THE FAST OF THE 17th of TAMUZ

 

This coming Sunday, July 8th, we will commemorate the Fast of the Seventeenth of Tamuz. (The fast is moved from Shabbat Tamuz 17th to  Sunday Tamuz 18th)
Why is the 17th of Tamuz a day of fasting?  
Five tragedies happened to the Jewish people on the 17th of Tammuz:
1. In Biblical times, Moses descended from Mount Sinai and upon seeing the Jews worshipping the golden calf, he broke the first set of tablets that carried the Ten Commandments.
2. King Menashe, a Jewish King, and the worst sovereign of the Kingdom of Yehuda, placed on that day an idol in the Holy Sanctuary of the Temple, around the year 700 BCE.
3. In the time of the First Temple, on the 17th of Tamuz, 587 BCE, the Kohanim (priests) stopped offering the daily sacrifices due to the shortage of sheep during the siege of the city by the Babylonian army.
4. Around the year 50 of the Common Era, Apostomus, a Roman captain, seized a Tora scroll and with abusive and mocking language, burned it in public. (According to Maimonides, it was Apostomus who placed an idol in the Holy Temple, as well).

 

5. In the year 68 ACE the walls of Yerushalaim were breached after many months of siege by the Roman army. Three weeks after the breach of the wall, the Bet haMikdash was destroyed on the 9th of Ab.

Because of these five tragedies we fast and say special prayers that inspire us to mourn and to repent for our transgressions and those of our ancestors.
The fast begins at dawn and ends with the appearance of the three stars.
More details about the fast, B’H tomorrow.
From “July 4th, history and the Jews”by Joseph Michelson, in Jweekly. 
“John Adams, second president of the United States, in an 1808 letter criticizing the depiction of Jews by the French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire: ‘How is it possible [that he] should represent the Hebrews in such a contemptible light? They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their Empire were but a Bauble in comparison of the Jews. They have given religion to three quarters of the Globe and have influenced the affairs of Mankind more, and more happily, than any other Nation, ancient or modern’.”


SPECIAL EDITION: 10 of Tebet and Yom haShoa

Today is a fast day. We remember the siege of the hoy City, Yerushalaim, in the year 586 BCE, at the time of our first Bet haMiqdash (see  here ).

On the 10th of Tebet there are only two prohibitions: eating and drinking. NO additional limitations apply, such as the prohibition of wearing leather shoes, working, driving, washing the body, etc.

Most contemporary Rabbis (R. E. Melamed, Rab O. Yosef) authorize to wash one’s mouth or brush one’s teeth in this Ta’anit, when necessary, provided you will be very careful to lower your head as to avoid swallowing water unintentionally.

THE FAST ENDS TODAY at 5:13 PM (NYTime )

In modern Israel, the 10th of Tebet is also recognized as the day of the Kaddish Haklaly. According to the Chief rabbinate of Israel, today we should light a remembrance candle in the Synagogue and we recite the Hazkara le Chalale Hashoa after Tora reading and all those whose parents are not alive should say the Kaddish Yatom (luach dinim uminhaguim 5772, pages. 55,109).

This point requires more explanation.

In 1949, and before the day of Yom HaShoa was established, the Chief rabbinate of Israel decided that the Tenth of Tebet should be the national remembrance day for the victims of the Holocaust. They recommended traditional Jewish ways of remembering the dead, such as the study of Mishna Mikvaot, saying Tehilim lighting a candle and a public massive recitation of the Kaddish for those Holocaust victims whose names, and date of death remains unknown. Fasting, the most common Jewish expression of sorrow, was already prescribed for this day.

In Israel many people felt that the horror of the Holocaust should be remembered on its own, and a special day should be dedicated to the Shoa victims’ memory.   “For the Holocaust survivors there was only one day worthy of being a memorial anniversary for the Holocaust–April 19, the beginning day of the Warsaw ghetto revolt the greatest revolt of them all, the uprisings that had held the Nazis at bay for a longer period than the great French army”  (I. Greenberg). That is how the 27 of Nissan was chosen to commemorate Yom haShoa. Yom HaShoah was inaugurated in 1953, by a law signed by the Prime minister of Israel David ben Gurion.

Since then and in practical terms, we have two public days in which we mourn for the Holocaust: Yom haShoa, the official day, and ‘asara betebet, in which we fast, and say the Kaddish Klaly to remember all those unknown victims of the Nazi genocide.

Who is exempted from fasting?
 
Minors: boys under 13 and girls under 12 years old are completely exempted from fasting.
 
Nursing women: According to the Sephardic Minhag, after giving birth women are exempted from fasting for 24 months, even if they are not actually nursing their baby.
 
