Tomorrow is Asarah beTevet, the Fast of the Tenth of Tevet, which comes with an interesting story that I would like to share with you, writes our member Rabbi Paul Bloom.
The Four Fast Days – A Chronological Map of Destruction
Chazal instituted four fast days connected to the
destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. Each marks a different stage—not only
historically, but spiritually.
Let’s lay them out chronologically:
- Asarah beTevet – 10 Tevet
This marks the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nevuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia. Nothing was destroyed that day. No walls fell. No fire burned. But the process began. - Shivah
Asar beTammuz –17 Tammuz
This marks the breach of Jerusalem’s walls—by the Romans, during the Second Temple period. - Tishah
beAv – 9 Av
The destruction of both Temples:
○
The First
Temple by Babylonia
○
The
Second Temple by Rome
- Tzom Gedaliah –3 Tishrei
After the First Temple was destroyed, Nevuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah ben Achikam, a Jewish governor, to rule the remnant in Eretz Yisrael. When Gedaliah was assassinated. As long as he lived, there was hope. His death ended that hope.
Notice something striking:
●
Asarah beTevet → First Temple
●
Shivah Asar beTammuz → Second Temple
●
Tishah beAv → Both Temples
●
Tzom Gedaliah → First Temple
Already, we see that destruction is not one moment—it is a process.
The Deeper Roots: These Tragedies Began Much Earlier
Chazal teach us that these fast days are not only about what
happened historically—but about what caused it spiritually.
●
Tishah beAv traces
back to the sin of the Meraglim, the spies. The Jewish people cried needlessly
and lost faith in Hashem’s promise. Hashem said: You cried for nothing—this
will become a day of eternal crying.
●
Shivah
Asar beTammuz traces back to the Golden Calf. Moshe broke the Tablets on that
very day. This was a failure of faith—and a flirtation with idolatry.
●
Asarah beTevet,
according to later traditions, is connected to the sale of Yosef—baseless
hatred between brothers.
So look at the pattern:
●
Golden
Calf → lack of faith
●
Meraglim → despair and fear
●
Yosef’s
sale → hatred and
division
The Beit HaMikdash was destroyed later. But the causes were planted
at the very birth of the nation.
What Does It Mean to Rebuild the Beit HaMikdash?
When enough Jews create space for the Shechinah within themselves—when
faith replaces fear, when humility replaces ego, when love replaces hatred—that’s
when the Beit HaMikdash returns. The Temple is not just a building. It is the presence
of Hashem in the world—felt, experienced, transformative.
October 7: Tragedy—and a Missed Opportunity
We cannot speak about destruction and rebuilding without mentioning
October 7. It was a catastrophe, a wound that is still bleeding, a war
we are still living through. And in some mysterious, irrational way, it also
unleashed a global resurgence of antisemitism—precisely when compassion would
have been the logical response. But if there was any silver lining, it
was this: For a brief moment, we were unified.
Before October 7, Israeli society was dangerously fractured:
●
There was
talk of civil war
●
Judicial
reform was tearing the country apart
●
Reservists
threatened not to report
●
Businesses
were withdrawing capital.
Then came the tragedy—and suddenly we remembered who we are. We
stood together.
But here is the painful truth. As the war dragged on, exhaustion
set in. Old habits returned. The elastic band snapped back. And that may be the
greatest tragedy of all. Suffering that transforms us redeems. But suffering
that leaves us unchanged is suffering wasted.
If I went through October 7—and I am still exactly who I was on
October 6—then something has gone terribly wrong.
A Strange Halachic Anomaly: Asarah beTevet and Shabbat
This is purely theoretical—it cannot happen due to the structure of
the calendar. But why would the beginning of a siege override Shabbat, when
even Tishah beAv does not? Why would the start be treated more severely than
the destruction itself? There are several reasons, but let me present just two
of them.
The phrase עֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑הב (on this very day) appears in the Torah for Yom Kippur (Vayikra 23:28) and it is also applied to 10 Tevet in Ezekiel 24:2:
בֶּן־אָדָ֗ם כְּתֹוב־ לְךָ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם הַיּ֔וֹם אֶת־עֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה סָמַ֚ךְ מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֙ אֶל־יְר֣וּשָׁלַ֔ם בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה
This references the start of the Babylonian siege, making both these
fasts fixed to their specific dates, unlike other fasts which can be postponed
if they fall on Shabbat. This connection means that the Tenth of Tevet, like
Yom Kippur, must be observed on the actual day, emphasizing its unique
stringency, as noted by commentators like the Abudraham.
A second reason might be that sometimes the beginning—the moment we
fail to stop something—is more dangerous than the end.
Three Days of Silence: 8, 9, and 10 Tevet
Chazal record that some tzaddikim fasted not one day—but three: 8,
9 and 10 Tevet—and each for a different reason.
8 Tevet – The Torah in Greek
On this day, the translation of the Torah into Greek was
completed—the Septuagint. Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Greek Pharaoh of
Egypt who reigned from 285–246 BCE, gathered 70 sages, placed them in
separate rooms, and commanded them to translate the Torah. Miraculously, they
all produced the same translation. Yet this was considered a tragedy. Why?
●
A
translation can never capture the full depth of Torah
●
It opened
the door to distortion and misuse
●
And
perhaps most painfully—it meant Jews themselves needed translation
A crutch is a blessing—but it also means your legs are broken.
9 Tevet – A Fast Whose Reason Is Hidden
The Gemara says something chilling: “There was a fast on the 9th of
Tevet—but the reason was not revealed”. Three possible explanations are given:
- The yahrzeit of Ezra HaSofer
The spiritual architect of the Second Temple era, a second Moshe. - The
Hebrew birthdate of Jesus
Given the suffering Christianity inflicted on Jews, some tzaddikim fasted on that day and the reason was hidden—for survival. - The yahrzeit of Shimon Keifa (Simon Peter)
According to a later Midrash, Peter was a righteous Jew who deliberately separated Christianity from Judaism—at the cost of his own Olam HaBa—to protect Am Yisrael.
This tradition is not authoritative—but it is profound. And perhaps
that is why the reason was kept secret: because truth, when misunderstood, can
be dangerous.
So What Do We Do Now?
We stand between:
●
Siege and
silence
●
Faith and
fear
●
Unity and
division
The Beit HaMikdash can be rebuilt any day—except Shabbat. May it be
rebuilt today, so this fast becomes a day of celebration.
And, if not—may this be the last fast we ever need, because we
finally learned what destruction was trying to teach us.
