The Fast of Asarah B'Tevet (the 10th of the Hebrew month of Tevet), observed Wednesday, marked the siege that was emplaced around Jerusalem for three years by the superpower of the time, Babylonia. The ensuing destruction of Jerusalem led to the exile of the Jews to Babylonia (today's Iraq).
A large number of Jews gathered at the foot of the Temple Mount, at the Western Wall, reciting prayers and a few donning sackcloth for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and for today's Jerusalem, again surrounded by adversaries.
The 10th of Tevet has also been designated by Israel's Chief Rabbinate as the day of mourning for Holocaust victims whose date of death is unknown. The day is known as the "Day of General Kaddish (mourners' prayer)."
The renowned Maimonides wrote in his Jewish Law Code, "The essential significance of the fast of the Tenth of Tevet, as well as that of the other fast days, is not primarily the grief and mourning which they evoke. Their aim is rather to awaken the hearts towards repentance; to recall to us, both the evil deeds of our fathers, and our own evil deeds, which caused anguish to befall both them and us and thereby to cause us to return towards the good."
Further information on the siege can be found in the Book of Kings II, chapter 25.
(Photos; Dan Paley)