Days on the Jewish Calendar: Tammuz
Turning Bitter Into Sweet During the Three Weeks
A chassidic class on the Three Weeks between 17 Tammuz and Tisha B'Av, using the symbolism of bitter almonds turning sweet and Aharon's staff, to frame exile as a path to redemption.
17 Tammuz: Part 1
Opens with the dating dispute over which day the walls of Yerushalayim were breached, then turns to the Gemara's striking claim that the churban came about because they did not make birkas haTorah. Develops the Bach's explanation that what was truly missing was the proper kavanah, feeling that Torah is the chochmah of Hashem Himself, and shows why only genuine self-nullification allows a limited mind to grasp an unlimited Torah, and why learning without that awareness can become a sam mavet rather than a sam chayim.
The Three Weeks: Part 1
Traces Yirmiyahu's vision of the almond branch as the source for the twenty-one days between Shiva Asar B'Tammuz and Tisha B'Av, explaining why almonds specifically, bitter when small and sweet when ripe, were chosen to hint at a churban that leads to an eternal Third Beis Hamikdash. Develops the parable of a talmid left waiting while his rebbi works out a deeper Torah thought, and of a parent's punishment, to show why the exile itself is an expression of love that will make Tisha B'Av the greatest Yom Tov of all.
17 Tammuz: Part 2
Opens with the Rambam's ruling that all the fast days will become days of joy when Mashiach comes, illustrated by the mashal of a parent who must sometimes hurt a child precisely out of love. Shows how the gematria of 17, the same as tov, already hints at this hidden good, as it did for Yosef and Yaakov, and how the connection between Shiva Asar B'Tammuz and the name Havayah is already glimpsed whenever the fast falls on Shabbos and is pushed off entirely.
The Three Weeks: Part 2
Asks why, despite Yirmiyahu's pasuk pointing to a twenty-one day count, halachah and minhag Yisrael call this period specifically the Three Weeks. Develops the idea that everything from Hashem is ultimately good even when concealed, and shows how the number three, echoing Matan Torah and the future Third Beis Hamikdash, was chosen specifically to keep that hidden good in view, closing with why actively waiting and longing for Mashiach itself hastens the geulah.
17 Tammuz: Part 3
Works through the machloket between Rebbi and the Chachamim over whether a fast that falls on Shabbos is pushed off to Sunday or cancelled outright, then unpacks the halachic question of whether the fast's essential obligation still rests on Shabbos itself, with practical differences for a bris milah or a sick person. Concludes by comparing the hunger of Yom Kippur to the physical eating of Shabbos, showing both draw their chiyus from ruchniyus rather than gashmiyus.
Month of Tammuz
Explains why the whole month of Sivan, not just the day of Matan Torah, carries the status of the giving of the Torah, comparing it to how the miracle of Purim colors its entire month. Shows why Tammuz, the month that follows, represents the Bnei Yisrael's own avodah of living out the Torah, developing the gematria pattern of gimmel and dalet, giver and receiver, through the four kabbalistic worlds, and concludes that receiving and acting on the Torah is, in a certain sense, greater than the giving itself.