We are currently in the midst of three days of mourning. Why three days? On the eighth of Tevet, the Torah was translated into Yevanit. On the ninth of Tevet, Ezra HaSofer died. And on the tenth of Tevet, the siege on Yerushalayim began.
I would like to focus more deeply on this day being observed with a public fast – the tenth of Tevet. The siege began prior to the destruction of the First Beit Hamikdash, which then lay in ruins for seventy years until rebuilt. The siege was either two-and-a half or three-and-a-half years long, after which the destruction took place. I’d like to ask, after the Second Beit Hamikdash was rebuilt, did the people observe a fast day on the tenth of Tevet? The answer is no. Was there a fast day on the ninth of Tamuz, the day the walls were breached? No. Was there a fast day observed on the ninth of Av, the day the First Beit Hamikdash was destroyed? No. There was a new Beit Hamikdash standing and all was good and forgotten. But once the Second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, fast days were put in place. There is only one problem though. The Second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed on the ninth of Av – a day marked by a fast. The city walls were breached on the th of Tamuz – a day marked by a fast. But the second time around, the siege began on the 22nd of Nisan and not the 10th of Tevet. Why do we observe two fast days belonging to the Second Beit Hamikdash together with a third from the First Beit Hamikdash? All the commentators raise this question, wondering about the significance of the 10th of Tevet. After all, nothing tangibly negative happened on that day! The streets were filled with joy, weddings were celebrated, and life continued as usual inside the city for at least two more years.
Not only that, but Chazal say (Yalkut Shimoni, Nach 1009):
כשבא אותו רשע עם המלכים לירושלים דמו ללכדו בזמן מועט והקב"ה היה מחזק את אנשי ירושלים עד בשנה השלישית אולי יחזרו בתשובה, והיו גבורים בירושלים עד אין חקר והיו נלחמים עם הכשדים ומפילים מהם חללים הרבה, והיה שם גבור אחד ושמו אביקא בן גבתרי, כשהיו אנשי החיל מקלע ים באבנים גדולות להפיל חומה היה מקבלם בידו ומשליכן על בני החיל והורג מהם הרבה, עד שהתחיל לקבל האבנים ברגלו והיה מחזירן לחיל וגרם העון ובאת הרוח והפילתו מן החומה ונבקע ומת, באותה נבקעה ירושלים ונכנסו הכשדים.
When that evil man came with other kings to Jerusalem, it appeared to them that it would take them only a short time to capture it; but G-d strengthened the people of Jerusalem until the third year – perhaps they would repent – and there were heroes beyond number in Jerusalem who were fighting against the Babylonians, bringing down many of them as war dead. There was a hero called Avika ben Gavtari who, when the enemy soldiers would launch boulders to destroy the city wall, would catch them in his hands and throw them back at the soldiers, killing many. By the time that he began to catch those boulders with his feet and return them to the enemy soldiers, the Jews’ sins caused a wind to come which blew him off the fortified wall, and he was smashed up and died. That was the time when Jerusalem was breached, and the Babylonians entered.
This one strong man, Avika ben Gavtari, was the Iron Dome of the times! Every attack was repelled, and every stone knocked down without any casualties to our troops or people. The headlines all read: מִזְמוֹר לְתוֹדָה הָרִֽ יעוּ לַ ה' כָּל־הָ אָֽ רֶ ץ. This lasted two or three years until the Babylonians capitulated and decided to retreat. They were years of open miracles! Every day, hundreds more of our enemies met their Maker, and at no cost to us. What could be better! Things changed, however. The people sinned. And after a decree came down from Heaven, even the wind was powerful enough to knock him off the wall and put an end to all defenses. So, I ask, why do we observe the tenth of Tevet as a fast and not the day Avika ben Gavtari died? Is that not the day things turned sour, and pain began to be inflicted? Furthermore, that date is associated with the First Beit Mikdash, and we observe dates related to the Second Biet Mikdash.
Additionally, the Avudraham writes that if the 10th of Tevet were to fall on Shabbat, we’d fast on that day and not push it to the next. We fast on Friday and enter Shabbat fasting. We break our fast in the wine of Kiddush. Both this year and next year, should Mashiach not arrive – but I do not believe there is any possibility whatsoever Mashiach will not arrive by then. There is no other fast that we observe on Shabbat or even Friday – what is going on here?
