The Seventeenth of Tammuz (, Modern: ''Shiv'á Asár beTammúz'', Tiberian ( SBL): ''Šib̲ʿāʿāśār bəṯammuz'')) is a Jewish fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

before the destruction of the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

. It falls on the 17th day of the fourth Hebrew month of Tammuz and marks the beginning of The Three Weeks, a mourning period leading up to

Tisha B'Av Tisha B'Av ( ; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism. A commemoration of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusal ...

. The day also traditionally commemorates the destruction of the two tablets of the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

and other historical calamities that befell the Jewish people on the same date.

History

The fast of Tammuz, according to

Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Joseph (Mishnaic Hebrew: ; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leadin ...

's interpretation, is the fast mentioned in the

Book of Zechariah The Book of Zechariah is a Jewish text attributed to Zechariah, a Hebrew prophet of the late 6th century BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the text is included as part of the Twelve Minor Prophets, itself a part of the second division of that work. In ...

as "the fast of the fourth onth ( Zechariah 8:19). This refers to Tammuz, which is the fourth month of the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...

. According to the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, five calamities befell the Jewish people on this day: #Moses broke the two tablets of stone on Mount Sinai, when he saw the

Golden calf According to the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, the golden calf () was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai (bible), Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf" (). It is first mentio ...

; #During the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem the daily ''tamid'' offering ceased to be brought because no sheep were available; #During the Roman siege of Jerusalem, the city walls were breached, leading to the destruction of the

; #Prior to Bar Kokhba's revolt, Roman military leader Apostomus burned a

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

scroll; #An idol was erected in the Temple. The Babylonian Talmud places the second and fifth tragedies in the First Temple period.'' Taanit'' 28b The

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah () is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1#Superscription, Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as "th ...

(39.2, 52.6–7) states that the walls of Jerusalem during the First Temple were breached on the 9th of Tammuz. Accordingly, the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

dates the third tragedy (breach of Jerusalem's walls) to the Second Temple period. However, the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

('' Taanit'' IV, 5) states that in both eras the walls were breached on 17th Tammuz, and that the text in Jeremiah 39 is explained by stating that the Biblical record was "distorted", apparently due to the troubled times. The Seventeenth of Tammuz occurs forty days after the Jewish holiday of

Shavuot (, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

ascended

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...

on Shavuot and remained there for forty days. The Children of Israel made the

Golden Calf According to the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, the golden calf () was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai (bible), Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf" (). It is first mentio ...

on the afternoon of the sixteenth of Tammuz when it seemed that Moses was not coming down when promised. Moses descended the next day (forty days by his count), saw that the

Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

s were violating many of the laws he had received from God, and smashed the tablets.

Customs

As a minor fast day, fasting lasts from dawn to shortly after dusk. It is customary among

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

to refrain from listening to music, public entertainment, and haircuts on fast days, and on this occasion because it is also part of The Three Weeks (see below, ''Bein haMetzarim''). Other deprivations applicable to the major fasts (i.e.

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

and Tisha B'Av) do not apply. If the 17th of Tammuz falls on a Shabbat, the fast is instead observed the next day, the 18th of Tammuz (on Sunday). This last occurred in 2022, and will occur again in 2029. A

reading, a special prayer in the

Amidah The ''Amidah'' (, ''Tefilat HaAmidah'', 'The Standing Prayer'), also called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' ( 'eighteen'), is the central prayer of Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the ''Amidah'' during each of the three services prayed on week ...

( Aneinu), and in many, but not all, Ashkenazic communities Avinu Malkenu are added at the morning

Shacharit ''Shacharit'' ( ''šaḥăriṯ''), or ''Shacharis'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning '' tefillah'' (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers. Different traditions identify different primary components of ''Shacharit''. E ...

and afternoon Mincha services. Ashkenazi congregations also read a

haftarah The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Pr ...

(from the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...

) at Mincha. Congregations also recite during Shacharit a series of Selichot (special penitential prayers) reflecting the themes of the day.

Cycle of fasts

The 17th of Tammuz is the second of the four fasts commemorating the destruction of the Temple and the Jewish exile in Babylon. It is preceded by the fast of the Tenth of Tevet and arrives three weeks prior to the full-day fast of the Ninth of Av. The cycle is also associated historically with the Fast of Gedalia, which is observed on the third day of Tishrei.

''Bein haMetzarim''

The three weeks beginning with the 17th of Tammuz and ending with the Ninth of Av are known as ''Bein haMetzarim'' ("between the straits", i.e. between the days of distress), or The Three Weeks. Some customs of mourning, which commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem, are observed from the start of the Three Weeks. The oldest extant reference to these days as ''Bein haMetzarim'' – which is also the first source for a special status of The Three Weeks – is found in Eikhah Rabbati 1.29 (

Lamentations Rabbah The Midrash on Lamentations () is a midrashic commentary to the Book of Lamentations. It is one of the oldest works of midrash, along with Genesis Rabbah and the '' Pesikta de-Rav Kahana''. Names The midrash is quoted, perhaps for the first ti ...

, fourth century CE?). This

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

glosses Lamentations 1:3, "All ion'spursuers overtook her between the straits." The three weeks of mourning between the 17th of Tammuz and 9th of Av is cited''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'', Second Edition, Volume 6. "Fasting and Fast Days". 2007. Keter Publishing House. as a rabbinically instituted period of fasting for the "especially pious". Such fasting is observed from morning to evening, common with other rabbi-decreed fasts.

References

External links

*Rabbi

Eliezer Melamed Eliezer Melamed (; born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli religious-Zionist rabbi, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, the rabbi of the settlement Har Bracha, and the author of '' Peninei Halakha'', a series of '' Halakhic'' works. Biography ...

– Peninei Halakha �
The Laws of the Seventeenth of Tammuz
{{The Three Weeks Tammuz 17 Tammuz 17 Tammuz 17 Tammuz 17