The saddest time of the Jewish calendar is sandwiched between two fast days Shiv'ah Asar B'Tammuz - the seventeenth of Tammuz on July 11th and Tisha B'Av evening of July 31. This period of time is called Beyn hametzarim ("between the straits" i.e. days of distress).
The 17th of Tammuz is the first of four fast days mentioned in the prophets Originally, the fast was observed on the Ninth of Tammuz since that was the day Jerusalem fell prior to the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. However, after Jerusalem fell on the 17th of Tammuz – prior to the destruction of the Second Temple – the Sages decided to combine observance for both tragedies on the 17th of Tammuz. The purpose of a fast day is to awaken our sense of loss over the destroyed Temple – and the subsequent Jewish journey into exile. Through the process of "Teshuva" – self-introspection and a commitment to improve – we have the power to transform tragedy into joy. As the prophet Zechariah says: the 17th of Tammuz will become a day of "joy to the House of Judah, and gladness and cheerful feasts."
According to the Mishnah (Ta'anit 4:6), five calamities befell the Jewish people on Shiv'ah Asar B'Tammuz. (The Seventeenth of Tammuz):
- Moses broke the two tablets of stone with the commandments that had been hewn by Hashem on Mount Sinai because the people had sinned by worshipping the Golden Calf.
- The daily tamid offering ceased to be brought in the first temple;
- The walls of Jerusalem preceding the destruction of the second Temple were breached;
- Prior to Bar Kokhba's revolt, a Roman military leader - Apostomus burned a Torah scroll;
- An idol was erected in the Temple.