ב"ה
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Monday, July 20, 2026

Halachic Times (Zmanim)
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Nine Days
Jewish History

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After a successful landing on the moon’s surface, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on our celestial neighbor, on July 20, corresponding to the Hebrew date of 6 Menachem Av (after nightfall in eastern U.S.).

Links: Retaining Gravity on the Moon’s Surface, The Astronaut, Orbiting the Moon

Laws and Customs

During the “Nine Days" from Av 1st to the Ninth of Av, we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple. We abstain from meat and wine, music, haircutting, bathing for pleasure, and other joyous (and dangerous) activities. (The particular mourning customs vary from community to community, so consult a competent halachic authority for details.)

Consumption of meat and wine is permitted on Shabbat, or at a seudat mitzvah (obligatory festive meal celebrating the fulfillment of certain mitzvot) such as a brit (circumcision), or a siyum celebrating the completion of a course of Torah study (i.e., a complete Talmudic tractate). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory initiated the custom of conducting or participating in a siyum on each of the Nine Days (even if one does not avail oneself of the dispensation to eat meat).

Citing the verse "Zion shall be redeemed with mishpat [Torah] and its returnees with tzedakah," (Isaiah 1:27) the Rebbe urged that we increase in Torah study (particularly the study of the laws of the Holy Temple) and charity during this period.

Links:
Nine Days laws and customs
Daily live siyum broadcasts
Learn about the Holy Temple in Jerusalem

Daily Thought

Know as clear as day and contemplate this deeply, that He who emanates all into being is He who rules and judges this world. In the heavens above and on the earth below, there is nothing else. (Deut. 4:39)

The same G‑d who transcends all time and space is the same G‑d manifest in all the forces and fields of physics.

The same G‑d from whom all existence emerges is the same G‑d who conceals that truth from every conscious being, providing space for each one to be that which it is.

The same G‑d from whom all life extends is the same G‑d who restrains that energy, with kindness, so that finite creatures can exist, to the tiniest worm hiding in the bowels of the earth.

And when you know all this, and you contemplate it well…

…that the very substance of each thing is nothing more than an articulation of divine energy, that even time and space extend from Him at will, as do the very limitations and sense of existence of each creation, that darkness is His presence as much as light, hiddenness as is revelation, matter as is energy, somethingness as is nothingness, for He is both beyond and within each place, moment and thing…

…then you will know that there really is nothing else. Nothing else but the one G‑d.

As the Baal Shem Tov would say in simple, succinct form: Divine energy is all there is, and everything is divine energy.

Sha’ar Hayichud V’Ha-emunah, chapter six.