7 July 2026

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Last Tuesday, June 30, about ten people stayed after the evening tefillah (prayer) to study with Rabbi Finzi and discuss the topic of the fast of the 17th of Tammuz. By Ruth Mussi.

Last Tuesday, June 30, about ten people stopped after the evening tefillà (prayer) to study with Rav Finzi and discuss together the topic of fasting on the 17th of Tammuz.
The 17th of Tammuz (Shiv’ah Asar beTammuz, י”ז בתמוז) is one of the four days of fasting instituted in Judaism in memory of the destruction of the two Temples of Jerusalem. This fast commemorates the day in which the walls of Jerusalem were breached and the siege of the city reached its decisive phase, a few weeks before the destruction of the First Temple. According to all opinions, before the destruction of the Second Temple the walls of Jerusalem they were opened on this very day.
The study concerned other tragic events that occurred on the same date in different eras, a coincidence that inevitably pushes us to look for the link between them.
«Five calamities befell our fathers on the 17th of Tammuz: the Tablets of the Law were broken, the daily sacrifice ceased, the city was conquered, Apostle burned the Torah and an idol was erected in the Temple.» (Mishnah Ta’anit 4:6)
A possible link is that the breaking of the Tablets, following the sin of the golden calf, as well as the breach in the walls, also represent the fracture of faith within the people. An internal doubt also leads to an external fracture, and this is the reason why even this phase of destruction, and not just the definitive one, commemorated on the 9th of the month of Av (this year on July 23rd), is remembered to this day with fasting and various mourning behaviors, including avoiding celebrating, celebrating weddings, enjoying new purchases, listening to music. These three weeks that connect the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av are called Ben hametzarim, “the period between hardships“, in which it is good, contrary to the usual consolatory attitude promoted by the Masters, to cry for the fractures in our lives, both on a personal and interpersonal level and on a national level. The ruins will be rebuilt, so we believe, and it will depend on our behavior towards each other. But now it’s time to cry and try to understand what happened to us.

Look, look at our shame. Oh, what has happened to us!
(from the book of Lamentations, which is read on the 9th of Av)

Ruth Mussi

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