Remember 17th of Tammuz

[muman613]

Shalom,

I hope nobody is having as hard a fast as I am... I, for some reason, was not fully prepared to fast today. So I am going hungry during lunchtime here at work. But it is important to remember the fast of 17th of Tammuz...

I hope all Jews who care about Judaism, who care about Israel, who care about the Jewish people are participating in this minor fast day (it is considered minor because it is a morning-to-evening fast as opposed to a 24 hour full day fast)...

[muman613]

http://www.aish.com/sp/so/As-Sirens-Blare-Across-the-Land.html?s=feat

As Sirens Blare Across the Land
An elegy to the Jewish people for the 17th of Tammuz.
by Sara Debbie Gutfreund


There's a little cave near the Western Wall tunnels that you can miss if you don't look carefully. To go inside, you must be willing to face the darkness, to step into a yearning so deep, it will surround you with a sudden wave of sadness. It's an unexpected grief far bigger than us. A grief of a nation that has lost its way.

Inside, away from the heat of the sun and the noise of the crowds, there are shelves with prayer books and rows of chairs along the dark stone walls. Songs and voices echo from within, where tunnels lead into tunnels, weaving their way closer to the Holy of Holies, the heart of everything we used to be. Inside is the inner sanctum, the source of our holiness and clarity that housed the Aron Hakodesh, the Holy Ark. We have lost access to that source, but here you can feel a wisp of its power.

I walk into the darkness on the 17th of Tammuz, a fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the Second Temple was destroyed. I sit down on one of the chairs and lean my head against the wall. I try to pray but I cannot find the right words. I try to think but my thoughts are so heavy, so tired, so lost.

A woman sits down beside me. Her wrinkled hands clutch a tattered Siddur and her eyes look like they hold ancient secrets that spill onto the pages as she begins to cry.

I have never heard someone cry like this. It sounds like a helpless baby who cannot be comforted. Like someone who can't breathe in this kind of world. She cries and then screams up into the low, jagged ceiling. "Abba (Father), stop our tears! End this! Abba, help us. We are so lost. We can't find you. Abba!" I move my chair away from her. Why is she screaming? I open my own prayer book and find my own tears as her voice echoes in my heart. Where are You? How will we find our way home?

When the woman finishes praying, she taps me on the shoulder. Her eyes are the color of water. She tries to hug me. I pull back. Is she crazy? But she just smiles at me and then walks away, pausing for a moment by the opening to the tunnel, like an angel bridging the distance between darkness and light. I watch her go and feel the fissure that I felt before her heartfelt prayers gave life to my own. I look up at the stones. Let me in. I want to break through the tunnels and get to the place I know is hidden deep inside. I want to come home and hold onto the heart of all we used to be.

This year on the 17th of Tammuz, I will remember that woman as I stand alone, now living in America, so very far from home. I remember that tunnel as I wake up on foreign soil, hear words that are not my language, see people who are not my own. I stand in the darkness. It is so quiet but here there are no stone walls to cradle my prayers. I don't know what to say. I don't even know how to cry. I long to call out like the woman with the ocean eyes, "Abba, end this! Abba, help us! Abba, we can't find you." But instead I am so silent I can hear the beating of my heart.

The walls of our cities are surrounded. We are dying inside. We are losing our children. We are being attacked. And there is silence. The hospitals are being evacuated. The schools are being held in shelters. And there is silence. Our weddings are being interrupted by sirens. We are running, throwing ourselves down onto the ground, cradling our heads with our arms. They want us to give up, leave our homes, disappear. And we are so very tired. So lost.

We, a nation of compassion, of kindness, of truth, are being forced to fight. We are a people who treasure life. Who do everything we can to give life and light to others. But we are surrounded by enemies. We are far from the core of everything we had and used to be. We are burying lives that hadn't had a chance to really begin. We are running for cover and grieving at the same time. Terrorists are intent on destroying, eradicating, pushing us further from the center of who we are.

I wish I could go back into that inner tunnel of the Western Wall and look again into the crying woman's eyes. I wish I could have a fraction of her faith, a tiny part of her courage, a piece of her warmth. I wish I could get back to the beating heart of a nation that lights up the darkness. But I stand so far away, with just the sound of my own heart breaking quietly. For the city that is surrounded. For the sirens that are blaring across the Land. For all that is being destroyed. For my people and for myself. A nation standing alone. So far from its core.

Stop the tears. Bring us home. End this.

[muman613]

http://www.aish.com/h/9av/oal/48943446.html

17th of Tammuz
Beginning three weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
by Rabbi Shraga Simmons

The 17th of Tammuz is a fast day commemorating the fall of Jerusalem, prior to the destruction of the Holy Temple. This also marks the beginning of a 3-week national period of mourning, leading up to Tisha B'Av.