Pregnant women, especially after the first 3 months, are exempted from fasting.
 
A person who feels sick, for example, flu or fever or one who has a chronic disease, for example, diabetes, should not fast.
 
Elders should consult with their physicians if the fast will not affect their health. If it will, they are exempted (and in some cases, prohibited) from fasting.



Days of Fasting: 10th of Tebet (Part 2/3)

 

Yesterday we mentioned two of the three events that are remembered in ‘asara betebet (see here). It is important to clarify that the main reason we fast on this day is specifically because of the siege of Yerushalaim. The other two tragedies are brought to our national memory because they roughly coincide on the same date.
3. Approximately in the year 300 BCE, on the 8th of Tebet, King Ptolemy forced 70 Jewish scholars to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. The 70 scholars were placed in separated rooms and yet, they all translated the Biblical text in the same exact way. Although it was done by Rabbis, the Septuagint is not considered a translation which follows rabbinical tradition. The official Jewish translation is Targum Onqelos (=Targum Didan) done by Jews for Jews. As explained in Talmud Yerushalmi (Megila 9) the authors of the Septuagint deliberately deviated from a Jewish normative rendering and in many cases, adapted the Biblical text to the Greek mentality, values and sensitivities to please the monarch.
As a whole, this translation of the Tora was considered a tragic event. Why? Because the new Greek Bible advanced the agenda of the Hellenist Jews who sought to bring Greek culture into Jewish life. Now they were able to manipulate the Torah for their own purposes.
Eventually, the Septuagint paved the way to create many new non-Jewish “Biblical” religions. Unlike pagan cults, these new religions were supposedly grounded on the Jewish Scripture! The Septuagint was now interpreted and reinterpreted to justify whatever any monarch or any priest wished to say: “In the name of God”. Ironically, based on this translation and later on a latin version (Vulgata), many religions pretended for centuries to teach to us, the recipients of the Tora, what the “the true religion,” is and what is “the true spirit of the Bible.”….
In our Community we begin the fast tomorrow morning at 6.00 AM and we end it at 5:13 PM (NY time).


Days of Fasting: 10 of Tebet (Part 1/3)

 

This coming Thursday, January 5th 2012, corresponds to the 10th. of Tebet, a fast day, which commemorates three tragedies that happened to the Jewish people.
1. The main tragedy we remember in this day is the onset of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia. The siege of the city signaled the beginning of the battle that ultimately destroyed Yerushalayim and the Bet haMikdash in the year 586 BCE. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed or sent as captives to the Babylonian exile. The date of the Tenth of Tebet was recorded by the prophet Yechezkel, who was already in Babylonia, together with the first group of Jews exiled by Nebuchadnezzar 11 years earlier than the actual destruction of the Temple.
2. On this day we also remember the death of Ezra haSofer.  Approximately in the year 516 BCE  a group of Jews (roughly 40 thousand) came back to Eretz Israel with the blessing of the Persian Emperor Cyrus, led by Nechemia and Ezra the Scribe. Ezra had the responsibility to reeducate the Jews who, after more than two generations, had forgotten their language, their Tora and laws, and adopted many customs and values from the Babylonian culture. Ezra formed the Anshe Kenesset haGedola, the first “Jewish Congress” in the absence of our own King, composed of scholars and prophets. They established many rulings to maintain or retrieve Jewish values. For example, the  days of Tora reading, the text of the Amida (main prayer), and many decrees against intermarriage. Ezra was considered by the Rabbis as the historic link between the written Tora and the oral Tora. Together with Nechemia, they began the building of the second bet haMiqdash. Ezra died on a 9th of Tebet. He was regarded by our Rabbis as a second to Moshe Rabbenu.
(To be continued…)
READ: Jewish History, Ezra and Nechemia.


Why do we fast on the 17 of Tamuz?

Five tragedies happened to the Jewish people on the 17 of Tammuz:

1. In Biblical times, Moses descended from Mount Sinai and upon seeing the Jews worshipping the Golden Calf, he broke the first set of tablets that carried the Ten Commandments.

2. King Menashe, one of the worst sovereigns of the Kingdom of Yehuda, placed on that day an idol in the Holy Sanctuary of the Temple, around the year 700 BCE.

3. In the time of the First Temple, on the 17th of Tamuz, 587 BCE, the Kohanim (priests) stopped offering the daily sacrifices due to the shortage of sheep during the siege of the city by the Babylonian army.

4. One year later, 586 BCE the walls of Yerushalaim were breached after many months of siege by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces. Three weeks after the breach of the wall, the Bet haMikdash was destroyed on the 9th of Ab.

