This Sunday is the 17th of Tammuz. If that isn’t an immediately meaningful date to you, don’t worry – the significance of the date is lost on many people, despite 17 Tammuz being one of the key historical fast days spread across the Jewish year.
17 Tammuz is one of several minor fasts and like most, it marks a particular event in Jewish history. The problem is – no one exactly knows which one. The most likely contender is the beginning of the end of the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70.
According to our own contemporary sources, the Roman legions breached the walls of the city on 17th Tammuz, completing their destruction and devastation of the Temple three weeks later on Tishah b’Av. This is likely, but also somewhat uncertain – and in classic rabbi fashion, our Sages decide to add (Mishnah Ta’anit 4.6) a bunch of other sad occasions to the 17 Tammuz docket:
Some of these of course feel like more reliable explanations than others. If you’re thinking: “Hmm, I’m not sure why I should fast because my ancestors ran out of sheep 2600 years ago…” then I’m with you. More critically, neither of us will have been the first ones to raise such a question! As Yoel Rappel writes in a piece for Makhon Schechter:
“This question is not new; it arose 2,500 years ago, first mentioned in the Book of Zechariah. Two years before the Second Temple was dedicated, the people questioned the relevance of the fasts related to the destruction of the First Temple. The prophet’s answer is unexpected. He warns of an upset in the world of values, and promises that in the future, the fasts of 17 Tammuz, 9 Av, Gedalia, and 10 Tevet will be days of joy and gladness for Israel.”
Rappel goes to affirm that, in light of the current reality, in which Jewish sovereignty has been returned to the Land of Israel, these fasts should be, at least in part, relaxed – and some (including 17 Tammuz) even cancelled. In this he is following the logic of his teacher and one of the most important Masorti rabbis, Rabbi David Golinkin.
Many may not know Rabbi Golinkin, but he has been an incredible boon for Masorti Judaism in Israel. He has authored hundreds of teshuvot (Responsa) and helped to craft the halakhic basis of traditional-egalitarian Judaism both in Israel and across the world. As of this month, Rabbi Golinkin is retiring as the head of the Schechter Institutes in Jerusalem, and his nuanced treatment of these fast days is only one of many bits of Torah that I want to share in honour of his legacy as a teacher and posek (decisor).
First of all, you can find quite a few (190 at last count!) of Rabbi Golinkin’s teshuvot, on a variety of topics, translated into English on the Schechter website here – it is really worth perusing. The depth of his knowledge and the sophistication of the logic in many of these is extremely praiseworthy. There are hundreds more which have been published in Hebrew and have helped to shape the halakhic position of Masorti Judaism worldwide. One of my favourite is precisely on the question of fasting on 17 Tammuz, and the three week period we are about to enter this Sunday.
In his conclusion, Rabbi Golinkin says:
“What should we do? We should fast all day on Tishah b’Av, while ruling that the other three fasts are optional. This is the approach of Rav Pappa in Rosh Hashanah 18b as codified by the Geonim and Rishonim who ruled according to the simple meaning of the Talmudic passage. By so doing, we acknowledge the miracles of the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 and the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 by downplaying the three fast days, while indicating that we are still far from peace by fasting on Tishah b’Av.”
The full teshuvah is really worth reading (it’s here) – both for information, and also in tribute to a scholar such as Rabbi Golinkin, whose reasoning and knowledge are really on display here. I have no doubt that his leadership of Schechter will be very missed, and that the work he has done to articulate a sensible, moderate, Masorti halakhic position will continue to serve our communities well for many generations.
