I am a bit confused. I read that during the destruction of the First Holy Temple, the walls of Jerusalem were breached on the 9th of Tammuz. Elsewhere I read that it was breached on the 17th of Tammuz during the destruction of both the First and Second Holy Temples. Can you clear this up for me?

Reply

You're not the only one who’s confused. In fact, according to some opinions, this confusion goes back to the time when the walls were breached and the Temple was destroyed. But before we get to that, let us start at the beginning.

The 9th of Tammuz Tradition

When discussing the destruction of the First Holy Temple, Jeremiah tells us that the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Babylonians on the 9th of Tammuz.1

So what happened on the 17th of Tammuz? Maimonides2 lists five things:

  • the Tablets of the Ten Commandments were broken;
  • in the era of the First Temple, the offering of the daily sacrifice ceased;
  • in the war leading to the destruction of the Second Temple, the walls of Jerusalem were breached;
  • a wicked Roman ruler named Apostumus burned a Torah scroll; and
  • he erected an idol in the Sanctuary.

Maimonides goes on to explain3 that the fast of the 17th of Tammuz (together with the other fasts commemorating the destruction of the Temple) was already mentioned by the prophets in the book of Zechariah:

So said the L‑rd of Hosts: The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth [month] . . . shall be for the house of Judah for joy and happiness and for happy holidays; therefore, love truth and peace.4

The sages explain that the phrase “the fast of the fourth month” is a reference to the fast on the 17th of Tammuz, which is the fourth month. Now, Zechariah lived in the era of the building of the Second Temple. So what was the fast of 17 Tammuz commemorating?

Maimonides explains that it was in mourning for (a) the two Tablets of the Ten Commandments that were broken and (b) the offering of the daily sacrifice that ceased in the era of the First Temple.

Why then was this day decreed a fast day, rather than the day on which the walls were broken (9 Tammuz)? Because the destruction of the Tablets and the cessation of sacrificial offerings is viewed as even more severe than that of the destruction of the city’s walls.5

This seems straightforward enough. The walls of the First Temple were breached on 9 Tammuz and the walls of the Second Temple were breached on 17 Tammuz.6

But it’s not that simple.

The Jerusalem Tradition

The Jerusalem Talmud, as well as other Midrashic and Talmudic sources, interprets the phrase in Zechariah’s prophecy, “the fast of the fourth month,” as referring to the 17th of Tammuz, “the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached.”7

How can this be? Didn’t Jeremiah say it happened on the ninth? The Talmud somewhat cryptically explains that “confusion exists with regard to the dates.”8

What does that mean?

Some explain that although the walls of the city were actually breached on the 17th of Tammuz, due to the great turmoil suffered by the Jewish people at that time (and a large portion of the Jews already in exile), they thought that the breach occurred on the ninth. When Jeremiah recorded what happened, he didn’t want to deviate from the popular belief that it occurred on the ninth.9

However, Rabbi Shmuel Eidels (1555–1631), in his classic commentary on the Talmud known as the Maharsha, explains that the confusion mentioned is not an error of the Jewish people. Rather, the non-Jews, who used the solar calendar, considered the day the walls were breached to be the ninth of the month, while the Jews, who follow the lunar cycle, counted that day as the 17th of the month.10

Both Are True

Jeremiah states, “I see a rod of an almond tree.”11 Rashi12 explains this to mean that G‑d told him, “You have seen well, for I will diligently pursue My word to perform it,” explaining that just like an almond tree produces fruit in 21 days, there was a 21-day interval between the breaching of the city’s walls on the 17th of Tammuz and the destruction of the Temple on the 9th of Av.”

This indicates that Rashi accepts the tradition that the walls were breached on the 17th. Yet he makes no comment on the verses (cited earlier) stating that the breach occurred on the ninth.

The Rebbe points out this apparent contradiction in Rashi’s approach and explains that a careful reading of Rashi in both places shows that he follows the understanding that there were a number of stages in the breaching of the walls. On the 9th of Tammuz, they breached the outer walls of the city of Jerusalem, and on the 17th, they breached the walls surrounding the Temple. Thus, both dates are accurate but refer to different stages.13

May we merit the fulfillment of the verse “So said the Lord of Hosts: The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth [month] . . . shall be for the house of Judah for joy and happiness and for happy holidays; therefore, love truth and peace” with the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple speedily in our days!