5. Around the year 50 of the Common Era, Apostomus, a Roman captain, seized a Torah scroll and with abusive and mocking language, burned it in public.

The fast ends at 8:54PM (NY Time)

Due to the current hot weather in NY, people should take extra precautions to avoid dehydration. Symptoms of dehydration are: vomiting, feeling very nauseated or very weak or light headed, despite lying down.

Click HERE for more information about the fast, who is exempted, etc.

Project Ta’amim (le’ilui nishmat Matatiah bar Israel)

Learn to read Megilat Ekha, Sephardic -Yerushalmi.

Click HERE to download the audio file.



The Fast of 17 of Tamuz

Today is the 16 of Tamuz, 5771

Tomorrow Tuesday July 19th is a fast day, shiba’asar betamuz (Tamuz 17th).

The fast begins at 4:12 AM and ends at 8.54 PM.

On the 17 of Tamuz there are only two prohibitions: eating and drinking.

NO additional limitations apply, such as the prohibition of washing the body, wearing leather shoes, working, driving, etc.

Who is exempted from fasting?

Minors: boys under 13 and girls under 12 years old are completely exempted from fasting.

Nursing women: According to the Sephardic Minhag, after giving birth, a woman is exempted from fasting for 24 months, even if they are not actually nursing their baby.

Pregnant women, especially after the first 3 months, are exempted from fasting.

A person who is sick, with flu or fever or a chronic disease, for example, diabetes, is exempt from fasting.

Elders should consult with their physicians if the fast might affect their health. If it will, they are exempted (and in some cases, prohibited) from fasting.

All other healthy people should fast and remember the tragedies that fell onto the Jewish people in this day.

Our custom is to authorize to wash one’s mouth or brush the teeth in this Ta’anit, provided one will be careful to lower his head avoiding swallowing water unintentionally.

Tomorrow, B’H, I’ll explain why we fast on this day.

There are no words, only tears
In memory of Leiby Kletzky, by Rabbi Benjamin Blech



The four fast days

10th of Tebet, 5771

Today, the 10th of Tebet, is one of the four fast days in which we remember the destruction of our first Temple, Bet haMikdash (586 BCE). On the 10th of Tebet the enemy started the siege of Jerusalem which provoked untold starvation, epidemic , etc . The Babylonians made a first breach in the wall on the 17th of Tamuz. Three weeks later, on the 9th of Ab, the Bet haMikdash was destroyed and most of the Jewish people were taken captives to Babylonia. A small remnant remained in Israel but a few years later, they attempted to rebel against the Babylonians killing Gedaliah ben Achikam on the 3rd of Tishri. The consequences were tragic: the small Jewish
population that had remained form the destruction of the Temple was also exiled.

These four dates 10 of Tebet, 17 of Tamuz, 9 of Ab and 3 of Tishri were established by our Rabbis as fast days inviting us to remember the destruction of the Bet haMikdash causing us to introspect and repent.

Not always have we fasted during these 4 days . After 70 years in Babylonia we came back to Israel and built the Second Bet haMikdash. The prophet Zekharia (see chapter 8, v.19) and Anshe Keneset haGedola canceled these fast days and turned them into days of celebration.

When the second bet haMikdash was destroyed, in the year 68 ACE we started to fast again.

May haShem Almighty turn once again these days of fast into days of celebration biMhera beYamenu Amen.

Shabbat Shalom!

Candle lighting in NYC: 4:11 PM
Shabbat Ends: 5:20 PM

Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC 130 Steamboat Rd. Great Neck NY 11024



The fast of 10 of Tebet, Friday, December 17th, 2010

9th of Tebet, 5771

Nowadays our calendar’s calculation is such that the only public fast which can fall on a Friday is the 10th of Tebet.

On the 10th of Tebet there are only two prohibitions: eating and drinking. NO additional limitations apply, such as the prohibition of wearing leather shoes, working, driving, washing the body, etc.

Most contemporary Rabbis (R. E. Melamed, Rab O. Yosef) authorize to wash one’s mouth or brush one’s teeth in this Ta’anit when necessary, provided you will be very careful to lower your head as to avoid swallowing water unintentionally. Tomorrow, you should bathe regularly in honor of Shabbat.

The fast begins at dawn, which tomorrow will be at 5.50 AM (all hours are N.Y. time). You can eat something before 5.50 AM. Tonight, before you go to sleep have in mind that you will wake up and eat something before dawn, otherwise, your Taanit has been implicitly ‘accepted’ by you and ‘unintentionally extended’ from the time you go to sleep.

Friday, we will pray Mincha of Ereb Shabbat around 3.50 PM (check Kanissanews and other Synagogues schedules). We will read the Torah and say birkat kohanim, followed by regular Kabbalat Shabbat.

