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The Fast of Shivah Asar B’Tammuz Revealed by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein
e Fast of Shivah Asar B’Tammuz
Revealed
BY RABBI DANIEL GLATSTEIN
The 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 TRAGEDIES 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
Tammuz in the days leading up to the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash, not the first. Why, then, does the Mishnah place this event prior to mentioning that Apostumos burned the Sefer Torah, which happened many years earlier?
The Mishnah seems to be compiling a random list of tragedies that transpired on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and then lists them in a haphazard fashion, disregarding chronicity. Why?
Let us explore these five tragedies, and perhaps we will identify a common thread that unites them and thereby achieve a better understanding of the order in which the Mishnah lists them.
WHY DID BILAAM CHOOSE THE EIGEL?
Balak employed Bilaam to curse Klal Yisrael. Bilaam set out to identify a point of vulnerability that he could use to undermine the Jewish nation. The Torah tells us, “Balaam saw that it was good in Hashem’s eyes to bless Israel, so he did not go as every other time toward divinations, but he set his face toward the Wilderness” (Bamidbar 24:1). Rashi advises us to utilize the interpretation of the Targum as we seek to understand the pasuk.
“And Bilaam saw that it was correct before Hashem to give Klal Yisrael a bracha, and he did not do what he ordinarily would have done, to seek counsel from the snakes, and instead he faced the Eigel that the Jewish people worshiped in the desert” (Targum Onkelos, ibid.).
Bilaam was unable to find a point of vulnerability at that time, so he opted instead to turn to the sin of the Eigel that had taken place many years prior. He sought to hone in on the sin of the Golden Calf in his quest to bring about the downfall of the Jewish people.
Why did he choose to utilize the Eigel as his point of attack against the Bnei Yisrael?
In Tehillim Chapter 106, David HaMelech relates various events that transpired while Klal Yisrael was in the Midbar. Included in this perek is a verse that references the Cheit HaEigel. “They exchanged their Glory [i.e., Hashem] for the likeness of a grass-eating ox” (Tehillim 106:20).
Why does David HaMelech mention the ox’s diet? It would suffice for him to merely mention that the Bnei Yisrael sinned by directing their service to an ox rather than to the Ribbono Shel Olam. Why mention that the ox eats grass? The last two words of the pasuk seem superfluous.
The Arizal teaches that the soul of Bilaam’s father, Be’or, was somehow trapped in the Eigel. It was he who cried out, “Eila Elokecha Yisrael.” This gives us insight into Bilaam’s fascination with the Eigel, as his father’s soul was contained within it.
In the sefer Shaar HaGilgulim, the Arizal uncovers an incredible revelation. The wicked Bilaam had two sons, Yunus and Yumbrus. It was they who actually made the Eigel in the month of Tammuz. The pasuk in Tehillim is describing this when it states “in the likeness of a grass-eating ox.” This further explains why Bilaam employed the Cheit HaEigel in his quest to destroy Klal Yisrael: His sons had been the creators of the Golden Calf, and it therefore held special meaning for him.
When Bilaam traveled with Balak’s messengers, the pasuk tells us: “He was riding on his she-donkey and his two young men were with him” (Bamidbar 22:22). Targum Yonasan ben Uziel is quick to point out who these two servants were: “He sat upon his donkey, and his two young men, Yunus and Yumbrus, were with him.”
The Arizal then explains why the pasuk in Tehillim references the diet of the ox. David HaMelech is not merely informing us of the eating habits of the ox and its choice of food. He is telling us the date the Eigel was created, when the sin of the Golden Calf occurred: It was on the day whose acronym spells eisav, grass: Shivah Asar B’Tammuz! That was the date on which the Eigel was created and worshiped.
Klal Yisrael is likened to a bride and Hashem to the groom. Har Sinai was the site of the wedding, the location where we married our Betrothed, Hashem. We were still at the chuppah when we were unfaithful to Hashem. We committed this sin with the Golden Calf during our wedding ceremony! This is one of the most disgraceful things imaginable – a bride who is unfaithful to her new husband while still under the wedding canopy.
The Gemara applies a pasuk that drives home this point: “While the king was (still) at His table, my nard gave forth its foul stench” (Shir HaShirim 1:12). Hashem, our King, was still at His wedding, and we, Klal Yisrael, exuded the horrible odor of idolatry when we sinned with the Eigel.
The Rokeach directs us to the roshei teivos, initial letters, of the first three words: “b’msibo she’hamelech ad, While the king was (still) at His table,” They spell the word eisav, which, as we stated earlier, is a reference to the date that the sin of the Eigel occurred Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, when we stood under the chuppah with our Chassan and committed the ultimate betrayal.
