Today is one of six days of fasting in the Jewish calendar: the 10th day of the month of Tevet. On this day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia besieged Jerusalem, until he completely conquered it and destroyed the Holy Temple.
Days of fasting of this nature are not only a testimonial to the troubles of the past, writes Beit El Chief Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed in the town's weekly journal, but are chiefly days of repentance and reckoning for improving our deeds in the present. In addition, when new troubles befall Israel, it is a Biblical commandment to cry out about it, and a Rabbinic commandment to fast until we receive Heavenly mercies.
Maimonides explains that the troubles on which we fast and cry are when foreigners make war on Israel, or when they decree that we may not fulfill Jewish precepts, or when they come to take tribute or LAND from us. Rabbi Melamed notes that in these recent years, when non-Jews come and pressure us to give over parts of the Land of Israel, this is clearly one of those things for which we must fast and cry out.
"This means that today's Fast of Tevet must be directed towards repairing this strife of the pressure coming from the nations, and the threats and incidents of terrorist violence as part of their campaign to take away our land," Rabbi Melamed writes. "Therefore, let this day be one of fasting, prayer, and crying out to the G-d of Israel, that He give us the strength to preserve our land, to stand up to the pressures, and not to give in under any circumstances to those who wish to destroy us."
Days of fasting of this nature are not only a testimonial to the troubles of the past, writes Beit El Chief Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed in the town's weekly journal, but are chiefly days of repentance and reckoning for improving our deeds in the present. In addition, when new troubles befall Israel, it is a Biblical commandment to cry out about it, and a Rabbinic commandment to fast until we receive Heavenly mercies.
Maimonides explains that the troubles on which we fast and cry are when foreigners make war on Israel, or when they decree that we may not fulfill Jewish precepts, or when they come to take tribute or LAND from us. Rabbi Melamed notes that in these recent years, when non-Jews come and pressure us to give over parts of the Land of Israel, this is clearly one of those things for which we must fast and cry out.
"This means that today's Fast of Tevet must be directed towards repairing this strife of the pressure coming from the nations, and the threats and incidents of terrorist violence as part of their campaign to take away our land," Rabbi Melamed writes. "Therefore, let this day be one of fasting, prayer, and crying out to the G-d of Israel, that He give us the strength to preserve our land, to stand up to the pressures, and not to give in under any circumstances to those who wish to destroy us."