Build Us The Beis Hamikdash: Teaching Young Children About The Three Weeks & Tisha B'Av

S loves to daven just like Tatty!

Every summer just as the hot sun gives way to carefree schedules and splashing in sprinklers, the Three Weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha b'Av comes. This period of time on the Jewish calendar is one of mourning and has somewhat of a somber feel to it. We mourn the loss of the Beis Hamikdash and remember a number of sad and tragic events that historically plagued the Jewish people during this time. It seems almost counter-intuitive to watch our children enjoying the summer months as we refrain from listening to music, cutting our hair, purchasing and wearing new clothes, and, as the nine days before Tisha b'Av approach, also from eating meat, drinking wine, doing laundry, swimming, and more... As a mother, I've often felt the desire to "protect" my children from the somberness of this period of time. I go out of my way to make things fun and carefree for the kids so that they shouldn't know any of the sadness that surrounds these weeks. And then, this year, I was reminded of a beautiful passage we read toward the end of our Shabbos prayers each week:

Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Chanina: Torah scholars increase peace in the world, for it is said: And all your children shall be learners of the Torah of the L-rd, and great will be the peace of banayich, (your children). Do not read banayich, but bonayich (your builders). Those who love Your Torah have abundant peace, and there is no stumbling for them.

The other side of this period of mourning is a period of peace. One that will arrive, G-d willing, with the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash and the coming of Moshiach, may it be soon. And from this passage, we are reminded that it is through our children and their natural love of Torah and mitzvos that we will merit to see these days of sorrow transformed into days of joy. While S (and certainly Y) are a bit young to fully grasp all the tragedy and misfortune that surround this time, they are certainly the right age to tap into their natural connection to Torah and mitzvos. Surely it is appropriate to inspire and encourage them through learning and play at home.

S, busy at work...

After seeing a post on Facebook by a fellow Jewish mother who had her children decorate a poster of the Kotel (Western Wall) to use for mitzvah notes, I was inspired to do a similar project with S and Y. As parents, we are responsible to be our children's first teachers. I explained to S in an age appropriate way that these Three Weeks, culminating with Tisha B'Av are somewhat of a sad time for the Jewish people. He knows they began with a fast day (when he had two scoops of ice cream as his hungry Tatty watched!) and I explained that we also stop taking hair cuts during this time and buying/wearing new clothes. I explained to him in brief that a long, long time ago, many sad things happened to the Jewish people during this time and that we lost our dear Beis Hamikdash. I went on to explain that through doing mitzvos, we can help to bring Masiach and rebuild the Beis Hamikdash. We set out to decorate our own Kotel poster (which I prepped simply by drawing bricks in grey marker and left to his and Y's own process art). I allowed S to choose art materials from his shelf to add to the poster and left it taped to the floor for the morning so he could return as he wished to add more. We will be hanging it up and tracking mitzvos our family does through the remainder of the Three Weeks. 

Y added some artistry to our Kotel as well--some colorful footprints and, with my help, a few yellow scribbles!

These concepts are very deep and lofty. We can often assume as adults who grapple with them that our children also will find it hard to connect with; our children will often surprise us with how much they can understand. As I schep nachas from watching how much S and Y love yiddishkeit, and how much more S knows at three years old than I knew at even 23 years old, I have no doubt in my mind at all that it is through our amazing children that we will surely merit, b'ezras Hashem to see the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days!