As summer approaches, as does the 3 weeks, (hopefully moshiach will be here before!), I would like to mention something that has been bothering me and I am wondering if there are others who noticed the same nonsense. The rabbanim instituted the 9 days a more stringent mourning period as that is the last week and a half before the beis hamikdash was actually destroyed.

However, why then, do we open up magazines and newspapers and see on almost every page that there are eateries advertising an EXPANDED nine days menu.

Huh??

Yes, that was my reaction when I first saw that.

We can’t eat meat during this time period so as to mourn over our loss; not to indulge in extra gashmius in another area. The milchig eateries should CLOSE or only sell bagels and tuna and nothing more. We can’t start trying to make up for the few days that we are not eating meat by eating extra dairy and then go sit on the floor and cry on tishaa b’av. It just doesn’t work like that.

So if you own a milchig eatery and are reading this letter, I beg you, before you decide on your nine days menu, think about where your values lie. Is your food and money the priority? Or do you care that we suffered a tremendous loss.

In the zchus that we do not indulge in all of these extras during that time period, we should see a tremendous yeshua bkarov.