July 4 is my birthDATE. However, 19 Tammuz is my birthDAY. That is when we celebrate and commemorate. As is customary among Chabad Chasidim, I will be making a birthday "farbrengen" (FOR MEN) in honor of my birthday on Monday evening, 19 Tammuz, at my home at about 9 p.m. I fully understand if your schedule does not allow you to attend. Please let me know if you can make it. (For more about celebrating birthdays read: What is a Jewish Birthday? and related articles there on the right).
To mourn the breaching of Jerusalem's walls and the other tragic events that occurred on this day (see "Today in Jewish History") and repent and rectify their causes, Tammuz 17 was instituted as a fast day. This year, however, the actual fast is held Sunday July 24, due to the holiness of Shabbat.
The 17th of Tammuz also marks the beginning of The Three Weeks period of mourning which culminates on the 9th of Av, commemorating the conquest of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Holy Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish people.
Weddings and other joyful events are not held during this period; like mourners, we do not cut our hair, and various pleasurable activities are limited or proscribed.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe urged that the Three Weeks should be a time of increased giving of charity andTorah study (in keeping with the verse (Isaiah 1:27), "Zion shall be redeemed by law, and her returnees by charity"), particularly the study of those portions of Torah that deal with the laws and the deeper significance of the Holy Temple.
Links: TheThreeWeeks.com; Some Laws and Customs of the Three Weeks; About Holy Temple.
Shabbos Parshas Balak
Friday, July 22
Services at 7:30 pm
Candle Lighting at 8:03 pm
Shabbos, July 23, Tammuz 17
Chassidus at 9 am
Services at 10 am
Followed by Shabbos Kiddush & Farbrengen
Mincha at 8:05 pm
Maariv, Havdalla & Shabbos Ends at 8:59 pm
Living Torah
Sunday, July 24, Fast Day for Tammuz 17(observed)
Fast Begins at 5:11 am
Shacharis at 8:30 am
Fast Ends at 8:46 pm
Have a good Shabbos!
Rabbi Chaim & Chanie