The Tenth of Tevet

The Tenth of Tevet

On the 10th of Tevet the year 3336 from Creation (425 BCE), the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Thirty months later -- on Tammuz 9, 3338 -- the city walls were breached, and on 9th of that year, the Holy Temple was destroyed. The Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia for seventy years.

Tevet 10 is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance. We refrain from food and drink from daybreak to nightfall, and add the other special supplements to our prayers. More recently, Tevet 10 was chosen to also serve as a "general kaddish" for the victims of the Holocaust, many of whom the day of their martyrdom is unknown.

Friday Dec 22

• Fast begins ................6:07 am
• Light Shabbat Candles...3:56 pm
• Fast ends ..................4:49 pm