Sunday marks the fast of Gedaliah commemorating the murder of the last Jewish leader after the destruction of the First Temple by another Jewish leader, Yishmael Ben Netanya.
After Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple and exiled most of the Jews from Israel, he appointed Gedaliah to govern those who remained. Gedaliah advocated submission to Babylon as a means of ensuring continued partial Jewish autonomy, and under his administration, the Jewish colony prospered. When he was assassinated by political rivals, the Jews scattered and all remaining vestiges of Jewish autonomy were lost.
The fast ends at 6:55 P.M. Jerusalem time.