Living Torah Archives

The Seventeenth of Tammuz is a fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. When it falls on Shabbos, the fast is postponed until Sunday, the 18th. More than a scheduling difference, this holds a deep lesson for every Jew.

The 17th of Tammuz is a fast day that marks the beginning of a period of mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem. But as a matter of fact, this day bore tragedy for Jews even before the walls of Jerusalem were breached. Indeed, there are famously five tragic events which befell the Jewish people on this day. It’s strange then, that so much emphasis is put on the Jerusalem walls.

The Rebbe reads the Haftarah during the Mincha services on the fast of the 17th of Tammuz.

When Moses descended Mount Sinai and saw the people worshipping a golden calf, he shattered the Ten Commandments.

The prayers for the fast of 17 Tammuz begin: “Permit G-d no silence, until He sets and establishes Jerusalem as the praise of the earth." The Rebbe asks 'How can we challenge G-d?'

17 Tammuz, 5743 · June 28, 1983
In Jewish tradition, a communal fast day is an auspicious time On High. This Divine favor then manifests itself in this world below, and can be intensified by man’s deeds. Maimonides writes that fasting is one of the paths of repentance, and hastens G-d’s promise: “These fast days will be transformed into days of joy and festivity.”