Еврейский праздник Шива Асар Б'Таммуз

Shivah Asar B'Tammuz is portrayed through the anguish of Jerusalem under siege: a bearded elder cries out beside a fractured wall while armed figures press forward and flames rise behind the city. The broken stones, raised weapon, and fearful faces evoke the breach of Jerusalem’s defenses, the calamity remembered on the seventeenth day of Tammuz. In Jewish tradition this fast day begins the Three Weeks of mourning that lead to Tisha B'Av, recalling the disasters connected with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. The scene carries the sober theology of remembrance, repentance, and hope, echoing the biblical fast of the fourth month that Zechariah declares will one day become joy and gladness for the house of Judah.