The fast of Asara B’Teves may be the shortest in the Northern Hemisphere, but it is unique in other ways too.
It is the only fast day that is observed on a Friday (see Magen Avraham 550:5; Aruch Hashulchan 550:2; Mishna Berura 550:10), and, according to some, would be observed even on Shabbos, were it able to fall out on Shabbos (Abudraham, Hilchos Ta’anis; see also Bais Yosef, Orach Chaim 550; Chiddushei HaGrach v’Hagriz [Stencils] pp. 27, 44; Ohr Same’ach, Ta’aniyos 5:6; but see Rashi, Megilla 5a [s.v. aval] and Rambam, Ta’aniyos 5:5 [disagreeing]).
We fast on Asara B’Teves because it is the day Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Yerushalayim (II Melachim 25:1; Yirmiyahu 52:4; Yechezkel 24:1-2), the harbinger and first step in the process of the later destruction of the Bais HaMikdash (Zecharia 8:19; Yechezkel 24:1; Rosh Hashana 18b; Rambam, Ta’aniyos 5:1-5). It is this day that we still observe as a day of fasting and repentance.
But why would we fast on Shabbos? Doing so is prohibited ordinarily (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 288:8; Rambam, Shabbos 30:12; see also Berachos 31b), and even Tisha B’Av—which commemorates the actual destruction of the Bais HaMikdash (two, in fact)—is not observed on Shabbos but is deferred until Sunday.
Apparently, there is more to Asara B’Teves than meets the eye.
One For The Ages—And Today
Asara B’Teves was established as a fast day because on that day it was determined that the Bais HaMikdash was to be destroyed (Toras Moshe, Vayikra, Drush 7 Adar). In fact, the Bais HaMikdash was slated to be destroyed on Asara B’Teves itself, but Hashem, in His infinite mercy, delayed the destruction to the summertime so that the Jewish people would not be exiled in the cold (Tanchuma, Tazria 9). The Lubavitcher Rebbe once commented that the siege of Asara B’Teves offered the Jewish people a prime opportunity to unite in pain and sorrow. Had they done so, the Bais HaMikdash would not have been destroyed and the trajectory of history would have been forever changed.
But any generation in which the Bais HaMikdash is not rebuilt, is deemed to have destroyed it (see Yerushalmi, Yoma 1:1). Every year, on Asara B’Teves, the Heavenly Court convenes and determines whether the Bais HaMikdash should be rebuilt that year.
We refrain from fasting on Shabbos for events that are primarily focused on the past; when we are predominantly fixated on the future (e.g. Yom Kippur, ta’anis chalom), we fast even on Shabbos. Thus, we fast on Asara B’Teves not merely to mourn the loss of the Bais HaMikdash past but also to prevent future calamities and destructions. In that sense, it is similar to the ta’anis chalom—private fast to avert bad decrees from certain evil-tidings dreams (see Shabbos Inbox, Queens Jewish Link, Vol. III No. 43)—which is observed even on Shabbos.
The Beginning Of The End
According to the Selichos prayers recited on Asara B’Teves, the fast actually commemorates three days of tragedy—the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth of Teves—and, if possible, one should try to fast on all three days (Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 580:2).
On the Eighth of Teves, King Ptolemy II (285-246 BCE) coerced 72 sages separately to translate the Torah into Greek—an event known as the Septuagint (Megilla 9a-b; Sofrim 1:7-8). Although miracles guided their work and each of the sages made the same six slight but necessary amendments, nevertheless the episode is described as “darkness descending on the world” (Megillas Ta’anis 13; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 580; Sefer HaToda’ah, Vol. 1, Ch. 8). The tragedy was that the uneducated could now acquire a superficial—and often flawed—understanding of the Torah. The Torah could now be watered down or distorted (r”l).
On the Ninth of Teves, something tragic occurred—some maintain the tragedy is unknown (Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 580), while others propose several tragedies that occurred that day.[1] According to some, Ezra HaSofer (and possibly Nechemia) died that day (Magen Avraham 580:6; Taz 580:1; Elya Rabba 580:5; Mishna Berura 580:13; Kol Bo 63; BaHaG, Tisha B’Av V’Ta’anis; Selichos of Asara B’Teves); others claim it is the birthday of “Oso HaIsh” (i.e., Jesus), in whose name countless Jews have been murdered (Zimmels, Sephardim and Ashkenazim 160).[2]
On the Tenth of Teves, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Yerushalayim.
