The fast of 17th of Tamuz

17th of Tamuz, 5770

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

1. In Biblical times, Moses descended from Mount Sinaion this day 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 kings of the Kingdomof 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 17thof Tammuz in the year 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 9thof Av.

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



The fast of 17th of Tamuz

Today is the 16th of Tamuz, 5770
Tomorrow Tuesday June 29th is a fast day, Shiva Asar beTamuz. The fast begins at dawn and ends at 8.59 PM.
 
On the 17th 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 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 is sick, for example, flu or fever or one who has a chronic disease, for example, diabetes, is exempt from fasting.
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 period.
 
Our custom is to authorize to wash one’s mouth or brush the teeth in this Taanit, provided one will be very careful to lower his head as to avoid swallowing water unintentionally.
 
Tomorrow, B’H, I’ll explain why we fast on this day.



What do we commemorate on the 10th of Tebet?(2)

8th of Tebet, 5770

This coming Sunday, Dec 27, is Asara beTebet (10th of Tebet) a fast day, which commemorates several tragedies that happened to the Jewish people.
Yesterday we mentioned 1. The translation of the Torah. 2. The death of Ezra haSofer.
The main tragedy that happened in this day was the onset of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia, and the beginning of the battle that ultimately destroyed Jerusalem and the Bet haMikdash in the year 586 BCE, and sent the Jews into the 70-year Babylonian Exile. The date of the Tenth of Tebet is recorded for us by the prophet Yechezkel, who himself was already in Babylonia as part of the first group of Jews exiled there by Nebuchadnezzar, 11 years earlier than the actual destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem itself.

 

In modern day Israel, the 10th of Tebet has been designated as Yom haKaddish Haklali – the day on which we mourn those whose date or place of death is unknown, including mainly victims of the Shoa .

 

 

In N.Y. the fast starts Sunday at 6:05 AM and ends Sunday at 5:05 PM. Besides the fast, no other restrictions apply.

For more information see: http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/tevet/fast.htm