Sunday, January 4, 2009

The Fast of the Tenth of Tevet

Hi,

The fast of Asarah b’Tevet, the 10th day of Tevet, marks the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. It led to the destruction of the First Beit haMikdash, and the exile of the Jews to Babylon.

Tuesday January 6th is Asarah b'Tevet. Here in Allentown we fast from first light, at 6:13 AM, until the stars emerge at 5:33 PM.

As we are taught regarding every fast other than Yom Kippur, the main merit of the fast is in donating to charity the money we would have spent on food.

May the merit of our charity, prayer and fasting aid the IDF in its efforts.

(Talmud, Berachot 6b; Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 549:1; Mishneh Berurah 549:2)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

No comments:

Post a Comment