In December 2013 the Fast of the Tenth of Tevet (which commemorates the siege around Jerusalem that led to its destruction) fell on Friday, the eve of Shabbat. That Friday Night we put red bricks on each of the tables, which made everyone ask: “What is this red brick doing on the table?” And the explanation (as we explained that Friday Night) is that the Rebbe encouraged us to focus on construction instead of destruction. Each Mitzvah we do is “another spiritual brick” aiding in the construction of the Third Temple. For more on each Mitzvah being a brick, and why bricks have holes and the symbolism of all that, see what we shared that Friday Night of the Tenth of Tevet in December 2013.
This Shabbat, July 10th 2015, falls in the Three Weeks of summertime when we mourn the destruction of the Temple. (For more on the Three Weeks, see Chabad.org’s minisite on The Three Weeks). Most of the people at this summertime CozyShabbat weren’t here in December 2013 when we put the bricks on the table (most were guests who had never been to our Shabbat dinners altogether) so we put out the bricks again, because of their relevance during these Three Weeks, and the Rebbe’s encouragement that we focus on spiritual efforts to rebuild the Temple.