July 4, 2007
FROM THE ARCHIVES: OUR JEWISH REPUBLIC:
Why Was The Vilna Gaon Fasting On July 4, 1776?: Finding The Lesson In A Convergence Of Dates (Rabbi YERACHMIEL SEPLOWITZ, 6/30/2004, Jewish Press)
The signing of the Declaration of Independence was, I believe, one of the great moments in post-Talmudic Jewish history. The concept of religious freedom is truly an anomaly in Jewish (and world) history. Imagine a country where the law of the land gives us the right to take off from work on Saturday. If your boss insists that you show up for work on Saturday, you can take him to court — a far cry from other lands, such as America’s "ally" Saudi Arabia where the practice of any religion other than Islam is banned.A few years back I was wondering about the 4th of July in the context of the Jewish calendar. I was curious as to the Hebrew date of July 4, 1776. I wondered, what was going on in the Jewish world while Thomas Jefferson sat in Philadelphia penning the immortal words of the Declaration of Independence?
What were the Chasam Sofer (14 years old) and the Vilna Gaon (56 years old) doing “by the dawn’s early light” on that first Fourth of July? You may be surprised by the answer; I certainly was. They were fasting. You see, our Founding Fathers created the miracle of democracy and religious freedom on 17 Tammuz, 5536.
The seventeenth of Tammuz? Could it be that the Founding Fathers gave the gift of America to the world on a day that Jews were fasting? On the 17th of Tammuz we commemorate several sad events. Among the misfortunes that occurred on that date were the Babylonian breach made in the defense wall surrounding Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E and the shattering of the first tablets of the Ten Commandments.
I couldn`t believe it. The United States of America is a bastion of freedom where Torah has grown exponentially. There are yeshivas all over the country. Kosher food is available everywhere. A religious Jew has opportunities that are denied to him elsewhere. A Sabbath- and kashruth-observing Jew came within a few hundred chads of the vice presidency! How could it be that the United States was founded on one of the saddest days on the Jewish calendar?
On further reflection, I think I found the answer. Freedom is a double-edged sword. Yes, in America, we Jews (and others) have the right to observe the faith of our ancestors. We are entitled to be accommodated in our needs to follow the dictates of our religion. However, we also have the right to throw it away.
Is America so Jewish that Jews don't need to be?
[originally posted: 2004-07-09]
Posted by Orrin Judd at July 4, 2007 12:01 AMMere coincidence? I don't think so.
Posted by: Mike Morley at July 9, 2004 9:26 AMRadical Protestantism = Judaism
Posted by: J.H. at July 9, 2004 9:46 AMThe answer is that God was creating a haven for Jews and he picked the saddest date in Jewish history to do it.
Posted by: Bob at July 9, 2004 9:53 AMJ.H.
Not radical--Christianity is just Judaism for the Gentiles.
Posted by: oj at July 9, 2004 9:57 AMAfter death comes resurrection; after the shattering of the Ten Commandments comes a government founded on the principles that rulers and ruled alike must abide by the Ten Commandments. It is a fitting coincidence.
Posted by: pj at July 9, 2004 10:32 AMJust a question - how many days of fasting are there on the Jewish calendar?
Posted by: Robert Duquette at July 9, 2004 10:35 AMWhat does freedom of religion have to do with the Declaration of Independence? And why does this person think that freedom of religion guarantees him the right to take Saturday off?
Posted by: David Cohen at July 9, 2004 11:07 AMActually, the 17th of Tammuz iss not considered the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. That is reserved for "Tisha B'Av" or the ninth day of the month of Av, which is exactly three weeks after the 17th of Tammuz (names of the months are Babylonian.)
If the breach in the Temple was made, according to tradition, on the 17th of Tammuz, the actual destruction of the Temple (both 1st and 2nd Temples, actually, according to legend, give or take a day or two) occurred on the 9th of Av. The latter date has a bad reputation, generally, e.g., the edict for the expulsion from Spain in 1492 was supposed to have also occurred on this date among other tragic events.
As for the number of fast days in the Jewish calendar, there are six, but these fall into two categories: two full 25-hour fasts (i.e., sundown to nightfall--i.e., post-dusk), which are Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, and four pre-dawn to nightfall fasts.
There are other reasons for Jews to fast. There are personal reasons (e.g., one's marriage day) or collective reasons (traditionally, times of drought or other disasters), though their observation greatly depends on the level of observance of the individual.
It has also been a tradition among some of the more devout to fast on Mondays and Thursdays at certain times of the year; and according to tradition, all first born males (not born C-section) are obligated to fast the day before the first night of Passover, though this is traditionally circumvented by attending a lesson that concludes a section of Talmud that morning.
Posted by: Barry Meislin at July 9, 2004 11:09 AMIf he thinks we're offering freedom to kidnap little boys, well, I'm sorry to say, he's more right than wrong. See 'The Zaddik.'
Freedom of religion is a good thing. Religion, however, is a bad thing.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at July 11, 2004 2:55 PMThen why's it wrong to kidnap little boys?
Posted by: oj at July 11, 2004 3:01 PMIt outrages the secular conscience.
It does not, however, outrage the Orthodox Jewish conscience.
You pays yer money and you takes yer cherce.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at July 11, 2004 4:47 PMThere's no such thing as a secular conscience, only your own preferences.
Posted by: oj at July 11, 2004 5:15 PMA distinction without a difference. Anyhow, in the case in point, it was Orthodox who approved the kidnapping and subverted justice, and secularists who tried to save the boy.
I know what side I want to be on.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at July 12, 2004 2:29 PMYour own, by yourself. No way to run a society, is it?
Posted by: oj at July 12, 2004 2:40 PMwe could put it to a vote
Posted by: Harry Eagar at July 13, 2004 12:27 AM