| |||||||||
|
Summer is a playful time. School is out. Picnics and swimming are daily activities. Camp is in full swing. Families find time to vacation together. In short, the living is easy. So it seems a bit paradoxical, that in the middle of this month of fun in the sun, we should recall our losses and begin a mourning period. The cycle of life teaches us that not everything that looks perfect really is all perfect.
The natural cycle of spring greenery has slowly given way to the parched dry landscape of the summer months. Especially in Israel the summer glow quickly becomes a hot and consuming place where one tries to avoid the warmth that pervades the cities and towns. A few hours outdoors in the heat of the day encourages us to escape indoors to avoid dehydration and physical debilitation. The blazing Middle Eastern sun on the Jerusalem stone brings us nearer to the images we identify with the Temple’s physical burning. Its complete demolition occurs during the early days of the following month of Av. The month of Tammuz suggests that the elements of destruction are also gateways to hope and resolution. We have gone from the revelation at Mt. Sinai, in the month of Sivan, to the beginning of the destruction of the Temples in Tammuz. God promised us the Torah but we returned to the worshiping of the golden calf on the seventeenth day of Tammuz. These losses invite us to look within ourselves. God is disappointed in the children of Israel and the children of Israel feel abandoned by God’s punishment. The summer heat allows us to stop our wandering for a while and bewail the times and trials of our nation’s misfortunes. Tammuz reveals tension, temples and the teaching of struggle, survival and the blessings of easy summer living. | |||||||||
|
CREDITS: The JCC Association would like to thank the following individuals for their contributions to the Tammuz portion of the "This New Month" Project.
© 2002 - 2006 JCC Association 'This New Month' Project | |||||||||