Congregation Toras Chaim is proud to begin a new daily email called “Attitudes and Laws Concerning Tznius of Conduct & Dress.” Tznius is often translated as modesty, but it means so much more. It really has to do with the sanctity and self esteem that comes from seeing oneself as created in the image of G-d, and what it means to uphold that personification in this world.

Once a day a short inspirational thought or relevant law (halacha) on tznius will be sent. This endeavor is designed for married men and women (married or not)–although anyone may register. We promise that this will be an eye opening study, will generate much discussion and provide a wonderful opportunity for growth. You may not personally be aligned with everything written here, and that’s okay. File it away for a time and place down the road.

If you have interest in Attitudes and Laws Concerning Tznius of Conduct & Dress, then please submit your name or a friend’s name to the list below. We will give everyone about a week to sign up before publishing the daily email, which will be based on the classic Modesty – An Adornment for Life by Rabbi Pesach Eliyahu Falk. You may forward this to anyone you like by simply clicking the envelope icon at the bottom of this post.

Popular Cereals and their Blessings thanks to the Star-K in Baltimore, MD.

• Fast Begins: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 at 5:12 AM
• Fast Ends: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 at 9:19 PM

Background
The 17th of Tammuz is mentioned in Nevi’im (Prophets) – as "the fast of the fourth month" (Zechariah 8:19). The Mishnah (Taanit 4:8) lists five calamities that befell the Jewish people on this date:

• Moses broke the two tablets of stone on Mount Sinai;
• The daily tamid offering ceased to be brought;
• The walls of Jerusalem were breached (proceeding to the destruction of the Temple);
• Prior to Bar Kokhba’s revolt, Roman military leader Apostomus burned a Torah scroll;
• An idol was erected in the Temple.

The Babylonian Talmud (Taanit 28b) places the second and fifth tragedies in the First Temple, while dating the third tragedy (breach of Jerusalem) to the Second Temple period. Jerusalem of the First Temple, on the other hand, was breached on the 9th of Tammuz (cf. Jeremiah 52.6-7).

The Three Weeks or Bein ha-Metzarim (Hebrew: בין המצרים, "Between the Straits" or "In Dire Straits") is a period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples. The Three Weeks start on the seventeenth day of the Jewish month of Tammuz — the fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz — and end on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av — the fast of Tisha B’Av, which occurs exactly three weeks later. Both of these fasts commemorate events surrounding the destruction of the Jewish Temples and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the land of Israel. According to conventional chronology, the destruction of the first Temple, by Nebuchadrezzar II, occurred in 586 BCE, and the second, by the Romans, in 70 CE. Jewish chronology, however, traditionally places the first destruction at about 421 BCE.

Observances
Jewish law forbids during this time:

• taking a haircut
• shaving
• listening to music
• as well, no Jewish marriages are allowed during the Three Weeks, since the joy of such an event would conflict with the expected mood of mourning during this time.