A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem... The mishna in Taanit tells us that 5 tragedies occurred on the 17th of Tammuz and 5 on Tish'a b'Av. On the 17th of Tammuz, the Luchot were broken. Note that the mishna does not mention Moshe as the one who broke them, nor the sin of the golden calf which caused the whole thing. Yet we consider 17 Tammuz to mark the very first sin of the new nation so soon after Matan Torah. The Korban Tamid, daily sacrifices, ceased on 17 Tammuz. Jerusalem was breached (prior to the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash). Apostimus publicly burned a Sefer Torah, and an idol (or two) was set in the Beit HaMikdash (by Jews). The fast is a dawn to stars-out type, beginning at 4:26am (one opinion as to dawn in Jerusalem) and ends at 8:11pm (again, based on one calculation, for "end of fasts"). [The
Parshat Pinchas Homepage]
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