Today is Shabbat, Tammuz 12, 5786 · June 27, 2026
Today's Laws & Customs
• Chabad custom: Omit Av Harachamim and Tzidkatecha
In Chabad practice, the mournful paragraphs of Av Harachamim and Tzidkatecha Tzedek are omitted from the morning and afternoon prayers respectively.
• Ethics of the Fathers: Chapter 5
During the summer months, from the Shabbat after Passover until the Shabbat before Rosh Hashahah, we study a weekly chapter of the Talmud's Ethics of the Fathers ("Avot") each Shabbat afternoon; this week we study Chapter Five.
Link: Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 5
Today in Jewish History
• R. Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch Born (1880)
Tammuz 12 is the birthday the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch (1880-1950). This is also the day on which he was liberated from exile to the Soviet gulag 47 years later (see
below).
Links:
A short biography
More on Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch
• Liberation of R. Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch (1927)
On the 12th of Tammuz of 1927, the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, was officially granted release from his sentence of exile to Kastroma in the interior of Russia.
Twenty-seven days earlier, the Rebbe had been arrested by agents of the GPU and the Yevsektzia ("Jewish Section" of the Communist Party) for his activities to preserve Judaism throughout the Soviet empire and sentenced to death, G-d forbid. International pressure forced the Soviets to commute the sentence to exile and, subsequently, to release him completely. The actual release took place on Tammuz 13, and Tammuz 12-13 is celebrated as a "festival of liberation"
by the Chabad-Lubavitch community.
Tammuz 12 is also Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's birthday (see above)
Links:
The Rebbe's Prison Diary
The Soviet war on Jewry
• Passing of R. Jacob ben Asher (the Tur) (1348)
R. Jacob ben Asher, son of R. Asher ben Yechiel (the Rosh),
was one of the most prominent Torah scholars in medieval Europe. His classic
work on Jewish law, Arba’ah Turim (known also as Tur),
covers every area of Jewish life (in the post-Temple era), presenting the various
opinions of previous authorities along with the author’s own decisions. A host
of commentaries were written on this work, including one by R. Yosef Caro and another by R. Moshe Isserlis. These two
commentaries formed the basis for the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), the
definitive guide to Jewish observance until today.
R. Jacob also authored a popular commentary on the Torah, uncovering layers of hidden
meaning in the text by way of gematria (and other close analysis
of the texts).
Link: Rabbi Jacob ben Asher
Daily Torah Study
Chumash: Chukat-Balak, 7th Portion Bamidbar (Numbers) 23:27-25:9 with Rashi
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English / Hebrew Linear Translation
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Video Class
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Daily Wisdom (short insight)
Tehillim: Chapters 66 - 68
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Hebrew text
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English text
Tanya: Igeret HaTeshuva, end of Chapter 3
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English Text (Lessons in Tanya)
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Hebrew Text
• Audio Class:
Listen |
Download
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Video Class
Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvot:
• 1 Chapter A Day: Eruvin Eruvin - Chapter 7
• 3 Chapters A Day: Shemita Shemita - Chapter 6, Shemita Shemita - Chapter 7, Shemita Shemita - Chapter 8
Hayom Yom:
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English Text |
Video Class
Audio: 
