by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com Sunday, the 18th of Tammuz is when we observe the 17th of Tammuz Fast Day!   Let’s get some background. But first, some crucial times: In New York City, the fast begins at  dawn – 3:55 AM if calculating by degrees or at 4:26 AM if calculating by fixed minutes For men, the eating of a set nature (mezonos) – אכילת קבע – may not be started during the half hour immediately preceding dawn, but women may (This is the psak of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and no one this author knows of has argued). The fast ends according to R’ Moshe Feinstein zt”l at 9:12 PM, but one who finds fasting difficult may eat at – 9:03 PM. What’s Different There are essentially two differences in halacha when the real 17th of Tammuz falls on the previous Shabbos: The Mishnah Berurah in the Biur Halacha 559 “v’aino” writes that if one is not feeling well, even if he or she has not reached the point of being a full-fledged choleh who needs to lie down – that person may break the fast when the taanis is delayed. If there is a Bris Milah that falls on a fast day which is nidcheh, the father, the mother, the mohel and the sandek may eat after mincha (MB 559:35-36). The Three Weeks Although the Three Weeks (from 17th of Tammuz to after Tisha B’Av) and the other two fasts are a period of mourning and introspection, the Navi Zechariah tells us (Zechariah 8:19) that, eventually, the four fasts of Klal Yisrael will be a source of joy and gladness, but only if we do one thing. We have to embark upon the goal of loving both truth and shalom.  [For those interested the author now writes a weekly parsha sheet on truth.  To subscribe – email the author at yairhoffman2@gmail.com] Rabbi Chaninah tells us (Shabbos 55a) that Hashem’s seal is truth. Shalom is also one of the names of Hashem, in addition to being a central theme of our daily tefillos. If we learn to love these ideals, the fasts will be turned around. The four fasts mentioned in Zechariah are: The fast of the fourth month [17 Tammuz] The fast of the fifth month [9 Av] The fast of the seventh month [3 Tishrei] The fast of the tenth month [10 Teves] Clearly, we are counting these four fasts from the month of Nissan. Why do we start from Nissan? Because this is the first month that we became a nation.  It is important to note that when we mourn properly – we gain enormously in our Avodas Hashem.  Let’s try to make the most out of this period too. Modified Dates The exact dates of two of the fasts were not always these dates. As far as the 17th of Tammuz, originally, in the time of first Beis HaMikdash we observed it on the 9th of Tammuz because that is when the city walls were first broken through. Hundreds of years later, during the time of the second Beis HaMikdash, on the 17th of Tammuz, the enemy breached the walls of Yerushalayim once again. The date of the Tammuz fast was moved from the 9th to the 17th. The fast of Tishrei was to be observed […]

The post The 17th of Tammuz and the 3 Weeks and What’s Different This Year appeared first on The Yeshiva World.