Tenth of Tevet

Tenth of Tevet(Hebrew:עשרה בטבת,Asarah BeTevet), the tenth day of theHebrew monthofTevet,is afast dayinJudaism.It is one of the minorfastsobserved from before dawn to nightfall. The fasting is in mourning of thesiege of JerusalembyNebuchadnezzar IIofBabylonia—an event that began on that date and ultimately culminated in the destruction ofSolomon's Temple(the First Temple), downfall of theKingdom of Judah,and theBabylonian exileof the Jewish people.

Tenth of Tevet
Official name	Hebrew:עשרה בטבת
Type	Jewish religious,national
Significance	Remembers thesiege of JerusalembyNebuchadnezzar IIofBabylonia
Observances	Fasting
Begins	10 Tevet at 72 minutes before sunrise
Ends	at the beginning of 11 Tevet
2023 date	December 22, 2023
Frequency	Annual (per Hebrew Calendar)

The fast day is not related toHanukkahbut happens to follow that festival by a week. Whether the 10th of Tevet occurs 7 or 8 days after the last day of Hanukkah depends on whether the preceding Hebrew month ofKislevhas 29 or 30 days in the relevant year.

History

See also:Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)

According toII Kings,on the 10th day of the 10th month (Tevet),in the ninth year ofZedekiah's reign (588 BCE),Nebuchadnezzar II,the secondNeo-Babylonian emperor,began the siege of Jerusalem. Eighteen months later, on the 17th ofTammuzat the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign (586 BCE), he broke through the city walls; the Romans would similarly break through the walls of Jerusalem on the17th of Tammuz.(In the Biblical calendar, each year in the reign of the Kings of Judah or of Israel is dated from 1 Nissan. Hence, Tevet (tenth month) of Year 9 of Zedekiah is only 18 months before Tammuz (fourth month) of Year 11 of Zedekiah.)

The siege ended with the destruction of the Temple three weeks later, onTisha B'Av,the end of the first Kingdoms. The elite of Judah was taken inexile to Babylon.The Tenth of Tevet is part of the cycle of three fasts connected with these events.

The first reference to the Tenth of Tevet as a fast appears inZechariah 8,where it is called the "fast of the tenth month." One opinion in the Talmudstates that the "fast of the tenth month" refers to thefifthof Tevet, when, according toEzekiel,news of the destruction of the Temple reached those already in exile in Babylon. However, the tenth is the date observed today, according to the other opinion presented in the Talmud.Other references to the fast and the affliction can be found in theBook of Ezekiel(the siege)and theBook of Jeremiah.

According to tradition, as described by theliturgyfor the day'sselichot,the fast also commemorates other calamities that occurred throughout Jewish history on the Tenth of Tevet and the two days preceding it:

• On the eighth of Tevet one year during the3rd century BCE,a time of Hellenistic rule of Judea during theSecond Templeperiod,Ptolemy II Philadelphus,Ptolemaic Pharaoh of Egypt,ordered the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. This work later became known as theSeptuagint.Seventy-two sages were placed in solitary confinement and ordered to translate the Torah into Greek.

Judaism sees this event as a tragedy, reflecting a deprivation and debasement of the divine nature of theTorahand a subversion of its spiritual and literary qualities. They reasoned that the Torah's legal codes and deeper layers of meaning would be lost upon translation from the original Hebrew. Many Jewish laws are formulated in terms of specific Hebrew words employed in the Torah; without the original Hebrew wording, the authenticity and essence of the legal system would be damaged. The mystical ideas contained in the Torah are also drawn from the original Hebrew. As such, these would not be accessed by individuals studying the Torah in Greek (or any other language) alone.

Two things, however, rendered the Septuagint unwelcome in the long run to the Jews. Its divergence from the accepted text (afterward called the Masoretic) was too evident; and it therefore could not serve as a basis for theological discussion or for homiletic interpretation. This distrust was accentuated by the fact that it had been adopted as Sacred Scripture by the new faith.

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• On the ninth of Tevet, "something happened, but we do not know what it was..." (Shulchan Aruch). Theselichotliturgy for the day states thatEzra,the great leader who brought some Jews back to theHoly Landfrom the Babylonian exile and who ushered in the era of theSecond Temple,died on this day, and this is verified by theKol Bo.But according to the earlier sources (theGeonimas recorded byBahagand cited inTurOrach Chaim 580), the specific tragedy of 9 Tevet is unknown. Some manuscripts ofSimeon Kayyara(not those available to theTur)addthat Ezra andNechemiahdied on this day—but only after first stating that theChazalgave no reason for why the day is tragic. Other suggestions are given as to why the ninth of Tevet is notable as well.

