B"H

Monday, Tammuz 19, 5778 / July 2, 2018

Yesterday, Sunday, wasobserved as the fast of the seventeenth of Tammuz. Although yesterday was the eighteenth day of the Hebrew month, Tammuz, yet we fasted on that day, as the seventeenth of Tammuz was on Shabbat and it is prohibited to fast on Shabbat. Thus, when a fast day occurs on Shabbat, it is pushed off to Sunday.

The only time when we do fast on Shabbat is on Yom Kippur, when it falls on Shabbat.

Q. Why is Yom Kippur the only fast which is observed even on Shabbat?

A. The Torah commands us to enjoy the Shabbat, which means that we are prohibited to fast on Shabbat. The Torah also tells us that we must fast on Yom Kippur. Only a Torah decree, which is mentioned in the Five Books of the Torah can supersede another Torah decree, but a Rabbinical decree cannot push away a Biblical decree.

Being that Yom Kippuris a fast day decreed in the Torah, it can supersede the Torah mitzvah of enjoying the Shabbat and we must fast on Yom Kippur even when it falls on Shabbat. The other fasts are Rabinical decreesto commemorate tragic events which happened to the Jewish people during the course of history. Being that they are not Torah fasts, only Rabbinical, they cannot push away the mitzvah of enjoying the Shabbat, which is mentioned in the Torah, and thus we cannot fast when they fall on Shabbat. For this reason the fast is pushed off to Sunday.

Here are the Fivetragic events which occurred on the 17th of Tammuz, throughout history:

1) The First Tablets were broken - After spending 40 days on Mount Sinai, Moshe descended from the mountain with the Two Tablets.  Upon seeing the people worshiping the Golden Calf, Moshe broke the Tablets which contained the Ten Commandments. The first tragedy to take place on the 17th of Tammuz was the worshiping of the Golden Calf and Moshe’s breaking of the Tablets. 

2)  The daily sacrifice was stopped - When the city of Jerusalem was under siege it became difficult to obtain animals for sacrifices.  On the 17th of Tammuz the "Korban Hatamid" (the continual daily sacrifice), which was offered daily for hundreds of years, came to an end.

3)  The walls of Jerusalem were breached - On this day, the Romans, besieging Jerusalem, succeeded in breaching the walls of the city. This eventually led to the fall of Jerusalem.

4)  A Torah was burnt - Apustmus, captain of the Roman occupation forces, publicly burned the Torah on the 17th of Tammuz.

5)  An idol was placed in the Beth Hamikdash (Holy Temple) on this day.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY