The Tenth Of Tevet

Why do we fast on the 10th of Tevet? What is forbidden on the fast day? What can we still do?

Israel's Holocaust and Heroism Memorial Day on 27 Nisan ought to be dedicated to the promotion of the "Jewish family." Certainly the last request of the six million Holocaust martyrs must have been that the Jewish people should persevere and thrive.

Equinoctial periods, because of their balanced nature, are fit to bear sanctity. Therefore, these periods contain most of Israel's Festivals. However, there are other times of year less sympathetic to Israel - periods marked by poles in cold or heat.

One should not use fast days for leisure or for field trips. One should even refrain from performing permissible acts such as showering or cutting one's hair. If a person spends the fast indifferently, he has not properly fulfilled his obligation.

Did Jews fast over the destruction of the First Temple when the Second Temple stood? Must pregnant and nursing women abstain from eating and drinking on minor fasts? Rabbi Eliezer Melamed addresses these and other important questions.

After the destruction of the First Temple, the Prophets and the Sages of Israel legislated fasting on the Tenth of Tevet, for it was on that day that Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, and his legions placed Jerusalem under siege.

In the past few years, nations have come upon us and demanded that we relinquish portions of the Land of Israel to strangers. This is one of the calamities concerning which we are supposed to fast and cry out to God about.