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JUNE 24, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
The Fast of Shivah Asar B’Tammuz Revealed BY RABBI DANIEL GLATSTEIN
T
he Mishnah in Maseches Taanis lists five tragedies that occurred to our ancestors on Shivah Asar B’Tammuz and another five on Tishah B’Av. Shivah Asar B’Tammuz was the date on which Moshe Rabbeinu shattered the Luchos when he descended from Har Sinai and found the Jewish people worshiping the Eigel. It was also the date on which Kohanim were no longer able to bring the korban tamid in the Beis HaMikdash and when the walls of the city of Yerushalayim were breached. On that date, Apostumos set a Sefer Torah on fire and erected an idol in the Beis HaMikdash.
WHEN DID THESE TR AGEDIES TAKE PLACE?
Let’s begin by analyzing these tragic events and identifying when they actually occurred. • Breaking of the Luchos The first of the list, nishtabru haLuchos, took place in the Midbar, shortly after the Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim. They were encamped around Har Sinai awaiting Moshe’s return when they succumbed to the pressures of Moshe’s absence and sinned with the Eigel HaZahav, the Golden Calf. • Cessation of the Korban Tamid There are several opinions as to when the cessation of the korban tamid occurred. The Yerushalmi brings two viewpoints. Rav Shimon posits that it was during the time of Bayis Sheini, the Second Beis HaMikdash, when the Greeks rendered it impossible to continue to bring the daily sacrifice. Rav Levi agrees that it happened during the Second Beis HaMikdash era, but he is of the opinion that it was the Romans who stopped the
korban tamid from being brought. The Rambam writes that the Bavliim, the Babylonians, stopped the korban tamid from being brought during the time of the First Beis HaMikdash. Rashi on Sefer Daniel (8:14) advances that the decree to stop offering the korban tamid was the result of another edict issued by the Greek general, Apostumos. • The Walls of Yerushalayim Were Breached The walls of Yerushalayim were breached on the seventeenth of Tammuz during the period leading up to the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash. There is a disagreement between the Talmud Bavli and Talmud Yerushalmi as to when the city wall was breached during the era of the First Beis HaMikdash. The Bavli, based on a pasuk in Yirmiyah, tells us that the walls were breached on the ninth day of Tammuz. The Yerushalmi states that they were breached on the same date as at the time of the Second Beis HaMikdash: on Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, the seventeenth of Tammuz. The Yerushalmi then explains that the pasuk in Yirmiyah is in error. Tosafos wonders what the Yerushalmi means. After all, how can a pasuk in the Navi be wrong? Tosafos explains that there was great chaos during the period leading up to the destruction of the First Beis HaMikdash. The citizens of Yerushalayim were confused, and they lost track of the date. They mistakenly thought that the day on which the city walls were breached was the ninth of the month, when, in fact, it was the seventeenth. In recording the tragic events of the Churban, Yirmiyah HaNavi intentionally wanted to preserve this sense of confusion that was prevalent at that time.
He deliberately wrote the wrong date in the pasuk to impress upon us the hardships of the Jewish people. They were so overwhelmed that they could not even keep track of the date. • Apostumos Burned a Sefer Torah The Mishnah mentions Apostumos and the heinous acts he committed. Apostumos was a Greek general, and it was toward the beginning of the era of Bayis Sheini that he set a Sefer Torah ablaze. Tiferes Yisrael comments that the Sefer Torah burned by Apostumos was written by Ezra, and it was known as the authoritative text. Alternatively, Tiferes Yisrael offers that Apostumos actually tried to burn all Sifrei Torah. • An Idol Was Erected in the Beis HaMikdash The Mishnah teaches us that this was a second nefarious act committed by Apostumos; namely, erecting an idol in the Heichal. Rashi, however, writes that this odious act was actually performed by King Menashe, during the First Beis HaMikdash era.
WHY DOES THE MISHNAH PLACE THEM IN THIS ORDER?
The shattering of the Luchos clearly occurred many years before any of the other events listed in the Mishnah. According to Rashi, the next event listed should be the atrocity of placing an idol in the Heichal, committed by King Menashe during the First Beis HaMikdash period. Why, then, is it listed last, after events that clearly happened during the Second Beis HaMikdash era? According to the Bavli, the walls of Yerushalayim were breached only on the seventeenth of
