Within Chabad communities, it is standard practice to read the day’s teaching from Hayom Yom, the compilation of Chabad customs and chasidic teachings by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. The readings serve as a word of guidance and inspiration as one prepares to leave the synagogue. This is true of the days of the calendar as a whole—and of the 9th of Av in particular.

On the face of it, Hayom Yom’s teaching for Tisha b’Av, the preeminent date commemorating Jewish tragedy, speaks only to the observance of the day. But on closer inspection, I believe, Hayom Yom’s configuration of the three weeks leading up to Tisha b’Av, Tisha b’Av itself, and the seven weeks following reveals a much deeper level of meaning.

The three weeks preceding the 9th of Av are known as bein hametzarim, and choreograph a gradual adoption of mourning customs. Shabbat of each week is distinguished by a special haftarah reading, highlighting the theme of repentance. On Tisha b’Av, the day commemorating the destruction of both Holy Temples, the customs of mourning are given their most intense expression. The seven weeks that follow, referred to as shiva d’nehemata, the seven consolations, feature Shabbat haftarahs with words of comfort. These ten weeks, pivoting on the demanding mourning customs of Tisha b’Av, constitute a significant period leading up to Rosh Hashanah.

The Rebbe chooses a teaching for the 18th of Tammuz—the virtual onset of this delicate period—that by way of allusion gives new meaning to these ten weeks. The first part describes the accomplishment of one of the Alter Rebbe’s premier chassidim:

The Alter Rebbe said of R. Moshe Vilenker: ‘Moshe has magnitude of intellect (mochin d’gadlut), and in his ten years of toil, he has attained through his labors a powerful, capacious, wide-ranging intellectuality (mochin rechavim).”

A lengthy period of toil and labor has secured these enviable traits. But how exactly did he do it? The second part of the teaching provides this crucial information:

For three years R. Moshe Vilenker prepared himself for yechidut (private audience) with the Alter Rebbe. Afterwards he remained in Lyozna for seven years to translate (auf brengen) the yechidut into actual avodah (devotional service).

The specific features of the time frame are significant. The chassid’s remarkable accomplishments took place over a ten-year time span, divided into three- and seven-year periods. In the middle came the defining event: the private audience with his rebbe. This perfectly aligns with the calendar period that this 18th of Tammuz teaching initiates. And the correspondence may be carried over to the spiritual meaning. The ten years of toil parallel the ten weeks that precede and follow Tisha b’Av; the three years of preparation parallel bein hametzarim; the seven years parallel the seven weeks of consolation.

Hayom Yom’s configuration of the three weeks leading up to Tisha b’Av, Tisha b’Av itself, and the seven weeks following reveal an extraordinary calendrical response to Jewish suffering.

What then parallels the yechidut, the decisive encounter with the rebbe that confers meaning and purpose to the time before and after? It is Tisha b’Av itself, the day that commemorates the destruction of the ancient Temples but also, traditionally, the day on which Moshiach is born. Tisha b’Av is thus also, according to Hayom Yom, a day of yechidut, not with the Rebbe (though perhaps that too), but of the Jewish people with the Almighty. That destruction-filled day comes to signify, not the remoteness of the Almighty in our lives, but rather of our intimacy with Him.