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Seventeenth of Tammuz (Shiva Asar B'Tammuz)

The Seventeenth of Tammuz: The Walls of Jerusalem Were Breached

Next: Thursday, July 22, 202717 Tammuz 5787In 252 days

The fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz (Shiva Asar B'Tammuz) falls this year on Thursday, July 22, 2027. The prophet calls it "the fast of the fourth month" (Zechariah 8:19).

Five calamities befell our fathers on this day: the Tablets were broken, the daily offering ceased, the walls of the city were breached, Apostomos burned the Torah, and an idol was placed in the Sanctuary (Mishnah Taanit 4:6). With it begin the Three Weeks of mourning for Jerusalem.

It is a minor fast, from dawn to nightfall, and when 17 Tammuz falls on Shabbat it is moved to Sunday. Fast days are a call to teshuva: they exist to awaken our hearts and to remind us of our ways. Selichot are said, Aneinu is added to the Amidah, and the Torah portion of Vayechal is read at Shacharit and Mincha.

Below you will find the laws of the fast and its message.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The fast falls next on Thursday, July 22, 2027 (17 Tammuz 5787), from dawn to nightfall. When 17 Tammuz falls on Shabbat, the fast is moved to Sunday. The dates for the next three years, with the Hebrew dates, are in the table on this page.

Pregnant and nursing women, people who are ill and children below bar or bat mitzvah age do not fast on the minor fasts. Anyone with a medical condition should consult a doctor and a rabbi.

Only eating and drinking. Washing, wearing leather shoes and working are permitted, though some avoid bathing for pleasure. The fast begins at dawn, so eating at night is permitted.

On the 17th of Tammuz the walls of Jerusalem were breached, and three weeks later, on the 9th of Av, the Temple was burned. The mourning of those three weeks grows stronger as Tisha B'Av approaches.

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