<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">The 17th of Tamuz is a fast day commemorating several catastrophes which occurred throughout our <br class="">history. Most notably, on this day in 70 CE the Roman army broke through the walls of Jerusalem prior </span><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">to destroying the Second Temple. The 17th of Tamuz has always been a calamitous day for the Jewish people, </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">for it was on this day that Moses broke the first tablets. Moses descended from Mount Sinai, and upon seeing the people </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">dancing around the Golden Calf, smashed the tablets onto the ground.<br class=""> <br class="">The two sets of tablets contain the same laws, with slightly different wording. The first tablet of each set contains the laws </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">of our relationship to God, which are represented by the verse, "You shall love Hashem, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5) ,The second tablet contains the laws of our relationship with other people, which are represented </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">by the verse, "You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am Hashem." (Leviticus 19:18).<br class=""> <br class="">What is interesting is that both verses have a key phrase with the same gematria, 907. These are the laws between 'man and God’ </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">(Deut.6:5) "V'ahavta et Adonai Elohekha" (You shall love the Lord, your God); and laws between 'man and man’ </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">(Lev.19:18) "V'ahavta l'rayekha kamokha; Ani Adonai" (You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Hashem). Both phrases have </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">the exact numerical value of 907. This shows in a mystical fashion that laws towards other people carry an equal worth as the laws of </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">how we should act towards God. [After all, it was God who created the other people]. (The Torah also reminds us that both are necessary, </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">by pointing out that the word for tablets, Luchot, is written incomplete in the Torah. This reminds us that neither tablet is whole on its own, </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">and that a person must follow both sets of laws). </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class=""> <br class="">The Talmud says that after the future redemption of Israel and the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash, these fast days will be re-dedicated </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">as days of rejoicing and festivity. For as the prophet Zechariah says: the 17th of Tammuz will become a day of "joy to the House of Judah, </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">and gladness and cheerful feasts."</span></div></body></html>