On the 17th of the month of Tammuz, the three weeks begin. This is a time of mourning. Physically, we refrain from doing things that illicit joy, such as listening to music, traveling, buying new clothes etc. It is through this physical process that we may tap into deeper levels of grief. This is one example of how Judaism provides time and space for specific emotions. Of course, it is vital that we allow ourselves to feel whatever we feel regardless of what day of the week it is. Yet, it is also important to acknowledge the impossibility of reconciling  an understanding mind with a bleeding heart. Structure and ritual can help bridge this gap.  As we continue to be engulfed in the time of Covid and the continual fight for equality in the black community, how can we utilize the Jewish construct for mourning?  While our hearts continue to bleed, the Torah provides us with some divine bandages to help us carry on in our minds. I'd like to think that by using the Torah's tools, we become more active, hopeful and willful in transforming our lives and those of others.


The intention of the tea for this month is to cool and moisten us during these hot and dry times. The herbs included are: Nettles, Rosemary, Hawthorn, Marshmallow and Lemon Balm.

Marshmallow | Althaea officinalis

During these hot and dry months, marshmallow is a favorite. She is our quintessential moistening remedy for the mucous membranes of the body used to treat heat and dryness. During the month of Tammuz and the summer in general, we are out and about, engaging with the world, exerting lots of energy. This energy can sometimes lead us astray… We read in Likutei Moharan that, “All speech comes from heat. Someone who has a lot of warmth speaks a great deal, “My heart is hot within me. A fire rages in my utterances, [when] I speak with my tongue” (Psalms 39:4). This is the flame of fire….” While self expression is an incredible blessing, we must be mindful about the words we speak especially when we get swept into the heat of the moment….

What are ways you check your speech? How do you monitor your self?

Hawthorn Berry | Crataegus

Our hearts are cracked open this month. On the 17th of the month five troubling events occured: the tablets were broken, the daily offering was discontinued before the destruction of the first Temple, the walls of Jerusalem were breached before the destruction of the second Temple, wicked Apostomos burned the Torah and set up an idol in the Temple. It is the beginning of the three weeks and a time of communal mourning among the Jewish people. Hawthorn is a heart’s best friend. Medical herbal research has validated this use, finding hawthorn to be effective for increasing the strength of heart contractions, increasing blood flow to the heart, decreasing blood lipids and modulating blood pressure. Additionally, hawthorn is used in the form of an energy medicine for the heart. As a flower essence, she helps open the heart to giving and receiving love, and can help in healing heartache. She encourages self-love and self-acceptance.

What tools do you have to mend a broken heart?

Rosemary | Salvia rosmarinus

Rosemary’s health benefits are most often attributed to her high level of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. She is also associated with enhancing memory and recall. She contains salicylic acid, the forerunner of aspirin. This may explain why massaging rosemary oil into joints effectively eases arthritic or rheumatic pain. She also contains antibacterial and antimicrobial agents, and is used by modern herbalists to treat a variety of skin disorders, including dandruff. This month, the spies were sent by Moses to travel through the land of Israel and report back to the people. Upon returning, the spies felt that it would be impossible to conquer the land (there were huge giants residing there). G!d was very upset that despite all of the miracles that these folks had witnessed, they still weren’t convinced that the Divine would lead them to the Promised Land. The Israelites were forced to wander in the desert for another 40 years so that the generation of the Spies would not enter the land. G!d wants us to believe and have faith that anything is possible, even when giants are standing before us. Let Rosemary help us to remember, remember all of the miracles of the desert and all of the miracles of today.

What do you do to stay connected to G!d even when hardships stares you in the face?

Lemon Balm | Melissa Officinalis

Lemon Balm can lift the mood while calming the mind. She is used for digestive problems, especially if due to nervousness. She is used as a hot tea for colds, migraines, insomnia, depression and hypertension especially if associated with stress. Tammuz is a stressful time for the Jewish people. On the sixteenth of Tammuz, we expected Moshe’s return to camp, with the ten commandments in hand. We miscalculated by six hours and when he delayed we assumed the worst. We panicked (most of us atleast). The Egyptian multitudes that accompanied the Israelites quickly regressed to old ways, to the security of graven images, and they convinced many Israelites to follow suit. This lead to the creation of the Golden Calf to replace Moshe as their leader and guide. Stress can lead us to do all sorts of things: shop, drink, pray, exercise and maybe have some lemon balm tea! It is important to move the stress, but G!d forbid it should lead us to do things that go against G!d and against ourselves.

How do you move your stress?

Nettles | Urtica dioica

You can never go wrong with more nettles- hated by those who meander aimlessly through the woods with no awareness to where they are going and loved by all herbalists who know of it’s profound virtues and uses as a food and medicine. She is a diuretic, an alterative, a nutritive tonic, an astringent and inflammation moderating. Nettles is a great remedy for folks who are short tempered.. This month Moshe Rabbeinu, breaks the ten commandment tablets as he is walking down Mt.Sinai and he sees the Israelites dancing around a Golden Calf… He’s angry and destroys the thing that him and G!d had been working on for 40 days. In Judaism, we say that G!d is slow to anger - this is a lesson for all of us. We are created in G!d’s image and like G!d should strive to be slow to anger. Of course, denying anger is never a good thing but perhaps if we sit in our anger long enough, it will transform from mad to sad.

How do you manage your anger? Do you ever find that beneath anger there is sadness?