THE HISTORIC REVELATION OF THE ARUCH LANER
The Aruch LaNer1 presents to us a profound understanding of the Mishnah that lists the five tragic occurrences that transpired on the seventeenth of Tammuz.
The Mishnah is not merely providing a list of occurrences. Rather, it is teaching us a pattern, a progression that takes place when Klal Yisrael experiences a downfall. We are being provided with an outline that demonstrates how we experience a yeridah. A five-step path is followed, as seen time and time again throughout our history. • Nishtabru HaLuchos — The Tablets Were Broken
The first step down the road of spiritual decline is nishtabru haLuchos. As long as Jews are engaged in the study of Torah, we are secure. Keviyus itim laTorah, setting fixed times to study Torah, protects us. Learning Torah keeps us from falling prey to the wiles of the yetzer hara; it keeps us from sinning and from pursuing our taivos.
If learning slackens and Torah is no longer the priority, it is likened to the breaking of the Luchos, and it is the first step of Klal Yisrael’s downward spiral. • Bateil HaTamid — The Daily Offering Was No Longer Brought
We are required to follow certain routines and we have regular practices in which we engage. Regardless of how little Torah an individual learns on a given day, he still prays three times, puts on tallis and tefillin, and observes Shabbos and Yom Tov.
Next along the progression of decline is the abolishment of these routines that identify us as Jews. When the commitment to limud haTorah falters, the “tamid,” the daily avodah, begins to dissipate. It may start with someone brushing off davening Maariv, saying, “It’s only a reshus, not a chiyuv” (when, in fact, the Rishonim pasken that the Jewish people have accepted it as a chiyuv). Perhaps one may miss zman Kriyas Shema, at first once in a while, then with more frequency. Davening with a minyan begins to falter, and people may daven in shul only on Shabbos morning. This may progressively decline over time, until the individual is showing up only on Yamim Noraim or even
only for Kol Nidrei — if at all. Failure to maintain the temidus, the consistency, of our avodas Hashem is the second rung on the downward spiral.
It all started with disregarding limud haTorah; while this progression may take years and decades to evolve, this is the tragic manner in which Klal Yisrael falters. And it does not end there. Once the steadiness of our mitzvah performance is no longer present, Klal Yisrael is at risk of falling to the next step on the road to destruction.
• Huvk’ah Ha’ir — The City Walls Were
Breached
Without Torah learning and without consistently performing mitzvos, without the daily avodah, the neshama is open prey to the attack of the yetzer hara. Koheles compares the neshama to an ir, a city: “There was a small town with only a few inhabitants” (Koheles 9:14).
Now, the city, the neshama, is unfortified. The yetzer hara attacks, and it succeeds in causing rampant violation of Torah prohibitions. The walls of the proverbial city are breached in all areas, now leading to the complete destruction and conflagration of one’s Torah, the fourth step on the path of destruction. • Sreifas HaTorah — The Torah Scroll Was Burned
Limud haTorah became unimportant, consistently performing mitzvos was neglected, and aveiros were being committed. What follows is the total destruction of one’s Torah.
No longer present even in an incomplete form, the person’s Torah is now eradicated. There is no vestige of Torah left in him. Not a single mitzvah, not a single Torah commandment is observed. And still the yetzer hara is not content with this penultimate step downward.
• He’emid Tzelem B’Heichal — An Idol
Was Erected in the Beis HaMikdash
The final step is the active introduction of idol worship into our holy places. Where there once were Torah and mitzvos, there is now a symbol of idolatry. The yetzer hara will not stop until one’s Torah is replaced by the unthinkable and there is an actual tzelem erected in the very places where Hashem’s Shechinah had resided. While in the past one may have had a “star of David” hanging around his neck, this final departure from Hashem ends with displaying the symbol of a foreign religion.
More than providing a list of historical happenings, the Mishnah is informing us of the progression with which we as a nation can fall away from the Ribbono Shel Olam. These are the five steps that can lead to the demise of the Jewish nation.
THE KEY TO THE INGATHERING OF THE EXILES
From the onset of the Bein HaMetzarim, beginning with the seventeenth day of Tammuz through Tishah B’Av, these twenty-two days consist of 528 hours. The Bnei Yissaschar points out that this number is significant in that it is the gematria of the word maftei’ach, key.
This is no coincidence. This time period holds the key to our redemption. If Klal Yisrael were to collectively utilize these twenty-two days properly, maximizing them to their fullest, we can bring the Geulah.
