The 17th of Tammuz

¹ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt — we do not know what has happened to him." ² Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." ³ And all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ This he took from them and cast in a mold, and made it into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!" ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron announced: "Tomorrow shall be a festival of the Lord!" ⁶ Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink, and then rose to dance.

⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, "Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. ⁸ They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'"

¹⁵ Thereupon Moses turned and went down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces: they were inscribed on the one side and on the other. ¹⁶ The tablets were God's work, and the writing was God's writing, incised upon the tablets. ¹⁷ When Joshua heard the sound of the people in its boisterousness, he said to Moses, "There is a cry of war in the camp." ¹⁸ But he answered,
"It is not the sound of the tune of triumph,
Or the sound of the tune of defeat;
It is the sound of song that I hear!"

¹⁹ As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf that they had made and burned it; he ground it to powder and strewed it upon the water and so made the Israelites drink it.

Five great catastrophes occurred in Jewish history on the 17th of Tammuz:

1. Moses broke the tablets at Mount Sinai – in response to the sin of the Golden Calf.

2. The daily offerings in the First Temple were suspended during the siege of Jerusalem, after the Kohanim could no longer obtain animals.

3. Jerusalem's walls were breached, prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.

4. Prior to the Great Revolt (132 CE), the Roman general Apostamos burned a Torah scroll – setting a precedent for the horrifying burning of Jewish books throughout the centuries.

5. An idolatrous image was placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple – a brazen act of blasphemy and desecration.

(13) And it shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing; fear not, but let your hands be strong. (14) For thus said the LORD of host: As I did evil to you, when your fathers provoked Me, said the LORD of hosts, I repented not; (15) so again will I, in these days, do good unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not.

(16) These are the things that you shall do: Speak every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; (17) and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the LORD.’

(18) And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying: (19) ’Thus said the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month (17th of Tammuz), and the fast of the fifth (9th of Av), and the fast of the seventh (Tzom Gedaliah), and the fast of the tenth (10th of Tevet), shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful seasons; therefore love truth and peace.

R. Hanah b. Bizna has said in the name of R. Simeon the Saint:

‘What is the meaning of the verse, 'Thus had said the Lord of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness?'

The prophet calls these days both days of fasting and days of joy, signifying that when there is peace they shall be for joy and gladness, but if there is not peace they shall be fast days."