The Tenth of Teves and the Third Temple

By Avner Friedmann

 

Very soon, the fast of the Tenth of Tevet will be upon us. Now, it is not commonly known that though this fast is the shortest of the year and is only observed from dawn to nightfall, in one very important way it actually is as strict as the fast of Yom Kippur. According to Halacha, just like Yom Kippur, if the Tenth of Tevet should fall out on Shabbat, the fast would not be postponed to a different day to avoid fasting on Shabbat. This is because in reference to both Yom Kippur and the Tenth of Tevet, scripture uses the words,[1] “On this very day”. In other words, the fast may not be deferred to a different day. However, since the establishment of the formal Jewish calendar in the year 359 CE by Hillel the Second, the Tenth of Tevet never falls on Shabbat.

The reason for this fast is because on the Tenth of Tevet, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, began the siege of Jerusalem, which marked the beginning of the end of the First Jewish Commonwealth. However, we may ask, what is so special about this day that it is compared to Yom Kippur? After all, it was just the beginning of the siege. The calamity of starvation, death, destruction and mass exile had yet to unfold.

In comparison to the Seventeenth of Tamuz, in which the walls of Jerusalem were breached, or the Ninth of Av, in which both the first and second Temples were destroyed, doesn’t the Tenth of Tevet seem insignificant? Still and all, if the fast of the Seventeenth of Tamuz or the Ninth of Av fall out on Shabbat, they are postponed until Sunday.

Moreover, the siege of the Tenth of Tevet occurred prior to the destruction of the First Temple, which was destroyed and then rebuilt seventy years later as the Second Temple. Since it was rebuilt, why we do we specifically fast over it, rather than on the Twenty-Second of Nisan, in which the siege of the Second Temple began? Isn’t that date more relevant to us, being that 1,945 years have passed and we still are waiting for the Third Temple to be built? However, the Twenty-Second of Nisan never was declared to be a fast day! Why is this?

The reason is because fasts, in general, are never instituted merely to commemorate historical disasters, but must be relevant to us in the present and for the future. The Chatam Sofer explains this as follows:[2] Because of the sins of Israel, on that day, HaShem sat upon His Throne of Judgment to judge whether to destroy the First Temple. The Talmud tells us that the sins of those generations were specifically idolatry, adultery and the spilling of innocent blood. HaShem decided to give the Jewish people an opportunity to repent and avoid destruction. Thus, in order for the Jews to realize the danger they were in and repent, He permitted Nebuchadnezzar to lay siege of the city, but not to destroy it.

Since that time, every Tenth of Tevet has become a day of judgment, in which HaShem judges us and determines whether the Temple should remain destroyed or be rebuilt. In that first year, Israel did not repent. As a result, two and a half years later, on the Ninth of Av, the First Temple was destroyed. Hundreds of years later, HaShem again judged Israel, found them guilty of baseless hatred, and decided to destroy the Second Temple.

Our sages tell us that in every generation, if the Temple is not rebuilt, it is as if it was destroyed in that generation.[3] In other words, if it is not built, it is a sign that we have not sufficiently repented and that our collective sin has yet to be corrected. Every year, on this day, HaShem sits upon His Throne of Judgment, as it were, and contemplates whether to rebuild the third Temple. HaShem seals the judgment on the 10th of Tevet, just as He does on Yom Kippur. This is why the Tenth of Tevet bears a similarity to Yom Kippur.

On this upcoming Tenth of Tevet, HaShem will determine whether this year the Third Temple will be rebuilt. Unlike the First Temple, the Second Temple was not destroyed because of idolatry, adultery and the spilling of innocent blood. It was destroyed solely because of baseless hatred of one Jew to another. We can correct this through having unconditional love toward our fellow Jews. Whatever the situation, we need to judge our fellow Jews in a favorable light, give them the benefit of the doubt, join in their pain, be tolerant and compassionate with them, and treat each other with love, respect and dignity. If we negate baseless hatred by practicing unconditional love as enunciated in Rabbi Akiva’s famous dictum, “Love your fellow as yourself – this is the general principle of the Torah”[4], then surely HaShem will judge us favorably and decide to rebuild the Third, final and eternal Temple. May this come about THIS YEAR with the true and complete redemption through our righteous Moshiach, Amen!

 

 

[1] See Leviticus 23:28 in reference to Yom Kippur and Ezekiel 24:2 in reference to the Tenth of Tevet

[2] Torat Moshe, Drush “Lichvod Shabbat” and “7 of Adar”.

[3] Yerushalmi  5a, 81a.

[4] Kedoshim 19:18

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *