17th of Tammuz

The 17th of Tammuz commemorates the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Romans (70 c.e.), which occurred three weeks before the destruction of the Second Temple on Tisha b’Av, the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av. The Jerusalem Talmud maintains that the break in the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonians that led to the fall of the First Temple (586 b.c.e.) also occurred on this date (JT Taan. 4:8, 68c), although the Babylonian Talmud accepts the citation of Jeremiah (52:6–7) that this event took place on the ninth of the month (Taan. 28b). According to the Mishnah, other catastrophes that occurred on the 17th of Tammuz—the only Jewish observance that begins and ends during the declining moon—include the breaking of the first tablets by Moses in response to the incident of the Golden Calf; the cessation of the daily sacrifices in the First Temple; and the burning of a Torah scroll and the erection of an idol in the Temple by the heathen Apostomos, about whom nothing is known (Taan. 4:6).

The minor fast of the 17th of Tammuz lasts just from sunrise to sunset. Only eating and drinking are prohibited; the other deprivations of the major fast days of Yom Kippur and Tisha b’Av are not observed, and work is permitted.¹

Zechariah (8:19) prophesied that ultimately the 17th of Tammuz, along with other fast days associated with the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem (Tisha b’Av, Tzom Gedalyah, 10th of Tevet), “shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah.” 

Tammuz is the 4th Hebrew month.

Av is the 5th Hebrew month.

JT Jerusalem Talmud

Taan. Ta’anit (Talmud)

¹ Strassfeld, 87.

Eisenberg, Ronald L.: The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. 1st ed. Philadelphia : The Jewish Publication Society, 2004, S. 303