It is believed that in the history of the Jewish people 17 Tammuz — is a day of disasters. The Talmud names as many as five disasters that happened on this day…
In 2448, from the creation of the world, in the year of the Exodus from Egypt, just forty days after receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, the Jews built the Golden Calf, committing the grave sin of idolatry. And on the 17th of Tammuz, Moses, who descended from Sinai with the tablets of the covenant, seeing the cast statue of the calf and the Jews dancing around it, could not hold the tablets in his hands — they fell and crashed... And although Moses still managed to beg God for forgiveness for the lost people, this day remained an unhappy day, for sin was not completely atoned for.
Almost nine centuries later, the children of Israel living in the Promised Land again retreated from the commandments and forgot the Torah. They worshiped idols, shed human blood — and both, as you remember, are a direct violation of the commandments. There were other, less obvious sins. And in 3336 Jerusalem was besieged by the Babylonian army. And on the 17th Tammuz, daily sacrifices in the Temple ceased, due to the fact that it was impossible to ensure the delivery of sacrificial animals, and this was a sign of impending disaster. In 3338, the First Temple was destroyed, land and freedom were lost…
The people learned the lesson learned, repented and again, having received freedom and land, restored the Temple. And again history repeated itself — people again began to forget divine laws and regulations. But now their sins were less obvious, such as causeless hatred. And in 3828, almost five hundred years after the destruction of the first Temple, Jerusalem was besieged. This time by the Romans. On the 17th of Tammuz, the Romans broke through the walls of Jerusalem and captured the city. Once again, defeat was followed by the destruction of the Temple and exile…
To see which of these sins is worse, you just need to pay attention to the timing of the expulsions that followed the destruction of the Temples. The first, Babylonian, exile lasted only 70 years, and the second exile has lasted for more than nineteen centuries, and is still not over.
The reason is probably that someone who commits an open, blatant sin is more likely to repent. Hidden, internal vices are much more difficult to identify, so it is more difficult to get rid of them, which means the punishment should last longer in order to gradually lead to correction.
Therefore, the 17th Tammuz — is the second of the posts installed in memory of the destruction of the Temple. On this day, a gap was made in the wall of Jerusalem during the Second Temple. During the Babylonian siege (during the destruction of the First Temple), the wall of Jerusalem was broken through on Tammuz 9, but in order not to overload the secular calendar with mourning dates, it was decided to combine mourning for these two events. In addition, the consequences of the death of the First Temple were less severe for the Jewish people.
On the same day in 165 BC, Apostomos, viceroy of King Antiochus, burned the Torah, realizing that the surest way to enslave the Jews — was to strike at their spiritual heritage; the burning of the Torah was the beginning of persecution of Jewry and one of the main reasons for the Maccabean uprising.
And fifthly, on this day a statue of an idol was erected in the Temple. According to one version, this happened during the era of the Second Temple and was also one of the deeds of the Apostomos; according to another (version of the Jerusalem Talmud), this was done by the king of Judea Menashe, who ruled during the era of the First Temple and « became famous» for flooding Jerusalem with innocent blood« and was an idolater who surpassed all his predecessors.
The days concluded between Tammuz 17 and Av 9 are also considered mourning days. These three weeks are called «Between cramped». On these days, it is prohibited to listen to music, organize celebrations, including weddings, cut hair, buy or wear new clothes for the first time, and fruits from the new harvest do not begin to be eaten.