(5772) January 5, 2012

Asarah B'Tevet is a Rabbinic fast day that occurs on 10 Tevet (in December or January) and is celebrated as a day-fast. It is a day of grief and mourning over the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar that led to the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jews to Babylon. It has become a day of mourning for those lost in the Shoah (Holocaust). Asarah B'Tevet is also a day of remembrance for two other tragedies that occurred during this time. The first tragedy is the Torah being translated to Greek on the eighth of Tevet in the second or third century BCE. The second tragedy was the death of Ezra that occurred on the ninth of Tevet. It is a time of fasting, prayer, and self-reflection.

Fasting begins at dawn and ends at sundown. This is one of the public fast days (the others being Tzom Gedaliah, Shiva Asarah B'Tammuz, and the Fast of Esther). If Asarah B'Tevet falls on Shabbat, the fast is delayed. Eating and drinking are not permitted. Those in ill health, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children are exempt from the fast. In Israel, Kaddish (prayer for the dead) is said for those whose date or place of death is not known (and this, is a day of mourning for those lost in the Shoah).

II Kings 25:1-4: (1) And it was in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylonia came, he and his entire army, against Jerusalem and encamped against it, and they built works of siege around it. (2) And the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. (3) On the ninth of the month, the famine became severe in the city, and the people of the land had no food. (4) The city was broken into, and all the men of war [fled] at night by way of the gate between the two walls that was near the king's garden, and the Chaldees were surrounding the city, and he went by way of the Arabah.

On the tenth day of the tenth month (Tevet) in the ninth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (588 BCE), the Babylonian king began his siege of Jerusalem. On the ninth of Tammuz - two-and-one-half years later - Nebuchadnezzar broke through the walls of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 52:6-7: (6) In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the famine became severe in the city, and the people of the land had no food. (7) The city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and emerged from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls that was near the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were surrounding the city, and they went by way of the Arabah.

The siege ended on the ninth of Av, three weeks later and the Jews were taken captice to Babylon.

The first reference to Asarah B'Tevet as a fast appears in Zechariah 8:19:
So said 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] shall be for the house of Judah for joy and happiness and for happy holidays-but love truth and peace.

Other references can be found in:
Ezekiel 24:1-2: (1) Then the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying: (2) "Son of man, write for yourself the name of the day, this very day; the king of Babylon has besieged Jerusalem on this very day...."

Jeremiah 52:4-6: (4) And it was in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon came, he and his entire army, against Jerusalem and encamped against it, and they built works of siege around it. (5) And the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. (6) In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the famine became severe in the city, and the people of the land had no food.

Additional Information: Israel News Radio: Fast of Tevet :: Tevet 10 :: The Fast of the Tenth of Tevet :: The Tenth of Tevet

Family Activities: Asarah B'Tevet Word Search

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