Parshas Vayigash
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
Most if not all Jews are familiar with the fast of Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonementâ€. Yom Kippur is the only Biblically-ordained fast day (see Leviticus 23:26-32), and, with the exception of Tishah B’Av, is the only fast day which lasts for a complete 24 hours.
But wait, that’s not all …there are five additional obligatory fast days on the Jewish calendar, including one this Friday … the fast of the Tenth of Teves!
As Maimonides writes in his Mishneh Torah Laws of Fast Days (5:1-5):
“There are days when the entire Jewish people fast because of the calamities that occurred to them then, to arouse [their] hearts and initiate [them in] the paths of repentance. This will serve as a reminder of our wicked conduct and that of our ancestors, which resembles our present conduct and therefore brought these calamities upon them and upon us. By reminding ourselves of these matters, we will repent and improve [our conduct], as [Leviticus 26:40] states: "And they will confess their sin and the sin of their ancestors."
These days are the following:
The Third of Tishrei. This is the day on which Gedaliah ben Achikam was slain and the ember of Israel that remained was extinguished, causing their exile to become complete.
The Tenth of Teves. This is the day Nebuchadnezzar, the wicked, the King of Babylon, camped against Jerusalem and placed the city under siege.
The Seventeenth of Tammuz. Five tragedies took place on this day:
a) The Tablets were broken;
b) In the First Temple, the offering of the daily sacrifices was nullified;
c) [The walls of] Jerusalem were breached in [the war leading to] the destruction of the Second Temple;
d) Apostomos, the wicked, burned a Torah scroll; and
e) He erected an idol in the Temple.
On the Ninth of Av, five tragedies occurred:
a) It was decreed that the Jews in the desert would not enter Eretz Yisrael; b-c) The First and the Second Temples were destroyed
d) A large city named Betar was captured. Thousands and myriads of Jews inhabited it. They were ruled by a great king whom the entire Jewish people and the leading Sages considered to be the Messianic king. The city fell to the Romans and they were all slain, causing a national catastrophe equivalent to that of the Temple's destruction.
e) On that day designated for retribution, the wicked Tineius Rufus plowed the site of the Temple and its surroundings, thereby fulfilling the prophecy [Micah 3:12], "Zion will be plowed like a field."
These four fasts are explicitly mentioned in the prophetic tradition [Zechariah 8:19]: "The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth [month]...." "The fast of the fourth [month]" refers to the Seventeenth of Tammuz, which is in the fourth month; "the fast of the fifth [month]," to Tishah B'Av, which is in the fifth month; "the fast of the seventh [month]," to the Third of Tishrei which is in the seventh month; "the fast of the tenth [month]," to the Tenth of Teves, which is in the tenth month.
And the entire Jewish people follow the custom of fasting at these times and on the Thirteenth of Adar, in commemoration of the fasts that [the people] took upon themselves in the time of Haman, as mentioned [in Esther 9:31]: "the matter of the fasts and the outcries."
The Mishnah Berurah in O.C. 549:1 adds that on these days each person is obligated to take to heart to examine his deeds and to repent of them, because the fast itself is not the essential [thing], as it is written [in Jonah 3:10] about the people of Nineveh: "And the Eternal saw their deeds, that they repented [turned back] from their evil path..." The Sages, may their memories be a blessing, said that their sackcloth and their fasting were not mentioned - just their deeds. Fasting is nothing but a preparation for repentance. Therefore, those people who, as they are fasting, go on leisurely strolls or pursue trivial matters grasp the issue of secondary importance (the fasting) but lose track of the essence (the repentance).
Just when you thought that you were aware of most of the fast days on the Jewish calendar, Rabbi Joseph Karo wrote the following in his Code of Jewish Law (see O.C. 580:1-3):
“The following are days upon which terrible calamities befell the Jewish people and it is therefore worthy to fast on these days:
"On the first of [the Hebrew month of] Nissan, the sons of Aaron died. On the tenth of it Miriam died and her well disappeared. On the twenty-sixth of it Joshua ben Nun died. On the twentieth of Iyar, Eli the priest and two of his sons and the ark of G-d was captured. On the twenty sixth of it Samuel the prophet died. On the twenty-third of Sivan the offering of the first fruits in Jerusalem was cancelled during the days of Jereboam ben Nevat. On the twenty-fifth of it Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Chanina Deputy High Priest were killed. On the twenty-seventh of it Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon was burned to death and a Torah scroll with him. On the first of Av, Aaron the priest died. On the eighteenth of it, the eastern light was extinguished during the days of Achaz. On the seventeenth of Elul those who slandered the land died. On the fifth of Tishri, twenty men of Israel were killed and Rabbi Akiba was imprisoned. On the seventh of it a decree was decreed against our ancestors that died by sword, hunger and plague because of the incident of the golden calf. On the seventh of Mar-Cheshvan, they blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and slaughtered his sons before his eyes. On the twenty-eighth of Kislev Jehoiakim burned the scroll that Baruch wrote dictated by Jeremiah. On the eighth of Teves the Torah was written in Greek during the days of King Ptolemy and darkness was in the world for three days. On the ninth of it, it was not known who caused the trouble that happened on it. On the fifth of Shevat the elders who were in the days of Joshua died. On the twenty-third of it all of Israel gathered against the tribe of Benjamin on account of the concubine in Gibeah. On the seventh of Adar Moses, our Teacher, may peace be upon him, died. On the ninth of it Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai divided.
“There are some who say that the Sages decreed that ever since the Temple was destroyed, the Torah was burned, and G-d’s Name was desecrated - one should really fast every Monday and Thursday. [Those who don’t have the ability to fast so many fasts should at the very least pray for these things on those days.]
[Ed. Note: Although the rabbis seemed to have been unsure as to exactly what tragedy befell our ancestors on the ninth of Teves, the Selichos (penitential prayers) for the tenth of Teves indicate that Ezra the Scribe died on that day. Others suggest that Jesus was born on that day – which would explain why Christmas Eve was generally referred to by Jews as nittel (spelled nun, yud, tes, lamed), which could be an acronym for nolad Yeshu tes l’Teves, Jesus was born on the ninth of Teves - dz]
To end on a high note, let me quote the words of Maimonides in Mishneh Torah at the end of the Laws of Fast Days (5:19):
“All these [commemorative] fasts will be nullified in the Messianic era and, indeed ultimately, they will be transformed into holidays and days of rejoicing and celebration, as [Zechariah 8:19] states: "Thus declares the Lord of Hosts, 'The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth [month], the fast of the seventh [month], and the fast of the tenth [month] will be [times of] happiness and celebration and festivals for the House of Judah. And they shall love truth and peace.'â€
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