A PARADOX

Dear Family

Hope everyone is well.

Mazal Tov to Chanie and the Dahan Family on the engagement of Shlomo! Such good news BH.

Mazal tov to Devorah Leah on her upcoming birthday next week. Wishing you many more happy and healthy ones!

Congratulations to Dovi and Shlomo Levy on achieving their black belts in karate. So no one should start up with the Levys!

Welcome back from Camp Chava, where she was Head Counsellor in Pennsylvania. Well done Chava!

We are in the middle of the 3 Weeks of Mourning for the Desruction of the Beit Hamikdash, and tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh Av, where the mourning intensifies for the last 9 days until Tisha BeAv.

I believe it is in the Mishna which states 'mishenichnas Av memaatim besimcha'.

And the simple translation is 'that when we enter Av we should reduce in simcha.'

However the Rebbe explains it more subtly as follows. He puts a comma after memaatim (reduce) and explains - When we enter Av we reduce, (BUT) WITH JOY!

In other words we do not forget that we are mourning for the Bet Hamikdash, but we INCREASE OUR JOY AND ENTHUSIASM FOR FULFILING HASHEMS TORAH AND MITZVOS.

This can be understood better from another example.

This year the Fast of 17th Tammuz (when the 3 weeks began), was on Shabbos.

And the halacha is that in this case we do not fast on Shabbos.

And the fast is pushed off to Sunday.

But it works out that on the day when the Destruction of Yerushalayim began, and is being commemorated, and we should therefore have been mourning and fasting, WE WERE FEASTING AND ENJOYING SHABBOS!

The Rebbe explains that this is a foretaste of how it will feel like when Moshiach comes.

May it be this year before the upcoming Tisha BeAv .

Wishing everyone a Gut and JOYOUS SHABBOS.

RAMBAM 5 MINUTES PER WEEK. Sefer Tahara, Hilchos Tumas Hameis, Chaps 15 - 21 PAGE 7

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Hub4PlNwQtRe35VHCtu6SvuJcLSXD8bxKyb6MLX -y4/edit

by the way I have now updated this Sefer, and you now have the improved version BH