A Breach in the Wall: How do we react when we sense that we are witnessing the beginning of the end?

The Seventeenth of Tammuz commemorates the day that the Romans breached the outer wall of Jerusalem.  From this point, the destruction of the Temple just three weeks later may have been inevitable, but both historians and rabbinic legends suggest that there were earlier points at  which the calamity of Tisha b'Av could have been avoided. 

In our own lives, we sometimes have experiences -- be they personal, communal, national or global -- that give us a feeling of sliding toward catastrophe.   How do we respond to such foreboding, especially when not everyone around us shares the same feeling?  We will examine this sensation through the lens of episodes from Tanakh and rabbinic literature. 
 
11:00 AM
Jeremiah Confronts the False Prophets… and Us
Rabbi Daniel Reifman

In the waning days of the First Temple Period, Israel was confronted with conflicting prophetic messages: Jeremiah predicted that Jerusalem was doomed, while false prophets offered assurances that it would be spared.  Jeremiah’s accounts of this conflict raise profound questions, both for the prophet himself and for his contemporaneous audience. How are the recipients of a prophecy supposed to distinguish a true prophet from a false ones?  Can a prophecy of doom ever be overturned through repentance?  If so, at what point should repentance end and acceptance begin?
 
12:15 PM 
The Origin of Calamity: The Sin of the Golden Calf
Rabbi David Silber

The Mishnah lists five tragedies within Jewish history that occurred on the 17th of Tammuz, the first being Moses' breaking of the tablets upon witnessing the Golden Calf.  We will analyze the episode of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32-34) for what it tells us about leadership in a time of crisis and the possibility of securing redemption in the aftermath of tragedy.

1:30 PM
התקינו עצמכם לפורענות: Preparing for Disaster
Rabba Wendy Amsellem

As Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yishmael are executed by the Romans, Rabbi Akiva warns his students to get ready because the worst is yet to come. How does Rabbi Akiva intend for them to prepare for the impending disaster? We will study several rabbinic texts that attempt to redefine suffering and to locate meaning in terrible events.

2:45 PM 
Mincha