The 17th of Tamuz

A hallmark of all repressive regimes is burning books. One of the tragedies that we mourn on the 17th of Tammuz is the burning of the Torah - the ultimate repression of the ultimate book.

Our prayers place a special emphasis on the Beit HaMikdash and our anticipation of its rebuilding. Why is it that only regarding the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash do we ask that it happen speedily?

After the First Temple was destroyed, the Prophets instituted fasts marking the tragic events surrounding the Destruction and the ensuing exile of the Jewish People.

Is it permissible for one to brush his teeth on a minor fast day?

What happened on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and why are these events so tragic?

Perhaps it would be better during times of joy, to reflect, and to ask ourselves what we are so happy about.

The Seventeenth of Tammuz was supposed to be the day on which the Tablets of the Covenant were received and given to Israel, and the Ninth of Av was the day when the Spies would to return from the Land of Israel and proclaim, “The land is very good!”

The Mishnah teaches us that the tablets were broken on the 17th of Tamuz as a result of the building of the Golden Calf. Rav Kook explains that if we understand the essence of idolatry we can find a way to mend the broken tablets.

Did Jews fast over the destruction of the First Temple when the Second Temple stood? Must pregnant and nursing women abstain from eating and drinking on minor fasts? Rabbi Eliezer Melamed addresses these and other important questions.

Fast days are occasion for introspection and repentance. After all, we are not fasting over the distant, unrelated past; we are fasting in response to our own present situation. How is it that instead of mourning we remain complacent and indifferent?