LAW OF THE NINE DAYS MONTH Ab
RABBINATE OF MARBELLA B”H
“When the month of Ab begins, we minimize our joy”
This Talmudic expression is the beginning of the laws concerning the first days of the month of Ab. prepare ourselves to remember the sad events that happened to our People and led to the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem on two occasions and on the same date (9 BC).Within the regulations to follow, we avoid the celebration of marriages, engagements and any kind of festive event that does not require its celebration in those days, such as Berit Mila and/or Bar Mitzvah, which would be carried out in the religious aspect only.
However, it takes a certain preponderance of NOT consuming meat and wine. The reason is because daily animal sacrifices and libations with wine were offered at the Bet HaMikdash. In this way, by abstaining from these foods, we express our desire to see the Temple rebuilt in our days B.H. and recover all its splendor.
Although, in the Mishnah treaty 26 b of Taanit we find the prohibition of eating meat and drinking wine in the Pseudah Mafseket, which is the food of just before the fast and which the Jews of Yemen maintain as a custom until today, but, most Jewish communities extended this restriction for a longer period of time.
The Shulchan Aruch (551:9) mentions three different customs: 1): 1) Those who abstain from eating meat and drinking wine since the last fast of the 17th of Tamuz. 2): Who takes it into account since the beginning of the month of Ab and 3): Who carries it out only during the week of the 9th of Ab.
These restrictions do not apply on Shabbat, nor to sick or weak people or those women during the first thirty days after giving birth. The rabbis recommend in these cases the consumption of poultry meat instead of red meat. Logically, children are not subject to this regulation, although Rav Ovadiah Yossef Z.L. recommends that one year before the Bar or Bat Mitzvah, they should be initiated into the fulfillment of these traditions.
Let us reflect on our history and do our best to rectify and prepare for the coming month of Elul with its prayers of supplication (Selijot) to the Eternal.
SHABAT SHALOM