(5772) October 2, 2011

Tzom Gedaliah – the Fast of Gedaliah – is a Rabbinic fast day that falls on the day after Rosh Hashanah (3 Tishrei). It is a fast that was instituted as a lamentation over the assassination of the governor of Judea which ended Jews rule in Eretz Yisrael following the First Temple’s destruction.

And as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. … But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. (II Kings 25:22,25)

Among the refugees who had joined Gedaliah in Mizpah was Yishmael, the son of Nataniah, a descendant of the royal house of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Baalis the king of Ammon, who had been following with apprehension the regrowth of Judah under its new governor Gedaliah, encouraged and sent Yishmael to assassinate him. In the seventh month (Tishrei) Yishmael came to Gedaliah in the town of Mizpah in Benjamin, and was received cordially. Gedaliah had been warned of his guest's murderous intent, but refused to believe his informants, believing that their report was mere slander. Yishmael murdered Gedaliah, together with most of the Jews who had joined him and many Babylonians whom Nebuchadnezzar had left with Gedaliah.

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and he slew him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in the land, and all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war, Ishmael struck. (Jeremiah 41:2-3)

This fast day is spoken about two separate times in Zechariah. The first is in chapter seven which says: Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying: 'Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even these seventy years, did you at all fast unto Me, even to Me? (Zechariah 7:4-5)

The second time this fast is spoken about is in chapter eight when this day will be turned into a day of joy in the Messianic Age. And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying: 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful seasons; therefore love  truth and peace. (Zechariah 8:18-19)

According to the Rabbis the fast of the seventh month “is the third of Tishri on which Gedaliah the son of Ahikam was killed. Who killed him? Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed him; and [the fact that a fast was instituted on this day] shows that the death of the righteous is put on a level with the burning of the House of our God. Why is it called the seventh? As being the seventh in the order of months.” (Rosh Hashanah 18b)^[1]

The fast is observed from daybreak until the stars appear in the sky that same night. Additional prayers are added to the daily prayers on this day and the Thirteen Divine Attributes are said. Since the fast falls during the High Holy Days, an extra portion is added to the Selichot prayer on this fast.

Additional Information: Tzom Gedaliah

THE THIRTEEN DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
Exodus 34:5-7

Hashem descended in a cloud and stood with him there, and He called out with the Name Hashem. Hashem passed before him and proclaimed: Hashem, Hashem, G-d, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to Anger, and Abundant in Kindness and Truth; Preserver of Kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of Iniquity, Willful Sin, and Error, and Who Cleanses--but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren, to the third and fourth generations.

^[1]Epstein, I. Soncino Babylonian Talmud: Rosh Hashanah. London: Soncino Press, 1949.

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