The Month of Tammuz: Challenging Times Ahead

As it is written in the Book of Joshua, Chapter 10, Verse 12: "Then Joshua spoke to Hashem on the day Hashem delivered the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, 'Sun, stand still upon Gibeon, and you, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.' And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies." The zodiac sign for the month is Cancer, because the constellation dominant in the sky during this month is depicted as a crab.

Another reason is that Tammuz occurs during the hot summer, and because of the heat, water crabs become more numerous. The most significant date in this month is the 17th of Tammuz, a fast day, referred to as the Fast of the Fourth Month. On this day, the walls were breached during the destruction of the Second Temple, and according to some, during the First Temple as well, although there is a view that it occurred on the ninth of the month. However, in Tractate Taanit it is stated that the city was breached on the 17th of Tammuz in both instances.

In any case, since the dates are close to each other, according to the first view, the 17th of Tammuz was set as a fast day because the public should not be burdened with fasting on fixed dates. Moreover, the destruction of the Second Temple, which has yet to be rebuilt (hopefully soon), is more severe for us.

Regarding the breach of Jerusalem's wall, it is said that it was on the 17th of Tammuz, the day Titus and his forces broke into the city (Second Temple destruction). Concerning the First Temple, it is written in Jeremiah 39:1-2: "In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up."

Five calamities occurred on the 17th of Tammuz:

• The tablets were shattered at the descent of Moses from the mountain when he saw the golden calf and the dancing.

• The daily offering was ceased at the First Temple, as the priests could not procure sheep or lambs for the sacrifice.

• Apostomos burned the Torah.

• An idol was placed in the Temple.

• The city was breached during the Second Temple. Regarding the breaking of the tablets, it is said that when Hashem gave Moses the tablets, they carried themselves. But when Moses descended and approached the camp and saw the calf, the writing flew off them, and they became heavy on Moses’ hands. "And Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands" (Tanchuma Ki Tisa).

Hashem said to him: "Moses, did you not believe me that the Israelites made the calf? They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them." Moses deliberated how to exonerate Israel. He said: "Master of the Universe, I was commanded. Perhaps I have transgressed the command. They were not commanded. What did you say at Sinai: 'I am Hashem your God,' you only said: 'I am Hashem your God.'" (Yalkut Shimoni, Parshat Ki Tisa). Regarding the cessation of the daily offering, it is said that during the First Temple’s destruction, on the ninth of Tammuz, Jerusalem’s wall was breached, and the enemies burst into the city and wreaked havoc, but they could not enter the Temple because the priests fortified it and continued to perform the service of Hashem there until the seventh of Av.

But from the 13th of Tammuz onward, they lacked sheep for the daily sacrifices, as there were always lambs checked for defects in the Temple courtyard for four days. From the 13th of Tammuz onward, they bribed the soldiers besieging them from outside, sent money, and they brought them sheep, and so they did until the 17th of Tammuz. (Sefer HaTodaah).

Regarding the burning of the Torah by Apostomos, it is related in the book of Josephus: During the tenure of Roman Governor Cumanus, his troops provoked the Jews and their holy objects, leading to great unrest, which subsided after this calamity (when ten thousand men perished on the Temple Mount due to a commotion caused by the Romans). Nonetheless, a new disturbance arose due to a robbery incident, for bandits along the royal road by Horon attacked the convoy of Stephanus, a servant of the Emperor, and looted everything. Cumanus sent his soldiers to the nearby villages of the robbery site and commanded them to arrest the inhabitants and bring them to him, having found fault that they did not pursue the robbers. One soldier seized the sacred Torah from a village, tore it, and cast it into the fire.

Jews from all directions were horrified as if their entire land was devoured by flames. On that same day, the 17th of Tammuz, Apostomos placed an idol in the Temple, which some interpret as the idol made by King Manasseh of Judah and placed in the Temple, as it is stated: "And he set a graven image of the idol that he had made in the house, of which Hashem said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever'" (Kings II 21).

"And he set a carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of Hashem, of which Hashem said to David and to Solomon his son" (Chronicles II 33:6). The fast of the 17th of Tammuz is one of the fasts observed due to the calamities that befell the Jewish people, to awaken the hearts to scrutinize the paths of repentance, and therefore the fast should also include introspection into one's deeds. Our Rabbanim, of blessed memory, said: "And the fast is merely preparation for repentance, moreover, the initials of Tammuz: 'Times of Repentance Come Closer'" (until Yom Kippur, 100 days).

Joseph the Righteous was born in the month of Tammuz. In our days, righteous individuals have ascended to the heavens: on the third of Tammuz, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory. On the seventh of Tammuz, the Rebbe of Gur, "The Heart of Shimcha," of blessed memory, and also the Rebbe of Klausenburg, of blessed memory, who accomplished great and extraordinary things after surviving the terrible Holocaust. May their merit protect us, and may our Righteous Messiah come speedily.