10th of Tevet Fast on Virtual Jerusalem

Jerusalem
Mourning for the Temple

The Tenth of Tevet is a fast day that probably doesn’t mean that much to many people. Check our Fast Facts and see what the fast means to you: you may be surprised.

The fast stirs the Jewish collective memory of both the ancient past and the more recent

• What Is The Tenth of Tevet?
• Did You Know?
• Fast Round of Religions.
• The Month of Tevet...
• Mourning Holocaust Victims
• The Kaddish Prayer
• Then & Now
• Commemorating in the School
• Fast Tracks in Jewish Life
• Friday Fasts?

horrors of the Holocaust. And in common with all Jewish fast days, there are also moral and ethical lessons to be gleaned from the events commemorated during the day.

On this site, you will discover that slowing down the digestive system leads to some pretty fast gains to both body and soul, and that fasting is a common practice across all of the world's major religions. You’ll also reveal some rare facts about the occurrence of the fast on a Friday, the educational challenges presented by the fast to Israeli educators and the choice of the 10th Tevet as a Holocaust memorial day.

Fast Facts The Tenth of Tevet commemorates the siege of Jerusalem which began during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, before the destruction of the First Temple, and which ended in the destruction itself.

"... in the ninth year of his [Zedekiah's] reign, on the 10th day of the 10th month, Nebuchadnezzar moved against Jerusalem with his whole army... The city continued in a state of siege until the 11th year of King Zedekiah... The famine became acute... [and]... then the wall of the city was breached..." - Kings II, 25:1-4

T he day was proclaimed by the rabbis as one of the four fasts that commemorate the Destruction of the Temples and the consequent dispersion. In their eyes,the fast is not an end in itself, but is intended to prompt inner reflection,repentance and a drawing nearer to God.

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In our day: In Israel, the 10th Tevet has been established by the Chief Rabbinate as the day of mourning for all those who perished in the Holocaust and whose day of departure from this world (yahrzeit) is unknown. The day is subsequently marked by special educational programs in Israeli schools.