The Midrash tells us the secret to achieving the Final Redemption: Ein kol hagaluyos hallalu miskansos ela b’zechus Mishnayos, The exile we are in will be brought to an end only in the merit of learning Mishnayos. The Midrash finds its source in a pasuk in Hoshea: “Gam ki yitnu ba’goyim atah akabtzeim” (Hoshea 8:10). Literally, this pasuk means, Although they pay tribute to the nations, now I will gather them. However, the word “yitnu” can also be understood as a reference to Mishnayos, as a Mishnah is called masnisin. The ingathering of the exiles will take place in the merit of the study of Mishnayos. It is in the zechus of the Torah Sheb’al Peh that we will be redeemed.
The Bnei Yissaschar draws our attention to the number of perakim that are contained in the six sedarim of Mishnah, citing the Megaleh Amukos, Rav Nosson Nota Shapiro, who was the Rav in Cracow in the times of Taz and the Bach. The Megaleh Amukos was zocheh to gilui Eliyahu; as it says on his gravestone, Eliyahu HaNavi would visit him and they would speak face to face. The Megaleh Amukos notes that there are 528 perakim in Mishnah. Likewise, there are 528 hours in the Bein HaMetzarim, the time period that symbolizes the key to the Geulah, corresponding to the 528 perakim in Mishnah, which is the vehicle through which the Geulah will come.
The initiation of the process that ultimately led to the downfall of Klal Yisrael and the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash was the Cheit HaEigel, upon which Bilaam was trying to capitalize. This event precipitated the actual breaking of the Luchos, and it introduced shikchas haTorah to the world. As Chazal teach, “Had the Luchos not been broken, the Torah would never have been forgotten.”
The Bein HaMetzarim is therefore a time to rectify what happened in our past. It is time for increased Torah study when we intensify and strive to remember our learning in order to counter the process that ultimately led to the Churban and our being exiled.
There are 528 hours corresponding to the 528 perakim of the Mishnah, which are the key to bringing the Geulah.
Rav Yeshaya Berlin (1719-1799) wrote haga’os on the mesores haShas. At the conclusion of Maseches Bikkurim, he writes that there are actually only 523 perakim in Mishnah, five fewer than the calculations of the Megaleh Amukos.
The Bnei Yissaschar explains that, in fact, there are five perakim that are not actual Mishnah; rather they are Baraisos or Tosefta. These have been added to the body of the Mishnah, but they are not Mishnayos proper. They are: the fourth perek of Bikkurim, the sixth perek of Pirkei Avos, and Tosefta on Pesachim, Kiddushin, and Sotah. Together with these perakim, we do arrive at a total of 528 perakim.
The last five hours of the Bein HaMetzarim, after chatzos on Tishah B’Av, are when we rise from the floor and the stringencies of aveilus begin to lift. These final five hours of the Bein HaMetzarim correspond with the time when David HaMelech was born.
Symbolically, there are 523 hours from the onset of the Bein HaMetzarim until the birth of Mashiach ben David, after midday on Tishah B’Av. There are an equal number of perakim proper in the Mishnah. There are then five hours in the afternoon of Tishah B’Av that have more lenient levels of aveilus and the time when the mourning begins to lift. These correspond to the five perakim that are not Mishnayos proper.
Thus, the hours of the Bein HaMetzarim precisely correspond to the perakim contained in the Mishnah.
HIDDEN MESSAGES IN THE NAME TAMMUZ
Rav Nachman of Breslov writes that the letters of the name of the month of Tammuz, when rearranged, form an acronym for Zichru Toras Moshe
— remember the Torah of Moshe.
We are instructed to recall the Torah specifically at this time of the year, during this month, because of the sheviras haLuchos, the breaking of the Tablets, that transpired in this month and which precipitated the forgetting of the Torah. As the anniversary of this tragic event approaches, we are cautioned to remember the Torah, to work on ensuring that the Torah we learn is ingrained in our memories.
Rav Nachman then addresses why the month of Tammuz would be spelled chaseir, without the vav that would typically be present.
The dimension of the Luchos, the Tablets that Moshe Rabbeinu broke, were six tefachim cubed. The vav, which in gematria is six, was removed from the name Tammuz as a symbolic gesture memorializing the fact that the Luchos, with their dimensions, which were vav-by-vav, were broken.
Rav Nachman then points out another acronym that Tammuz spells out: Zman Matan Toraseinu. This allusion seems misplaced, however, since the Torah was actually given to Klal Yisrael in the month of Sivan, not in Tammuz.
Rav Nachman explains that while the Torah was gifted to us on Shavuos, in the month of Sivan, the actual Luchos were not physically brought down by Moshe to be given to Klal Yisrael until the seventeenth of Tammuz. Hence, the actual giving of the physical Torah took place in Tammuz.
