This year we have the relatively rare event of Asorah B’Teves falling on Friday. Although it happened just last year, the chances of this happening are quite rare, and it only happens approximately every 10/11 years. The next time it will be happening is 2034 (5795) and then 2037 (5798). No other fast can fall on Friday, not even Yom Kippur.
What is the Fast About?
The reason given for fasting on Asorah B’Teves is that it is the day that the wicked Babylonian king Nevuchadnetzar started his siege of Yerusholayim, foreshadowing the beginning of the end of the first Beis HaMikdosh, which culminated with its destruction on Tisha B’Av several years later. Therefore, Chazal declared it a public fast, one of four public fast days that memorialize different aspects of the catastrophes and national tragedies associated with the destruction of both Botei Mikdosh.
The Friday Fast?
When other fasts fall on Friday, we push them off (or make them early), why don’t we do this with Asorah B’Teves?
The Avudraham says an even bigger chiddush, after seeing the chiddush of the Avudraham, it’s easy to understand why if Asorah B’Teves falls on Friday we don’t push it off.
The Beis Yosef (Orach Chaim 550) cites the Avudraham: וה"ר דוד אבודרהם כתב בהלכות תענית שי’ בטבת הוא משונה משאר תעניות שאם היה חל בשבת לא היו יכולין לדחותו ליום אחר מפני שנאמר בו בעצם היום הזה כמו בי"ה - “Asorah B’Teves is different from all other fast, in that if it would fall on Shabbos we wouldn’t push it off to another day. The reason for this is, because it says in the pasuk “in the middle of this day,” (Yechezkel 24:2), just like Yom Kippur”. Today due to the way the calendar has been arranged Asorah B’Teves can’t fall on Shabbos, however, from the fact that the Novi writes “In the middle of this day” (בעצם היום הזה), we see that it is very important that we fast on this specific day, therefore, if it would fall on Shabbos (which can’t happen) or Friday like it does this year, we don’t push it off.
Would We Really Fast On Shabbos?
Ever since the era of the Tanonim, when the Jewish calendar was instituted, the 10th of Teves cannot fall on Shabbos. However, before that, and when the Beis HaMikdosh will be rebuilt (may it be speedily, in our times!) and the Grand Jewish Court will again consecrate every Jewish month separately according to witnesses of the moon’s rebirth – what would happen if the 10th of Teves fell on Shabbos?
According to Rashi (Megillah 5a); Rambam (Hilchos Ta’anis, 5:5); Rabbeinu Yehonason and others, the fast would be postponed until Sunday, just like other fast days. However, as we mentioned, the Avudraham holds that we would in fact fast on Shabbos, the question is, how could this be, surely, we don’t fast on Shabbos?
R’ Chaim Brisker explains, the reason we don’t fast on Shabbos, is not because one can’t fast on Shabbos. The reason one doesn’t fast on Shabbos is because it can be postponed until Sunday. If it can be postponed then we postpone it, if it can’t then we would indeed fast on Shabbos. What’s an example of a fast that can’t be postponed? A ta’anis chalom [a fast for a dream]. If someone has a bad dream on Friday night the din is he can make a ta’anis chalom even on Shabbos.
The Gemara in Ta’anis (12b) says: “Rav said: A fast is effective to neutralize a bad dream like fire is effective for burning chaff. Rav Chisda said: The fast is effective specifically on that day that one dreamed. And Rav Yosef said: And one suffering from a bad dream is permitted to fast even on Shabbos”. The fast is only effective on that day, therefore, the din is one may fast on Shabbos. We see that if the fast can’t be postponed then we fast on Shabbos. Therefore, explains R’ Chaim, since Asorah B’Teves needs to be “In the middle of this day, it needs to be on the 10th of Teves, therefore if it would fall on Shabbos one would indeed fast on Shabbos.
Why Is Asorah B’Teves So Severe?
Several meforshim, including Rav Yonason Eibeschutz and the Bnei Yissaschar understand the Avudraham’s enigmatic statement as similar to the famous Gemara in Ta’anis (29a) regarding Tisha B’Av. It seems that historically the Beis HaMikdosh only started to burn toward the end of the 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av) and actually burned down on the 10th. Yet, Chazal established the fast on the 9th, since “aschalta d’paranusah adifa,” meaning that the beginning of a tragedy is considered the worst part. Likewise, they maintain that since the siege on Asorah B’Teves was the harbinger to and commencement of the long chain of tragedies that ended with the Beis HaMikdosh in ruins and the Jewish people in exile, its true status belies the common perception of it as a minor fast, and potentially has the ability to push off Shabbos.
Indeed, the Medrash Tanchuma teaches that it was already fitting for the Beis HaMikdosh to actually be destroyed on Asorah B’Teves, but Hashem, in His incredible mercy, pushed off the destruction to the summertime, so that Klal Yisroel would not have to be exiled in the cold. Hence, Asorah B’Teves’s role as the ‘beginning of the end’ underlies the severity of this fast day.
The famed Chasam Sofer (Toras Moshe, Vayikra) takes this a step further. He wrote that the reason Chazal established a fast for the siege on Asorah B’Teves, as opposed to every other time Yerusholayim was under siege over the millennia, is that on that day in the Heavenly Courtroom it was decided that the Beis HaMikdosh was to be destroyed a few years hence. There is a well-known Talmudic dictum that any generation in which the Beis HaMikdosh has not been rebuilt is as if it has been destroyed again. Therefore, he explains, every Asorah B’Teves the Heavenly Court convenes and decrees a new Churban [destruction]. He adds though that, conversely, a proper fast on Asorah B’Teves has the potential to avert future Churbanos.
Accordingly, we are not fasting exclusively due to past calamities, but rather, similar to a ta’anis chalom, we are fasting to help prevent a tragedy from occurring. The Chasam Sofer even refers to such a fast as an oneg, a delight, as our fasting will help stave off potential future catastrophes. That is why the fast of Asorah B’Teves, even though it is considered a minor fast, nonetheless has the potential to possibly override Shabbos. These explanations would also certainly elucidate why we would fast on a Friday for Asorah B’Teves.
