This last week has been a time of chaos, confusion and calamity – you may have noticed.
If it feels, to you, like the world has shifted on its axis and things just aren’t working properly at the moment you aren’t alone.
In my world it has been a highly stressful time and talking to other people has led me to believe this has not been especially me.
I had a special session booked with a client and neither of us could get our Skype to work.
My computer suddenly decided to send protected files to clients.
They had never been protected before and I hadn’t done anything to set them as protected.
Of course it could have been some “important” update from MIcrosoft that triggered this but it occurred without my knowledge.
That is until I received emails saying they couldn’t open the file.
Of course, these are “first world” problems and much worse things are happening all the time to other people.
But, in my world these things added to an already stressful time.
Not that i’m complaining – the so-called “Three weeks” is generally a challenging time of the year.
So, what are “the three weeks”?
In the Jewish calendar it’s a time of disasters.
Throughout history a number of calamities and disasters have occurred on the Hebrew date of the 9th of Av (pronounced Uv).
In biblical times, as described in the Book of Numbers from the Five Books of Moses, this was when Moses sent people to check out the land of Israel prior to the Hebrews entering the land after having received the 10 commandments and other divine revelations at Mt Sinai after the exodus from Egypt.
This was supposed to be a time of great joy and celebration completing the process that had begun with the Exodus and then the time at Mt Sinai.
Instead, it went badly wrong because the Children of Israel didn’t have enough faith in G-d.
A modern example is a wedding celebration that is destroyed by a suicide bomber.
While the bride and groom have survived many of their friends and family haven’t.
Each year, when the anniversary of their wedding comes around an event which should be a reminder of great joy and celebration is turned into a time of sadness.
Following on from this original, biblical event there have been further disasters occurring on this date.
The two temples in Jerusalem were destroyed – the first one by the Babylonians and the second one by the Romans.
In 1492 the Jews were expelled from Spain by decree of Queen Isabella.
The First World War started on the 9th of Av, which led ultimately to the Second World War.
As you can see this day of disaster has continued throughout history and has involved not just the Jewish people but the entire world.
The Three Weeks is the period leading up to the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av.
The stress and difficulties build up inexorably over that time culminating in the final week.
The good news is, the 9th of Av is this Tuesday.
So, if you’ve managed to survive this far, hanging out for another couple of days will see things turn around and there being a marked improvement in the world getting “back on it’s axis”.