All three tragic events share a common theme: each was the beginning of the end.
Before the Septuagint, the Torah was a treasure belonging solely of the Jewish people. With the Septuagint, however, the Greeks opened the door to the watering down of the Torah and to its potential distortion, and Greek culture and values could seep more easily into the Jewish world. It was the beginning of the end.
Ezra had led the Jewish people at the conclusion of the Babylonian exile and was the backbone of their return to Eretz Yisroel. Also, Ezra was actually the prophet Malachi—the very last prophet of the Jewish people (Megilla 15a). With his passing, not only did the Jewish people begin their descent from the great spiritual heights to which Ezra had led them, they also began the post-prophet period, a time when it was far more difficult to perceive the Divine presence. It was the beginning of the end.
Before its siege, Yerushalayim was rumored to be invincible. The world remembered how Sancheirev’s army was annihilated attempting to attack it, and none dared to try again. But now the world came to view Yerushalayim as a city like any other, and eventually the walls were breached and the Bais HaMikdash destroyed. In fact, it was on Asara B’Teves that the Divine presence began to depart from the Bais HaMikdash (Rosh Hashana 31a and Maharsha ad loc.). It was the beginning of the end.
Because Asara B’Teves commemorates these tragic days—each of which was the beginning of an end—we would have to fast on Shabbos. Indeed, while the majority of the Bais HaMikdash was destroyed on the Tenth of Av, we mourn the Ninth of Av because “the beginning of punishment is worse (or harsher)” (Ta’anis 29a).
Asara B’Teves is no different. As the first in a chain of events that would lead to the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash and the exile of the Jewish people, Asara B’Teves is, in a sense, a day worse than Tisha B’Av (Ya’aros Dvash, Vol. 1, Drush 2 for 9 Teves; Bnei Yisaschar, Kislev; Sho’el U’Meishiv [Kama] 3:179). So while Tisha B’Av is postponed for Shabbos, Asara B’Teves may not be.
Vayechi: A Closed Book
These two aspects of Asara B’Teves—the continuing nature of the tragedy and its status as the beginning of the end—are borne out in Parshas Vayechi. While the general Masoretic rule is that every Torah portion begins on a new line or is separated from the previous portion by at least a nine-letter space, Vayechi is an exception: there is no extra space between it and the preceding portion.
Rashi, quoting the Medrash, offers two explanations of this anomaly. First, “because once Yaakov Avinu passed away, the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people were ‘closed’ because of the suffering of the Egyptian enslavement, which had commenced.” That is, it was the beginning of the end for the Jewish people in Egypt. Alternatively, the Torah portion is “closed” “because Yaakov wished to reveal the end [of all exiles] to his sons, but it was ‘closed off’ from him” (Rashi, Bereishis 47:28). In other words, Yaakov was no longer able to relate to his sons the date of the ultimate redemption; it is something each generation must strive to earn.
These two explanations emblemize the nature of Asara B’Teves—it was the beginning of the end, and it remains a continuing tragedy in each generation that fails to reverse course.
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Fast days mean more than skipped meals and caffeine headaches—they ought to serve as catalysts for inspiration. Their essence is not primarily grief and mourning; the aim is to evoke true and lasting change (see e.g. Rambam, Ta’aniyos 5:1; Ta’anis 15a; Chayei Adam, K’lal 33; see also Mishna Berura 549:1).
By capitalizing on such days, we hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy: “The Fast of the Fourth, the Fast of the Fifth, the Fast of the Seventh, and the Fast of the Tenth, shall be…for celebration and joy for the household of Yehuda” (Zecharia 8:19). And by capitalizing on such days, we can transform Asara B’Teves from “the beginning of the end” to “the beginning of the beginning.”
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[1] Other sources attribute fasting on this day to the passing of other righteous individuals, including Shimon HaKalphus or R’ Yosef HaNaggid (see e.g. R’ Baruch Teumim-Frankel, Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 580).
[2] An additional reason for fasting on this day is that Esther was forcibly taken to Achashveirosh’s palace (Esther, Mechir Yayin [Rama] 2:16).