Tammuz (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: , '), or Tamuz, is the tenth month of the civil year and the fourth month of the ecclesiastical year on 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 ...

, and the modern Assyrian calendar. It is a month of 29 days, which occurs on the Gregorian calendar around June–July. The name of the month was adopted from the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n and Babylonian month ''Araḫ Dumuzu'', named in honour of the Mesopotamian deity Dumuzid.

Holidays

17 Tammuz – Seventeenth of Tammuz – is a fast day from 1 hour before sunrise to sundown in remembrance of Jerusalem's walls being breached. 17 Tammuz is the beginning of The Three Weeks, in which Jews follow similar customs as the ones followed during the

Omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar People * A variant spelling of the g ...

from the day following

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

until the culmination of the mourning for the death of the students of

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 ...

(the 33rd day of the Omersuch as refraining from marriage and haircuts.) The Three Weeks culminate with Tisha B'Av (9th of Av). :Ashkenazi communities refrain from wine and meat from the beginning of the month of Av, while Sefardi communities only do so from the second day of the month. The mourning continues until noon on the 10th of Av, the date on which the Second Temple's destruction was complete.

In Jewish history

* 3 Tammuz ( BCE) –

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

stops the sun (

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...

, 10:1–15) * 3 Tammuz (1982) – Death of Rabbi Shneur Kotler,

Rosh Yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

of Beth Medrash Govoha of Lakewood, New Jersey. * 3 Tammuz (1994) Death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Seventh Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty * 4 Tammuz (1171) – Death of

Rabbeinu Tam Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam (), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading '' halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a grandson of Rashi. K ...

* 4 Tammuz (1286) – Meir of Rothenburg imprisoned * 5 Tammuz (c. 592 BCE) – Ezekiel receives his "Chariot" vision (

Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Nevi'im#Latter Prophets, Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and one of the Major Prophets, major prophetic books in the Christian Bible, where it follows Book of Isaiah, Isaiah and ...

, 1:4–26) * 6 Tammuz (1976) – Operation Entebbe * 9 Tammuz (c. 586 BCE) –

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 ...

walls breached by

Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

, a date observed as a fast day until the second breaching of Jerusalem's walls by the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

on the 17th of Tammuz (70 CE)This is according to the

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 Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

and Tur Orach Chaim 549. However,

Karaite Jews Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a non-Rabbinical Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and theology. Karaites believe that all of the divine commandme ...

continue to observe the fast on Tammuz 9. * 15 Tammuz (1743) – Death of Chaim ibn Attar * 17 Tammuz (c. 1312 BCE) –

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 ...

offered by the Jewish people, 40 days after the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai. In response,

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 ...

smashed the first Tablets. This is the first of the five national tragedies mourned on this day. * 17 Tammuz (c. 586 BCE) – The

korban In Judaism, the (), also spelled or , is any of a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. The plural form is , , or . The term primarily refers to sacrificial offerings given from humans to God for the pur ...

in Solomon's Temple were discontinued. * 17 Tammuz (70) – Walls of Jerusalem breached by the

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

. * 17 Tammuz (135) The Roman general Apostomus burned the

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 () ...

and placed an idol in 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 ...

. * 21 Tammuz (1636) – Death of the Kabbalist Baal Shem Elijah Loans, grandson of Johanan Luria and Josel of Rosheim, and author of the ''Miklol Yofi'' (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 1695) commentary on

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

. * 21 Tammuz (2020) The last Remaining Jews of Yemen are captured by the Houthi Militia * 22 Tammuz (1792) – Death of Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin * 23 Tammuz (1570) – Death of Rabbi Moses ben Jacob Cordovero * 26 Tammuz (2005) – Death of Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft * 28 Tammuz (1841) – Death of Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum (Ujhel) * 29 Tammuz (150) – Death of Johanan HaSandlar * 29 Tammuz (1105) – Death of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

* 29 Tammuz (1940) – Death of

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky (born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky; 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940) was a Russian-born author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in O ...

; secular observance by Israel as Jabotinsky Day

In fiction

* In the story of Xenogears, Tammuz is the name of a country, named after the Hebrew month. In the official Japanese version translation, however, it was transliterated ''Tamuzu''. This was later further changed by the translation process to "Thames" for the English version.

References

External links

This Month in Jewish History
{{Authority control Months of the Hebrew calendar

Holidays

In Jewish history

In fiction

See also

References

External links