We will enter Shabbat while fasting.

The Fast day finishes after 4:58 PM with the Kiddush.

Who is exempted from fasting?

Minors: boys under 13 and girls under 12 years old are completely exempted from fasting.

Nursing women: According to the Sephardic Minhag, after giving birth women are exempted from fasting for 24 months, even if they are not actually nursing their baby.

Pregnant women, especially after the first 3 months, are exempted from fasting.

A person who feels sick, for example, flu or fever or one who has a chronic disease, for example, diabetes, should not fast.

Elders should consult with their physicians if the fast will not affect their health. If it will, they are exempted (and in some cases, prohibited) from fasting.

All other healthy people should fast and remember the tragedies that fell onto the Jewish people in this day.

Besides commemorating the events we mentioned yesterday, In Israel, the Chief rabbinate has declared the Tenth of Tebet also as “The day of the general Kaddish”, the day in which we remember those fallen Jews whose names, and date or place of death is unknown. We remember especially the ‘unknown’ victims of the Holocaust and those unidentified soldiers who died in the war of Israel’s Independence (1948).

Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC 130 Steamboat Rd. Great Neck NY 11024



The fast of the 10th of Tebet

8th day of Tebet, 5771

Approximately in the year 300 BCE, on the 8th of Tebet, King Ptolemy of Egypt forced 70 Jewish scholars to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. The Talmud relates that this project was blessed with a miracle: the 70 scholars were all placed in separate rooms and yet they all translated the Biblical text the same exact way. Still, the rabbis of the time considered this event as a tragedy. Why? Because the Greek Bible -known as the Septuagint- advanced the agenda of the Hellenist Jews to bring Greek culture into Jewish life and eventually paved the way to create a new Judeo-Christian religion, ‘based on our Torah’, who would claim, “Anu Israel!”
“WE are now the NEW Israel!”

The 9th day of Tebet commemorates the death of Ezra the Scribe (5th Century BCE). Ezra led the return of the Jews to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile. It was under his direction and inspiration, together with the help of the court Jew, Nechemiah, that the Second Temple was built.

The main tragedy happened on the 10th of Tebet: the onset of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia, which ultimately ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Bet haMikdash in the year 586 BCE, and sent tens of thousands of Jews into the 70-year Babylonian Exile. The date of the Tenth of Tebet was recorded for us by the prophet Yechezkel, who himself was part of the first group of Jews exiled by Nebuchadnezzar.

(Adapted from rabbi Berel Wein)

For the full article of rabbi Wein see: http://www.aish.com/h/10t/48960111.html

 

Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC 130 Steamboat Rd. Great Neck NY 11024



Between 17 of tamuz and 9 of Ab

Today is the 18th of Tamuz, 5770

Ben haMetzarim is a period of 3 weeks, from the 17th of Tammuz until the 9th of Av (July 19th/20th). As we have explained, it took the Babylonians three weeks from the time the Babylonian army breached the walls of Yerushalaim until they finally burned and destroyed the Bet haMikdash. During this time, besides the massive destruction and pillaging of the Holy city, thousands of people were tortured and killed.

That is why during these 21 day period we observe certain traditions of mourning that build up as we get closer to Tisha BeAv.

SHEHECHEYANU for NEW FRUITS: Eating a new fruit that will require us to say the blessing Shehecheyanu during the three weeks should be done only on Shabbat.

WEDDINGS: No weddings take place during the three weeks.

 

ENGAGEMENTS: Saying Shir Lamaalot with no music is allowed until Rosh Chodesh Av (July 11th /12th).

MUSIC: We refrain from listening to music during the three weeks. Religious music is allowed, if it is not live music.

CLOTHING: It is not permitted to buy new clothing, except: 1. For a bride or groom that will get married after Tisha BeAv. 2. If the article is on sale and it will be substantially more expensive after Tisha BeAv. Our tradition is also to not buy gold and/or Jewelry from Rosh Chodesh Av.

HAIRCUT: It is permitted to get a haircut only until Rosh Chodesh Av. Our Minhag is that men do not shave from the Shabbat before Tisha BeAv until after Tisha BeAv.

NEW HOUSE: it is permitted to close or move into a new house until Rosh Chodesh Av.

EATING MEAT: Our tradition is to refrain from meat after Rosh Chodesh Av until the day after Tisha BeAv. A person who is sick or weak or a woman during the first 30 days after giving birth, are allowed to eat meat. Although chicken would be preferable to meat. Fish is allowed during the three weeks.

 

The above mentioned are some examples of the basic traditions that we follow on these days of mourning (for more information ask one of our community Rabbis).