Kesher Talk

Today is a day of fasting It is the 17th of Tammuz, a day of fasting to remember the fall of Jerusalem, prior to the destruction of the 2nd Temple. It also marks the beginning of a 3-week national period of mourning, leading up to Tisha B'Av.

In case anyone is interested, while I may not be eating well today, I am not fasting...

Five catastrophes befell the Jews on this day in history:

1. 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.
2. 
   Jerusalem's walls were breached, prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
3. 
   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.
4. 
   An idolatrous image was placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple - a brazen act of blasphemy and desecration.

(courtesy of Aish)

The fast was originally observed on the ninth (the day Jerusalem fell prior to the sacking of the 1st Temple in 586 BCE) but the 17th soon became a combined fast day.

Sort of like President's Day in the U.S.

posted by Howard @ 6/27/2002 11:38:26 AM