by Arutz Sheva Staff
Hundreds of thousands of observant Jewish families begin the "Three Weeks" of gradually-increasing mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temples and Israel's exile on Tuesday, with the fast of the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz.
This is the day on which Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces breached the walls of Jerusalem in 422 BCE, after 18 months of siege, on their way to destroying the First Temple three weeks later. (Note: Some date the destruction of the first Temple 586 B.C.E.)
The Three Weeks end on the 9th of Av - Tisha B'Av - the date on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, roughly 2,500 and 2,000 years ago respectively, the second destruction by Roman forces taking place in the year 70 C. E.
The 17th of Tammuz marks other calamities in Jewishhistory as well. It is the date on which Moses, having descended from Mount Sinai for the first time, saw the people sinning with the Golden Calf and broke the first set of Ten Commandments. In addition, the priests of the First Temple era were forced on this day, a year before the Temple's destruction, to stop offering the daily sacrifice due to the shortage of sheep. Read the rest on: Arutz7
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