The Three Weeks - Observances

Observances

The mourning observances during the Three Weeks are divided into four levels, increasing in intensity:

1. From the Seventeenth of Tammuz until the end of Tammuz
2. From Rosh Chodesh Av until the week in which Tisha B'Av falls
3. The week in which Tisha B'Av falls until the Eighth of Av
4. Tisha B'Av itself

Standard Ashkenazic custom, or minhag, restricts the extent to which one may take a haircut, shave or listen to music, though communities and individuals vary their levels of observance of these customs. No Jewish marriages or other major celebrations are allowed during the Three Weeks, since the joy of such an event would conflict with the expected mood of mourning during this time.

Many Orthodox Jews refrain from eating meat during the Nine Days from the first of the month of Av until midday of the day after the fast of Ninth of Av, based on the tradition that the Temple burned until that time.