The 17th of Tammuz is the first of four fast days mentioned in the prophets. The purpose of a fast day is to awaken our sense of loss over the destroyed Temple – and the subsequent Jewish journey into exile.

Agonizing over these events is meant to help us conquer those spiritual deficiencies which brought about these tragic events. Through the process of "Teshuva" – self-introspection and a commitment to improve – we have the power to transform tragedy into joy. In fact, the Talmud says that after the future redemption of Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple, these fast days will be re-dedicated as days of rejoicing and festivity. For as the prophet Zechariah says: the 17th of Tammuz will become a day of "joy to the House of Judah, and gladness and cheerful feasts."

What Happened on the 17th of Tammuz?

Five great catastrophes occurred in Jewish history on the 17th of Tammuz:

* Moses broke the tablets at Mount Sinai – in response to the sin of the Golden Calf.
* The daily offerings in the First Temple were suspended during the siege of Jerusalem, after the Kohanim could no longer obtain animals.
* Jerusalem's walls were breached, prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
* Prior to the Great Revolt, the Roman general Apostamos burned a Torah scroll – setting a precedent for the horrifying burning of Jewish books throughout the centuries.
* An idolatrous image was placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple – a brazen act of blasphemy and desecration.

(Originally, the fast was observed on the Ninth of Tammuz since that was the day Jerusalem fell prior to the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. However, after Jerusalem fell on the 17th of Tammuz – prior to the destruction of the Second Temple – the Sages decided upon a combined observance for both tragedies, the 17th of Tammuz.)

How Do We Observe the 17th of Tammuz?

* No eating or drinking is permitted from the break of dawn, until dusk.
* Pregnant and nursing women – and others whose health would be adversely affected – are exempted from the fast.
* Should the day coincide with Shabbat, the fast is delayed until Sunday.
* Bathing, anointing, and wearing leather shoes are all permissible.
* The "Aneinu" prayer is inserted into the Amidah of Shacharis and Mincha by the chazan. Individuals insert it in Mincha only.
* Slichos and "Avinu Malkeinu" are recited.
* Exodus 32:11, in which the "13 Attributes of Mercy" are mentioned, is read at both the morning and afternoon services.
* Isaiah 55:6 – 56:8, which discusses the renewal of the Temple service, is read as the Haftorah at the Mincha service.

with thanks to Rabbi Moshe Lazerus.

[muman613]

http://www.torah.org/learning/yomtov/3weeks/vol1no28.html

Why Do We Fast? - Part II

by Rabbi Yehudah Prero

In the last post we mentioned that we fast on the 17th day of Tamuz because of five tragedies that occurred on that day. We explained what the five tragedies were. However, we still need to explain why we fast: What is the point of fasting, of withholding nourishment from ourselves, on this day?

The Rambam, in the fifth chapter of Hilchos Ta'aniyos (The laws of Fasts) writes that we fast on days that calamities occurred to us "because it can serve to arouse our hearts and to open ourselves to the paths of repentance. It serves as a reminder of our wicked conduct and that of our ancestors which resembles our present conduct, and therefore brought these calamities upon them and upon us. By reminding ourselves of these matters, we will repent and improve our conduct, as the verse says in Vayikra 26:40, 'And they will confess their sin and the sin of their forefathers...'."

One lesson that we see from the Rambam is that fasting in it of itself does not serve a purpose. The Mishna B'rura in 549:1 writes that the fast "is only a preparation for repentance. Therefore, those people who while they fast go on trips and involve themselves in idleness and useless activities have grasped on to the subordinate and set aside the main and essential." We have to remember why we have this day of fasting, and use the time allotted for the correct purpose: to inspire ourselves to repent. But, why are we being inspired to repent now, on the 17th of Tamuz (and on the 9th of Av, etc.)? We were not the cause of the catastrophes that occurred on this day; our forefathers were. Why do WE need to be inspired to repent on this day?

The answer to this is another lesson we glean from the Rambam. We see that the Rambam stresses that we share responsibility for the tragedies that have occurred in the previous generations. The Talmud Yerushalmi (in the tractate of Yoma) tells us that every generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt should consider itself as if the Temple was destroyed in its days. We see that if we were truly greater than the generations who had these tragedies occur to them, we would not be fasting on this day, as we would have a Temple standing in Jerusalem. Because our deeds are not up to par, we have no Temple, and repentance is in order.

We now know why we fast. May we merit to all take this lesson to heart, and see the Temple rebuilt speedily, in our days.

[muman613]

MK Moshe Fieglen ascended to the Temple Mount today...

[muman613]

Those shrieking animals need to be removed from the Holy Temple mount. The sound like ducks quaking and cows mooing...

[muman613]

Here is a lesson on 17th of Tammuz (from the Talmud sources) by Rabbi Weisblum..