Observance

As with all minorta'anitor fast days, the Tenth of Tevet begins atdawn(alot ha-shahar) and concludes at nightfall (tzeit hakochavim). Following the general rules of minor fasts as outlined in theShulchan Aruch,and in contrast to Tisha B'Av, there are no additional physical constraints beyond fasting (such as the prohibitions against bathing or of wearing leather shoes).

Because it is a minor fast day,halachaexempts from fasting those who are ill, even if their illnesses are not life-threatening, and pregnant and nursing women who find fasting difficult.TheMishnah Berurahnotes that it is still commendable to observe all the restrictions of Tisha B'Av on the minor fast days except for the restriction of wearing leather shoes. Even so, it says, one should not refrain from bathing in preparation forShabbatwhen the Tenth of Tevet falls on a Friday.

ATorahreading, theAneinuprayer in theAmidah,and theAvinu Malkeinuprayer are added at bothshacharitandminchaservices in many communities unless the fast falls on Friday, whenTachanunandAvinu Malkeinuare not said at mincha. Atshacharitservices,Selichotare also said, and at mincha, in Ashkenazi congregations, theHaftarahis read.

The Tenth of Tevet is the only minor fast day that can coincide with Friday in the currentHebrew calendar.When it does, the unusual event of a Torah andHaftarahreading at the mincha right before Shabbat takes place. This is fairly rare; the most recent occurrence was in 2023, while the next will happen in January 2025 (as the 2024 observance). If it falls on Friday, the fast must be observed until nightfall, even though Shabbat begins before sunset (up to 72 minutes earlier, depending on the halachic authority), and even though this requires one to enter Shabbat hungry from the fast, something typically avoided.It cannot be determined for sure whether other fasts would have the same ruling, because no other fast day can fall out on Friday, except for theFast of the FirstbornwhenPassoverbegins on Friday night.

Although this fast is considered a minor fast,David Abudarhamattributed to it an additional theoretical stringency not shared by any other fast exceptYom Kippur,namely that if the Tenth of Tevet were to fall out on aShabbat,this fast would be observed on Shabbat. (This cannot happen under the current arrangement of the Hebrew calendar.) The reason the fasts of the Tenth of Tevet and Yom Kippur must be observed on the actual day on which they occur is because of the phrase "the very day" (עצם היום הזה) is used about both of them, inEzekiel24:2about the Tenth of Tevet, and similarly for Yom Kippur inLeviticus23:28.This view is rejected by theBeit Yosefand all other majorhalakhicauthorities, but was popularized by RabbiMoses Sofer,who wrote a commentary based on the philosophy behind this view.

Although the Tenth of Tevet is an annual observance on the Jewish calendar, its placement around the end of theGregorian calendaryear means that in some Gregorian years, there is no observance of the fast, while in other years, the fast is observed twice. Thus, the Tenth of Tevet did not occur at all in 2019. Instead, the "2019" observance of the fast took place in January 2020, while the subsequent observance occurred in December 2020.

Day of general kaddish

TheChief Rabbinate of Israelchose to observe the Tenth of Tevet as a "generalkaddishday "(yom hakaddish ha'klalli) to allow the relatives of victims of theHolocaust,and whoseyahrtzeits(anniversaries of their deaths) is unknown, to observe the traditional yahrtzeit practices for the deceased, including lighting a memorial candle, learningmishnayotand reciting the kaddish. According to the policy of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel, thememorial prayeris also recited in synagogues, after the reading of the Torah at the morning services.To some religious Jews, this day is preferable as a remembrance day toYom HaShoahsince the latter occurs in the month ofNisan,in which mourning is traditionally prohibited.

See also

• Fast of Gedalia
• Fast of Esther
• Fast ofSeventeenth of Tammuz
• Fast ofTisha B'Av

External links

• RabbiEliezer Melamed–Peninei Halakha–The Laws of the Tenth of Tevet
• Tenth of Teves – Mrs. Shira Smiles talks about the fast day of the Tenth of TevetArchivedJune 17, 2013, at theWayback Machine
• Tenth of Teves – Rav Reichman gives you the Hasidic side of the fast
• Tenth of Tevet – Insights to the day