The Tenth of Teves

In addition to Shivah Asar B’Tamuz and Tishah B’Av, which take place at the beginning and end of the Three Weeks, respectively, there are two other fasts during the course of the year that mark significant events related to the churban. One of these is Asarah b’Teves – the Tenth of Teves.[1] Let us consider this additional day and its role within the mourning over the churban and within the Jewish year.

Asarah B’Teves marks the day that Nevuchadnetzar laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. When we say that the walls of the city were breached on the seventeenth of Tamuz, this did not take place later on that same year. Rather, the siege lasted for two and a half years, until the walls were finally breached, leading to the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and the subsequent exile of the Jewish People.

Regarding Asarah B’Teves, there is a most striking comment of the Avudraham.[2] As a rule, if a fast day should fall on Shabbos, it is pushed off until the following day, as the fast does not supersede the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos (enjoying the Shabbos). Asarah B’Teves, however, is an exception. The way our calendar is configured, the tenth of Teves cannot actually fall on Shabbos; however, in principle, were it to do so, the Avudraham says we would fast even on Shabbos! The basis for this position is a verse in Yechezkel that describes the churban:

Son of man, write for yourself the name of this day, this very day (בעצם היום הזה); the king of Babylon has reached Jerusalem on this very day.[3]

The Avudraham explains that the phrase “on this very day” in the verse denotes emphasis and indicates that the fast would take place on that date come what may, even on Shabbos. In this, it is similar to Yom Kippur, where the Torah uses this expression, and, as we know, we fast on Yom Kippur even on Shabbos.[4]

Needless to say, this statement requires understanding. Yom Kippur is a fast mandated by the Torah for the purpose of achieving atonement. There, we can understand that this can override Shabbos. Asarah B’Teves, on the other hand, is a fast instituted by the Sages for the purpose of mourning the churban. Why would that override Shabbos? Indeed, as we know, even the most stringent of the fasts over the churban, Tishah B’Av, does not supersede Shabbos if it falls on that day. Why should Asarah B’Teves be any different?

The Chasam Sofer explains the matter as follows:[5] The original Asarah B’Teves, when the siege began, marked the beginning of what could potentially lead to the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and the exile of the Jewish People. Accordingly, at that opening stage, the heavenly tribunal was convened in order to determine whether the people were indeed deserving of such a fate. And indeed, in that year, they were not found guilty, nor the following year. In the third year, however, when the case was revisited on the tenth of Teves, they were found guilty, and the churban ensued later that year.

Even after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, this yearly review continues to take place on the tenth of Teves — not to discuss whether the people deserve to have it destroyed, but whether they are worthy of having it rebuilt. This now gives the fast of Asarah B’Teves a special quality, whereby in addition to mourning what happened in the past, it has a pronounced focus on trying to influence what might be decreed to happen in the future.

With this in mind, we return to the ruling of the Avudraham. The halachah states that one does not fast on Shabbos, as the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos overrides any aspect of mourning. However, there is one fast that can take place on Shabbos. The Gemara states that if a person has a dream that frightens him, he may fast on Shabbos.[6] The reason for this is that the dream can be seen as representing a decree from Heaven against the person, and the fast can have the effect of nullifying that decree. As such, the person is actually much happier to fast on that day than to eat and drink, and so the fast itself fulfills the role of oneg Shabbos! So, too, the fast of Asarah B’Teves can have a positive effect on the judgment regarding the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash; hence, it, too, would override the Shabbos.

Even though, as we said, Asarah B’Teves cannot currently fall on Shabbos, the above discussion can serve to give us special insight into the unique nature of this fast. There is something very terrible about a siege. On the one hand, nothing has actually happened yet, but on the other hand, it is understood that, barring some dramatic overturning of events, the city has already been taken. A siege is basically the beginning of the end. The Chasam Sofer is teaching us that through sincerity of heart and earnestness of spirit, the day can be transformed to become the beginning of a new beginning.

Indeed, as we noted, in the yearly calendar, Asarah B’Teves does not coincide with the period of the Three Weeks. In fact, it falls roughly a week after Chanukah, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Beis Hamikdash and looks forward to that of the Third. Perhaps one can see within this seasonal timing the thematic launch of the fast. Together with mourning the laying of the siege that led to the churban all those years ago, the fast is also a springboard for our hopes and prayers that this year, the heavenly tribunal will decide that this will be the year of redemption and of dedicating the Third Beis Hamikdash.

[1] The other is the Fast of Gedaliah.

[2] Seder Tefillos Hataaniyos, cited in Beis Yosef, Orach Chaim 550.

[3] Yechezkel 24:2.

[4] This opinion is not shared by other Rishonim. The Rambam (Hilchos Taaniyos 5:5) states that all the fasts for the churban are pushed off until Sunday, and does not make any exceptions. This is likewise the opinion of Rashi (Megillah 5a, s.v. “Aval”).

[5] Toras Moshe, Parshas Vayikra.

[6] Berachos 31b.