Dear Friend,

Fast days are often the slowest days of our lives, the rumblings in our stomachs urging the clock onward. As the afternoon drags on, every moment feels like eternity. Every moment is painful.

On Tuesday, the 17th of Tammuz, we fast, marking the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in 69 CE. Three weeks later, Jerusalem was destroyed and G‑d’s home on earth went up in flames. For close to 2,000 years we have been waiting, hoping, and praying for the day the Holy Temple will be rebuilt, a time when G‑d will be felt closer, and all mankind will experience inner happiness, peace and harmony.

While the relatively minor pains of a day without food cannot compare with the terrible suffering of exile, perhaps a common factor is that every extra moment really counts. An extra century, an additional decade, year, day, or even moment that the Temple is not rebuilt, and G‑d and His people remain in exile, is a cosmic tragedy of the highest order. Every moment is painful.

Yet, unlike a fast day which cannot be shortened, every good deed we do hastens the redemption and ends the exile that much faster. Let’s get to work!

The Chabad.org Editorial Team