Question: Do Reform Jews observe the three weeks before Tisha B'Av?
Answer: You ask if Reform Jews observe the Three Weeks -- that is, the period from the 17th of Tamuz to the Ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av) that commemorates the destruction of Jerusalem. There is no standard for observance to which all Reform congregations or rabbis are bound. Different Reform Jews observe the Three Weeks in different ways.
In fact, the status of the Three Weeks in traditional Jewish observance is unclear. According to some of the later codes of Jewish law, the Three Weeks is a period of mourning during which weddings are prohibited (O.H., 551.2). Some codes regard only the period from the beginning of the month of Av to to Tisha B'Av as a period of mourning, as is stated in the Talmud (B. Yevamot 43b).
Most all Reform rabbis do not perform weddings on Tisha B'Av. Some will abstain from performing weddings from the first through the ninth of Av. Very few, if any, restrict weddings from the 17th of Tamuz to the end of that month. This is a position that was first stated in the Augsburg Synod of German Reform rabbis in 1871.
Best wishes,
Rabbi Jeffrey W. Goldwasser
