Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan - 17 Tammuz

on seventeenth of tamu's shiva sarbatamus we fast because five tragedies happened to the jewish people at various points in our history number one when the jewish people were by mount sinai when moshe rabino went up to the mountain for 40 days on the 40th day before his coming they built a an idol a golden calf and they served it and when moshe came the the following day with the tablets of ten commandments and he saw that the jewish people don't have the merit to receive the torah he smashed the luhot the second tragedy that happened was at the time of the first temple when the babylonians conquered um and surrounded there came a time when they did not have any more offerings animals for sacrifices and the tamid the continual daily offering stopped for the first time in over 800 years and the number three was that walls of yerushalayim were breached during the second temple era during the first temple they were breached on a few days earlier also in tamus but the sages put both of these days together so that we don't have to fast two days in a row number four a sephir torah was burned by a roman general apostomus and this was at the end of the second temple and number five and idol was placed in the beta mikdash during the time of the first temple so some of the rules for this day this year it falls on sunday it's being pushed from shabbat to sunday and we don't eat we don't drink from dawn until nightfall pregnant women do not have to fast on that day anyone who feels sick they don't have to fast on that day a woman that gave birth in the last 24 months does not have to fast whether she is nursing or not and of course children and elderly for whom it's difficult do not have to fast we are allowed to take a shower put cream on and wear the wear leather shoes these are not allowed on tish above but on the 17th of tammuz they are allowed there is a special toy reading on that day and a special addition to shmonesre aneno we added both in shaharid and in minha it is permitted to brush your teeth on the 17th of tammuz but you have to be careful not to swallow any water gum is not permitted even though you're not swallowing any food but the the pleasant taste still goes in and it takes away from the fasting smoking is permitted on 17th of tammuz but of course it's never recommended since the fast begins at dawn someone who wakes up before dawn and wants to drink is permitted however eating is already prohibited from the moment the person goes to sleep unless he makes a condition before going to sleep i am going to wake up and i'm going to eat before dawn i'm not accepting the fast upon myself yet if someone ate on a fast day by mistake he should stop eating and continue fasting if he ate less than a kazaite less than an ounce of food he can still say aneno in amida but if he ate more than a kazyat he can no longer say ano but nevertheless he should stop eating and he has to continue fasting for the remainder of the day the main reason for our fasting is in order to reflect on our life and to do teshuva and to improve our behavior and therefore fast days should not be a day of shopping it's permitted to shop but that should not be the focus of the day it should not be day of traveling it should not be a day of watching movies rather it should be day of prayer of learning torah may the days of mourning turn into happy days into holidays may we only hear good news and may we see the geology amen [Music] you