The 3 Weeks

 it is 9:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed.  i got off to a late start and took the dogs out at 7:30.  i came back and did some laundry.  i mopped the floors.  everything is covered in dog hair and black dust.  i sweep about three times a day and it is still dirty.  i didn't have the energy to throw buckets of soapy water all around the floors.  i did a wet mop job, instead.  i washed down the porch off of the master bedroom; where i have 2 laundry racks.  the dogs lie out there when they need a breeze.  it was pretty dirty. i put out a small comforter .  the dogs like freshly laundered sheets and duvet covers.

yesterday we had a fast day which began the period of time, called the three weeks.  it is a sad time which leads to the major fast of tisha b av, commerating the destruction of the two temples. sadly, my baby sister died three years ago just before the onset of the major fast.  it is a really hard day.  i have always watched holocaust films to keep me in the state of morning but i no longer need any aids.  it is a personal tragic day for me.  in this period of historical mourning, we cease from joyous occassions.  we do not make weddings, or listen to live music.  we do not buy new clothes or houses or furniture. 

it starts out on a minor note of sadness and increases by the day.  on the last 9 days of this period, we refrain from eating meat or drinking wine.  we can have the meat for shabbat meals. nine days of vegetarian meals is always fine for me.  i am not that much of a carnivore. this is not an auspicious time for the jews so we postpone elective surgeries and law suits.  even travelling can be considered dangerous.  we avoid swimming during the nine days. during these nine days, we do not do laundry. we try not to shower for pleasure.  on the fast itself, we do not wear leather shoes. we do not wear freshly laundered clothes.  some allow it on shabbat.

i am hopefully; going to have some friends come for a visit after the nine days end.  yesterday's fast was only from dawn until sunset.  i started fasting at 11:00 p.m. because i had a late meal that night.  i seldom eat after 9:00 p.m.  i fell asleep and woke up at 4:15 a.m.  i had just a few minutes to drink some water before the fast began. i then went back to sleep.  it was a hot day.  i stayed in bed almost all day. i got a phone call from a friend alerting me to the fact that missles from lebanon had fallen in israel in the north.  she was at the pool and the lifeguard had been called to have the bomb shelter opened.  as i lay in my bed; i thought i heard planes and i thought i heard missles falling in the distance.  

later on in the day i took the dogs out.  i heard loud trance music with a thumping beat.  that was the booms i had heard for hours.  as relieved as i was that we were not under attack; i was also hurt that some people were having a loud celebration on the fast day which begins an historic mourning period for the jews. i broke my fast at 8:30 p.m.  i never got to pray.  i was in bed on my phone reading about the three weeks. i heard that a young man was killed by a terrorist.  on tuesday a terrorist rammed his car into 8 people waiting at a bus stop.  he then got out and starting stabbing other people. a young pregnant women while fighting for her life, lost her baby.  

its beginning to feel like tisha b av almost every day.  how many families are losing cherished children and family members on a daily basis? so i ask G-d to help me understand his plan and to help me understand why seemingly, innocent eople are being systematically cut down.  i know that there is nothing new under the sun and that there has always been hard times for the jewish people. i have to pray harder and nudge G-d more vehemently.  someone recently told me that the prayers of elderly women are most pleasing to G-d.  wishing everyone a quiet and peaceful shabbat.

elderly women