17th of Tammuz: Beseech G-d until we have the Holy Temple!

Jews begin their annual Three Weeks of mourning over the destruction of the first two Holy Temples with the prayer, “Permit G-d no silence until He sets and establishes Jerusalem as the praise of the earth [Isaiah 62:7]. For with You is the source of life; in Your light we will see light [Psalms 36:10]. Our G-d, we are contrite over our actions, we are shamed because of our wrongdoing.”

In most years, the “Three Weeks” begin on the 17th of Tammuz. That is the day when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans, before they destroyed the Second Temple. The date of the destruction, three weeks later, is the 9th of Av.  (The First Holy Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians on the same date.) In years such as this year, when the 17th of Tammuz falls on the Jewish Sabbath (on 16 July, 20’22), the period of mourning begins a day later, on the 18th of Tammuz.

Noahides also await the building of the Third Holy Temple. This will be accomplished by the true Messiah (Moshiach), speedily in our days. As it says (Isaiah 56:7), “for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”