06/16/2026
With the beginning of the month of Tammuz, we find ourselves facing the saddest period in the Jewish sacred calendar. Ahead of us lies the 17th of Tammuz, a date that reverberates with a sense of rupture in our collective memory: shattered tablets, breached walls. And three weeks beyond that, the 9th of Av, a date associated with even deeper devastation: both Temples destroyed, Jerusalem laid waste.
Two pivotal biblical narratives accompany us as we enter this period – narratives that point to two threats that are with us whenever we find ourselves facing uncertain terrain. In between these two dramatic stories – the story of the spies and the story of Korach – sits the mitzvah of tzitzit, the commandment to wear fringes on the corners of our garments. Rad more at https://hebrewcollege.edu/blog/blessing-for-the-month-of-tamuz/
