This year, the 17th of Tammuz will be observed on Sunday, July 17. According to the tradition, this is the day that the walls of Jerusalem were breached, ushering in the Three Weeks of Affliction and leading up to Tisha B’Av. In preparation for this time, these are reflections on hope, anxiety, and the challenges and opportunities of these summer days.

Here’s a fact I learned recently. Last Friday was a remarkable day, and not just because it was Shabbat. I learned that for a rare moment, at 7:15 a.m. EDT on July 8, 99% of the world’s population was in the sun. That means that about 6.4 billion people were in the daytime, while more than 1.2 billion people experienced twilight.

Here, again, we have a connection with the sun and Tammuz–in our own life and in our most ancient stories. In chapter 10 of the Book of Joshua, Moses’s successor leads a battle against the five armies who had laid siege to the Gibeonites, whom Joshua had vowed to protect. The battle was long, and seeing that daylight was waning, Joshua prayed to God for help:

“Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still [dom] upon Gibeon; and you, Moon, in the valley of Ayalon.'” (Joshua, 10:12)

While British and Israeli researchers think that they have traced the origin of the story to the day of the oldest eclipse ever recorded—to October 30, 1207 B.C.E.—our rabbis place the occurrence in the month of Tammuz, with its long days.

And while Joshua may have simply wanted more time, the fulfillment of his prayer may have also offered him new perspective—new angles and possibilities he could not have seen before. I know many of us wish for more summer—more long and languid days, more family trips, and more memories. But maybe what we really need is for summer—with its different rhythms and routines—to grant us new perspectives. We might not bring down the walls of Jericho, but maybe there’s a challenge or an opportunity that we’ll feel ready to tackle.

—Rabbi Sari Laufer