Community on Columbia

No Torah Readings scheduled except for those concerning the Fast of Ab.

The purpose of the fast is to consider our idolatry and repent, as the Jews did, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem.

See notes on the fast here.

Zechariah 8:19 – Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

The Fast of Tammuz, which we will celebrate this year on June 24, and the Fast of Ab on July 22, mark off a three-week season of mourning and repentance. The first fast reminded Jews of the day when the wall of Jerusalem was breached by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. (and later by the Romans in 70 A.D.). The Fast of Ab designated the complete destruction of the Temple and Israel carried off into captivity. The focus is on the idolatry that brought God’s judgment upon them, and a search to rid ourselves of any idolatry within.

The medieval Jewish commentator Maimonides said that all these fasts would cease in the times of the Messiah. So Zechariah’s prophesy points to God’s final victory, which as believers we celebrate from our position as “seated with him in the heavenlies.”

See the Notes on the Fast of Tammuz

(More on the Fast of Ab later)