The Chatam Sofer writes, in the year that Nevuchadnezar laid siege on the city, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sat with His Pamalya and deliberated whether the Beit Hamikdash would be destroyed or not. The verdict was to give the people two (or three) years to repent and perform Teshuva. When that did not occur, the tragic results were set in motion and the destruction became a fait accompli. The Chatam Sofer continues: Each and every year, on the tenth of Tevet, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits with His Pamalya and once again deliberates. But this time, the deliberation is on whether the Beit Hamikdash will be rebuilt in the forthcoming year or not. We do not fast to commemorate events that took place in the past, such as those marked by Asara B’Tevet and Tisha B’Av. But Asara B’Tevet is not commemorating what was. It is all about what will be. What fast do we observe with regards to events that will happen in the future? Ta’anit Chalom – fasting for a nightmare. We fast even on Shabbat to annul the dream and all evil decrees, and to ensure the events dreamt about do not take place.
On Asara B’Tevet, there is a deliberation as to whether the Beit Hamikdash will be rebuilt or not! We cannot leave it as-is. We need to storm the gates of Heaven with our tefillot and cry out that we cannot continue like this any longer!
It occurred to me this week that our present situation, and the days we’re experiencing, resemble those of the First Beit Hamikdash. Look back at the what the Yalkut Shimoni says. The people were blinded by the daily victories and the miracles behind them, and they continued their daily lives as-is, with no self-examination or Teshuva. Look at what is taking place around us right now. There is a siege around Yerushalayim, coupled with endless miracles from Hakadosh Baruch Hu to protect us from harm. Iron Dome is pulling down rockets every day and sparing us from the punishment they’re designed to inflict and could easily inflict. Think for a moment.
Don’t be blinded by either the technology of the Iron Dome, or the recognition of the miracles behind it.
Look at all the Southern and Northern residents, who are approaching three months out of their homes. Have you ever tried living, together with your children, in one-and-a-half hotel rooms for more than a week or two? Have you ever tried living your routine life under such conditions? Three months! They are suffering! Their children are suffering! Think about them, having to be stuffed into hotel rooms with no end in sight! People are out of work this entire time! Have you thought about that? It is like the generation of Avika ben Gavtari. Baruch Hashem, there are daily victories and miracles driving them. Thirty missiles were knocked out of the sky today. Way to go, Avika! But it does not end there. That is not where our focus needs to be.
Each morning we open the radio and begin the day with the dreadful words: הוּתָר לְפִּרְסוּם – it is cleared for publication. These words usher in the names of fallen heroes. Do you know what is cleared for publication? A widow! Bereaved parents! Orphaned children! Stricken siblings! Think about it! I tried to console such a father this week. It’s one after the next! Families being torn apart. Think about families with one or two children in the army – can they even sleep at night? They sleep with the phone open, glued to their ear! Even a mistaken call to a wrong number is enough to seriously damage them. Can we sit back quietly and enjoy? Can we point to Iron Dome Avika and rest on our laurels? Absolutely not! Where are our feelings for our fellow brethren? So what if someone lives in a quiet region and enjoys not hearing the blaring sound of sirens? Where is your empathy and carrying of your neighbor’s burden? When seeing a parent sitting shiva for a child, how can you see this and move on with your day?
May we never have the test of Asara B’Tevet. The battle is just warming up and is the about to ignite in the North, and when that ignites, אוי לי ואוי לנפשי – Alas for me, and alas for my soul! What we experienced from the South will be miniscule compared to what may come from the North. And yet we sit back quietly. A couple chapters of Tehillim – the same ones each night, by rote – and we close the books for the night? Rabbotai, people of stature don’t sleep on their mattresses as long as the soldiers are sleeping on sand dunes! If they are sleeping on the floor, I need to do it with them, just like the Chafetz Chaim and Rav Shteinman slept on the floor during wartime. Soldiers are out fighting, and I should sleep on a mattress? Where is the carrying of our neighbor’s burden?
We have the power of Tefilla in our hands. Asara B’Tevet has arrived, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is deliberating on the future of the Beit Hamikdash! This is the power of the day. Tefillah! We have nobody today who can look at the enemy and turn them into a bag of bones. If there was, they’d ascend to Heaven and ask whether we are to accept this decree or not. We don’t have that, though.
What are we planning for Asara B’Tevet? Do we plan on doing something other than davening and sitting in the Beit HaMidrash to learn and inspect ourselves? Do we plan on going out on a tour and walking around aimlessly? It’s Erev Shabbat, with all that is entailed for the day, so we need to awake early and say everything needed to be said as we storm the Heavens! This is our Yom Kippur!
A talmid of the Chatam Sofer says he heard from his rebbe, that Yaacov Avinu died on the first day of Succot. They cried seventy days for him, after which his levaya set out. Calculate seventy days from Succot and you land on the 25th day of Kislev – Chanukah. The Chatam Sofer says, as a result, these are not days of rejoicing but only praise and thanksgiving. There is no celebrating to be done on the day Yaacov Avinu’s coffin was transported to burial in Eretz Yisrael. That procession passed through a location called Goren Ha’atad, and there, seven days of aveilut were observed, bringing us to the final day of Chanukah.
