Now You Know!
This Friday is Asara B’Teves, the tenth of Teves, when we fast to commemorate the siege of Jerusalem by Nevuchadnezzar. This is such an important fast that the Avudraham held that if it were to fall on Shabbos, we would fast. (Our calendar is arranged so that this can’t happen, but if it did, the Shulchan Aruch rules that we would not fast on Shabbos.)
The reason it’s so significant is because this was the beginning of the Churban/destruction of the Bais HaMikdash. Though the walls weren’t breached until the 17th of Tammuz, it was on this day, explains the Chasam Sofer, that the Heavenly Court ruled the Bais HaMikdash would be destroyed.
He further writes that this judgment is repeated each year, and if we do Teshuva, then we can reverse the decree and instead of ruling that the Bais HaMikdash deserves to be destroyed, the court can rule that it deserves to be rebuilt.
Though it is the beginning of the destruction, the prophecies of rebuilding can only come true after those of destruction, as R’ Akiva said.
If we utilize this time to turn to Hashem as we should, we can make it the dawn of a new age, when the Bais HaMikdash will be rebuilt in Jerusalem.
[It’s also December 22, when the days begin to get longer, with more light in each day...]
