This coming Tuesday is the 17th of Tammuz the day on which five major tragedies befell the Jewish people: 1) Moshe broke the tablets of the Ten Commandments; 2) the Daily Sacrifices (Korban Tamid) were suspended; 3) the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem - leading up to the destruction of the second Temple; 4) Apostomus (a Roman general) burned the Torah; and 5) an idol was erected in the Temple.
As a result, the 17th day of Tammuz was designated as a fast day, and for Ashkenazim, it is also the beginning of the three-week period of national mourning for the destruction of the Temples. (Interestingly, there is a dispute whether the “three weeks” begins the night of the 17th of Tammuz [Tzitz Eliezer 10:27] or in the morning [Iggrot Moshe Orech Chaim vol. 1:168]. However, unless there is a pressing need to be lenient, the general consensus is to consider the night of the 17th as the beginning of the three weeks.)
Some Laws of this Fast Day: The fast begins 72 minutes before sunrise (4:24 am) and continues until the end of the day (30 minutes after sunset is 8:48 pm). Food and drink may be consumed any time during the night, if one has not gone to sleep "for the night".
Although bathing is permitted on a fast day, it has become customary not to take a hot shower or bath [Aruch haShulchan 550:3].
The rabbis differ as to whether it is permitted to rinse one's mouth with water on the fast days such as this [Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chayim 567:3]. Some permit rinsing the front part of the mouth and even brushing one's teeth, taking care that no water enters the throat [Aruch haShulchan 567:3], while others allow this only when in distress [Mishna Berurah 567:11].
Medications PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR may be taken on this fast day. If one has difficulty swallowing pills without water s/he may drink a small amount of water required to swallow the medicine [Nishmat Avraham, vol. 5, pg. 46 in the name of Rabbi S.Z. Auerbach].
There is a debate among authorities whether pregnant or nursing woman should fast on the 17th of Tammuz (and the other minor fast days). Some maintain that they should, unless they are in significant discomfort [Chayyei Adam 133:6] or feeling weak [Mishna Berurah 550 note 5]. While the Aruch HaShulchan (among others) exempted them from fasting on these days [Aruch HaShulchan 554:8, Halichot Beitah 25 note 3].
If by accident, a healthy person ate some food, the fast should be resumed and completed as normal [Mishna Berurah 549:3].
DVAR TORAH At the end of this morning’s parsha, we read of the terrible sin of Zimri, the prince of the tribe of Shimon and his act of insolence with a Moabite woman - all in the presence of Moshe and the Children of Israel.
While this shameless sin is very difficult to understand (especially after all the Jews had experienced in their years in the desert), perhaps even more challenging to understand is Moshe’s response as he and the other leaders “were weeping before the door of the Tent of Meeting.”
Why did Moshe not act? Why were they so overwhelmed? Or, as the midrash asks, “Is it possible that Moshe, who stood up to six hundred thousand [Israelites] and ‘taken the Calf that they had made,’ should be unable to act!?”
The answer, according to the midrash (and quoted by Rashi), was that all of this happened “so that Pinchas might arise and take that which was fit for him.” Because, until then, Pinchas had not been appointed a kohen, nor did he serve in the role of formal leadership. But now all of that changed, as we will read next week - as Pinchas is granted the “covenant of eternal priesthood” and the “covenant of peace.”
But the midrash doesn’t stop there. Instead, it continues and criticizes Moshe for his inaction, explaining that this was the cause of his punishment that no one would know the place he was buried.
This led Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein to suggest that as much as this incident was a test of Pinchas’ leadership, it further proves Moshe’s inability to lead a new generation. As he wrote, “...here we see the full force of transition from one generation to the next. Moshe’s sense of alienation and distance from the younger generation makes him feel helpless and unable to respond to the events going on around him. Ba’al Pe’or symbolizes the generation gap that has opened between the veteran leader and the younger generation.” [Moses: Envoy of G-d, Envoy of His People, p.174]
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