17th of Taamuz

The fast of the 17th of  Tammuz, is the start of a three-week mourning period for the destruction of Yerushalyim and the two Holy Temples.

The fast actually commemorates five tragic events that occurred on this date:

1. Moshe broke the Luchot when he saw the Jewish people worshipping the Golden Calf.

2. During the Babylonian siege of Yerushalayim, the Jews were forced to cease offering the daily sacrifices due to the lack of sheep.

3. Apostomos burned the holy Torah.

4. An idol was placed in the Holy Temple.

5. The walls of Yerushalayim were breached by the Romans, in 69 CE, after a lengthy siege. (Three weeks later, the Romans destroyed the second Holy Temple on the 9th of Av.)

On this day we fast:

• Healthy adults over the age of bar/bat mitzvah do not eat or drink between dawn and nightfall

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