Wednesday will be the fast day of Assarah B’Tevet, the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet, one of four fast days observed each year in memory of the destruction of the Temple.  The day marks the beginning of the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem in the time of the first Temple, a siege that eventually led to the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people.

The Rabbinate has fixed the tenth of Tevet as the day to say Kaddish and other traditional prayers for the dead on behalf of Jews murdered in the Holocaust whose exact date of death is unknown.  The fast began at 5:22 a.m., and will end at approximately 5:15 p.m.