PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

17 Tammuz 5786
The Fast of Shiva Asar b'Tammuz 

Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah Calls for Reciting Avinu Malkeinu Throughout Bein HaMetzarim

The Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas has issued a special public proclamation calling on Jews to add the tefillah of Avinu Malkeinu to both Shacharis and Minchah throughout Bein HaMetzarim, citing what it describes as growing persecution of Torah scholars and disrespect for the Torah world.

In their letter, the members of the Moetzet write that recent weeks have seen “harsh decrees” directed against those who devote themselves to Torah study. Quoting the words of Eichah, they lament that “The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, have come to be regarded as earthen vessels, the work of a potter’s hands.”

The rabbonim recalled a similar directive issued years ago by Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l after the Israeli Supreme Court struck down the Tal Law. They wrote that “It has happened before, when bnei Torah were persecuted and efforts were made to restrict them,” and noted that at the time Rav Ovadia “cried out with a great and bitter cry.”

The proclamation states that Rav Ovadia had instructed that during periods of hardship for the Jewish people—and especially during Bein HaMetzarim—Avinu Malkeinu should be added to both Shacharis and Minchah.

The members of the Moetzet now call upon the public to follow that directive once again. “Just as then, so too now, we call upon each and every individual to fulfill his holy words by adding the prayer of Avinu Malkeinu during these days of Bein HaMetzarim, beseeching our Father in Heaven to remove from us all harsh and evil decrees.”

The proclamation also designates the upcoming fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz as a special day of tefillah and supplication on behalf of Klal Yisroel and the Torah world. The Moetzet urged communities to gather during Minchah on the fast day for public assemblies of prayer, calling for “great and bitter outcries over the humiliation of the Torah and the persecution of those who study it.”

The letter concludes with a heartfelt blessing from the members of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah: “May it be Hashem’s will that these days be transformed for the House of Israel into days of joy and gladness, and may we soon merit the complete redemption in the merit of the holy Torah and those who study it.”

(Courtesy of Matzav.com)