When the patience of the Bnei Yisrael ran thin as they were awaiting Moshe’s return, they approached Aharon and asked him to manufacture a new deity for them to worship, since they had given up on Moshe ever returning. Aharon instructed them to bring him their wives’ jewelry. After the men had collected their own jewelry, the Eigel was created. Aharon then told the people to return the following day, for he was designating it as a holiday, as the pasuk states, “Aharon saw and built an altar before him. Aharon called out and said, ‘A festival for Hashem tomorrow!’” (Shemos 32:5).
The Chida expresses amazement at Aharon’s statement that the next day would be a holiday. They were worshiping a golden calf, violating one of the most stringent aveiros in the Torah, and he calls for it a holiday?
The Chida explains that we find the word machar, tomorrow, used to refer to a far-off date in the future, not literally the very next day. As an example, the Torah says, “If your child asks you tomorrow” (Devarim 6:20). This pasuk refers to a future generation in which a child will ask his parent about the Exodus from Mitzrayim. Machar, therefore, is not limited to the very next day, and, in fact, Aharon was not referring to the next day; rather, he was referring to the distant future, when at long last that date, Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, will be a holiday. When Mashiach comes and we are redeemed from this long and bitter exile, the seventeenth of Tammuz will no longer be a day of mourning — it will transform into a day of celebration.
“Thus said Hashem, Master of Legions: The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will be to the House of Yehudah for joy and gladness and for happy festivals. [Only] love truth and peace!” (Zechariah 8:19). Thus, l’asid lavo, Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, Tishah B’Av, Tzom Gedaliah, and Asarah B’Teves will all become days of celebration.
Standing in front of Klal Yisrael on the eve of Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, Aharon HaKohen was looking forward to the day when this metamorphosis will finally take place. He understood that the very next day would be tragic, as Klal Yisrael would worship the Eigel. But in the distant future, when we will finally merit the Geulah, it will be a chag, a festival.
The vehicle through which it will become a chag will be our utilization of the 528 hours to commit ourselves to the study of Torah Sheb’al Peh. These hours will become the maftei’ach haGeulah, the key to the Redemption. We will be able to rectify the first step of the downward spiral — nishtabru haLuchos and the resultant shikchas haTorah, the forgetting of one’s Torah learning.
The haftarah that always precedes the Bein HaMetzarim is the haftarah of Parshas Balak. This haftarah contains the prophecy of the Navi Michah. The prophet states, “The remnant of Yaakov will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from Hashem, like raindrops upon grass, which is not hoped for from man and not awaited from a human being” (Michah 5:6). The she’eiris Yaakov, the remnant of Yaakov, refers to the Jewish people, the small remnant who has survived the trials and tribulations of Jewish history. B’kerev amim rabim, we will be among the mighty nations. K’tal mei’eis Hashem, k’rivivim, like the dew that falls from Hashem, like the rain. This means that Hashem will send His heavenly rain; ein mayim ela Torah, there is no water other than the Torah. Hashem will send a great influence of Torah upon Shivah Asar B’Tammuz and transform it into an eternal day of celebration.
May we all be zocheh to the fruition of the pesukim, “The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will be to the House of Yehudah for joy and gladness and for happy festivals. [Only] love truth and peace!” and may we be zocheh to see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Aharon HaKohen, machar chag l’Hashem.
1 The Aruch LaNer, Rav Yaakov Ettlinger, lived from 1798 to 1871. He was a student of the son of the Shaagas Aryeh, Rav Asher Ginzburg-Wallerstein. He was also a talmid of Rav Avraham Bing of Wurzburg, where he attended university. Eventually he had to leave the university because of anti-Semitic riots.
He authored the Aruch LaNer on many masechtos in Shas. He wrote Bikkurei Yaakov on Hilchos Succah, which is often cited by the Mishnah Berurah, as well as the sefer Minchas Ani on Chumash. He was also a great mekubal.
The Aruch LaNer established great talmidim throughout his life, while leading a kloiz in Manheim and later as Chief Rabbi of Altona. Many of the gedolei Ashkenaz were students of the Aruch LaNer; notable among them were Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch (18081888) and Rav Azriel Hildesheimer (1820-1899).
Rav Ettlinger’s diligence in Torah study was exceptional. He would retire at 2 a.m. after a mournful recitation of Tikkun Chatzos, and at 5 a.m. he was already adorned in tallis and tefi llin, in which he learned until the afternoon. The Aruch LaNer’s holy soul ascended on the fi rst night of Chanukah 1871.
