Tammuzs

Tammuz is the fourth month of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar, and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year. It is a lunisolar month, meaning its length varies between 29 and 30 days, and it is synchronized with the solar year through the addition of an intercalary month during leap years. The name Tammuz is derived from the Akkadian month name Duʾuzu.

The month of Tammuz falls in the summer, typically spanning parts of June and July in the Gregorian calendar. It is a period often associated with the heat of summer and a time of transition in the agricultural cycle. In Jewish tradition, Tammuz is marked by a minor fast day known as the Fast of Tammuz. This fast commemorates the breach of the walls of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, which led to the destruction of the Second Temple. The fast falls on the seventeenth day of the month.

The period from the Fast of Tammuz until the Ninth of Av, the day commemorating the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, is known as the "Three Weeks" or " Bein HaMetzarim" (Between the Straits). This is a period of semi-mourning in Jewish observance, during which certain celebratory activities are generally avoided. Despite its somber associations, Tammuz is also a time when the bounty of summer harvests is celebrated in some agricultural communities.