Tammuz: the Three Weeks, Hebrew dates and Cancer
Tammuz is the fourth month counting from Nisan and has 29 days in the fixed Hebrew calendar. It follows Sivan and leads into Av. English sources may write Tamuz. Its best-known observance is the fast associated with 17 Tammuz and the beginning of the Three Weeks.
Prepared by Mazalogy · Published · Our editorial approach
| Hebrew name | תמוז |
|---|---|
| Order counted from Nisan | 4 |
| Days in the fixed calendar | 29 |
| Gra letter | ח · Chet |
| Gra zodiac correspondence | Cancer |
| Gra faculty, concise gloss | Sight |
A month boundary inside a period of remembrance
The Three Weeks extend from the Seventeenth of Tammuz toward the Ninth of Av. The period crosses a month boundary, so “the seventeenth” without a month name is an incomplete reference. Preserve Tammuz and Av in your notes rather than translating both into an undated civil-calendar range.
Locate the end of Tammuz and the start of Av in one selected year. Follow the dated events rather than assuming that an observance always falls on the weekday suggested by its name. For actual fasting times or community practice, a local observance schedule supplies information a month overview cannot.
Sources: Chabad · The Jewish Month: order and fixed-calendar lengths
Reading the Seventeenth of Tammuz carefully
Chabad’s month guide presents 17 Tammuz as a day commemorating the breach of Jerusalem’s walls and the beginning of a mourning period for the Temple’s destruction. These are historical and religious contexts. They should not be turned into a claim that people born in Tammuz have a sorrowful destiny.
A useful study note has three columns: event name, date named by the tradition and observed date in the year you are checking. Keep a source beside the note. This lets you compare a historical reference with a working calendar without collapsing the two into one kind of statement.
Sources: Chabad · Tammuz month introduction
Chet, Cancer and the Gra version
In the Gra version of Sefer Yetzirah, Tammuz is associated with Chet (ח) and Cancer; Mazalogy renders the connected faculty as “sight.” This is a named textual correspondence, not a calculated natal Sun position.
The Gra correspondence links Tammuz with Chet, Cancer and sight. As a contemporary exercise, distinguish what you directly observed in a difficult encounter from what you assumed. Write one detail in each category. This uses a theme to improve attention; it does not identify anyone’s character from a birth month.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version, chapter 5:8 · Sefer Yetzirah · Compare another version, chapter 5:1–2
Use it in a calendar or birthday record
If a family record says Tamuz while the converter displays Tammuz, keep the original spelling alongside the standardized label. Check the complete date and evening boundary before exploring the correspondence. To study the wider period, continue to Av and compare the two month references side by side.
Continue from Tammuz
Explore the Hebrew calendar · Find your Hebrew birthday · Study the correspondence system
Sources and approach
Prepared with AI assistance using the linked sources and original reading exercises. Calendar facts, named textual correspondences and contemporary applications are kept distinct. The Gra version is the reference for this table; other versions can assign faculties differently.