Name of the month: TAMMUZ
Other names of the month:
Mazal of the month: SARTON
Tribe of the month (according to the Arizal): REUVEN
Tribe of the month (according to the Zohar): YEHUDA
The nature of the Tammuz
The month of Tammuz sees the start of the Three Weeks, known as Bein Hamtzorim, a time of mourning for the Jews that starts with five tragedies occurring on the 17th of Tammuz. It is when the meraglim returned and gave bad reports about Eretz Yisroel that resulted in the Jews crying and as a punishment the Jews were given on that date a cause to mourn throughout the generations until Moshiach comes. The mazal, astrological sign, for Tammuz is Sartun. The tribe that this month parallels is Yehuda, according to the order of birth, or Reuven, according to the Degolim, camps.
The extreme nature of Tammuz
The Maharal (Netzach) tells us that we can see the year based on the movement of the sun. Any times of extremes is not good for the Jews while when in time things are balanced and equal they are good for the Jews, namely the months of Nissan and Tishrei when the day and night are more or less equal. Extreme temperatures, either too hot or too cold and when the day is much longer than the night or the reverse is good for the goyim, examples being the months of Teves, Tammuz and Av.