Today is one of the four minor fasts (lasting from sun rise to sun set) that happen through out the year. It is also one of the two minor ones that is just know by the date on the Jewish calendar, the 10th of Teves. So the question is, why are we fasting? As with the majority of the fast days (four out of the six) the fast is commemorate calamities that happened on this day. There were four major events that happened today (taken from the Slichos prayers – Artscroll translation – and also wikipedia).
- Ptolemy, King of Egypt, ordered the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, a work which later became known as the Septuagint.Seventy sages were put into solitary confinement and ordered to translate the Torah into Greek. (Which was later translated into Latin and a whole lot of misconceptions were born from there.)
- The death of Ezra the scribe who began the rebuilding of the second Temple and died.
- During the era of the first Temple, the siege and then the destruction of Jerusalem began.
It’s interesting to note that the first event happened on the 8th, the second on the 9th and the third on the 10th. The reason we observe the fast on the 10th is because that was the more severe tragedy.
What should the take away from this fast day be? How can we make this day meaningful to us when these events took place so long ago? I don’t know if I have the answers to that and I’d welcome any and all thoughts.
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