The summer cycle of scriptural readings revolves around two sets of text. The first is the weekly cycle of readings which progresses through the final book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. The second is the ten week cycle of haftarot, selected from the writings found in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah.

For the three weeks prior to Tisha B'Av, the haftarah readings deal with prophetic denunciation of the sins of the Jewish people. In particular, Jeremiah's prophecies of the imminent destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem predict with frightening accuracy the fate that in fact befell the Jewish people in 586 BCE.

The Shabbat, which comes immediately after Tisha B'Av, is known as Shabbat Nahamu, after the opening words of the haftarah: "Nahamu, nahamu ami -- give comfort to My people". (Isaiah 40:1) There are seven Shabbatot, including this one, between Tisha B'Av and Rosh HaShana; each of them features a selection from Isaiah which speaks of the themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, and repentance.

Tisha B'Av is no longer widely observed. Perhaps this is because it falls in the summer, when distractions of vacation and leisure are highest. Whatever the reason, modern Jews rarely resonate to Tisha B'Av, the rememberance or the destruction of the Temple, due to the sins of the people; if they do respond to the call for communal mourning, it is more likely to happen on or around Yom HaShoa, Holocaust commemoration day, which comes in the spring. For many modern Jews, the Holocaust evokes the emotional connection which the destruction of the Temples evoked for our ancestors.

Very few modern Jews accept the Tisha B’av theology as it relates to the Holocaust; the notion that Jewry was being exterminated as punishment for sin is justifiably rejected. In this case, what worked for our ancestors no longer works for us. Notwithstanding our distancing from the dated theology of destruction, the seven weeks between Tisha B'Av and Rosh HaShanah remain an important opportunity for preparation.

Too many modern Jews miss the opportunity to prepare for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur; we rush home from work or school, hastily down a festival meal, and run off to synagogue to begin the holiday. As in most things of value, what we get out is proportionate to what we put in; what we accomplish in preparation for the High Holy Days yields increased meaning in their observance.

Thus the Jewish summer cycle represents a sort of bell graph: for three weeks, the emotional curve ascends, reaching its' peak on Tisha B'Av; it then descends gradually and gracefully over a period of seven weeks and comes to rest on Rosh HaShanah. Tragedy and trauma strike suddenly; coming to terms takes longer.