21 days, 6% of our calendar, when we are not. From the 17th of Tammuz through Tisha B’Av which begins this Wednesday night, the Jewish calendar asks us to cultivate sadness. Which means sadness is not something to get through. It is something to actively cultivate. The halacha does not merely permit us to feel sad; it demands that we do things to feel it.

The Chassidic masters insisted that these three weeks are not merely an accident or a scar on the calendar. The sadness has purpose. The Me’or VaShemesh teaches that the 21 days between the 17th of Tammuz and the ninth of Av are the mekor v’shoresh, the source and root, of the 21 days of festival in the Jewish year: Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, the seven days of Pesach, Shavuot, the two days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the eight days of Sukkot… 21 days of somehow feeding 21 days of joy. The Netivot Shalom takes it a step further – he writes that just as Sukkot is the source of joy for the entire year that follows, the Three Weeks are the wellspring of sadness for the entire year.

Sadness, true, sadness, is not easy. 

By sad, I don’t mean depressed, and I don’t mean angry. Those are easier. 

I am very uncomfortable with being sad. Maybe you are too. 

Three weeks of rage would be much easier! Anger is exciting, and can even be kind of fun.........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)