The Tablets Were Broken

What's Fasting Got to Do With It?

A day of fasting in the Jewish calendar – such as this Sunday's Fast of Tammuz – is not one of dieting, but rather a day of introspection and teshuva (contrition and remorse). We are not fasting for something far-removed from ourselves, but rather for our situation this very day.

Sad to Die in the Middle of Tamuz?

At first glance, it seems that the purpose of the month of Tamuz is to make us depressed. How should we relate too this month?

3. Shiva Asar Be-Tamuz

Chapter 6: The Four Fasts Commemorating the Destruction of the Temple

The Sages state in the Mishna: Five tragic events befell our forefathers on the seventeenth of Tamuz.

Book Burning and the 17th of Tammuz

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.

What Do We Lack With No Temple?

Translated by Hillel Fendel

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?

Mourning the Destruction Today

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!”

Breaking the Tablets, Mending the Tablets

Shivah Asar B’Tammuz

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.

The Minor Fasts and Their Laws

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.

Introspection on the Seventeenth of Tammuz

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?

The Weak Point of the Seventeenth of Tammuz

There is a tendency, on fast days, for people to concentrate upon the calamities of the past and on the stages that led up to the destruction of the Temple. People reflect on the distant past when they aught - says the Rambam - consider the present.

The Breaking of the Tablets on the Seventeenth of Tammuz

The Tree of Knowledge contained a mixture of elements - both good and evil. This, then, was Adam's sin: He ate from the tree, and this caused existence to fall to a level whereupon there existed a mixture of both good and evil.