Leading rabbis of the religious-Zionist camp called for a large public prayer rally this afternoon, on the Fast of Tevet, at the Western Wall. Special prayers were recited in light of the difficult situation facing the Israeli people. Following the prayers and the end of the fast, the customary "Circle the Temple Mount Gates" will be held. Around the same time, prayer-and-Psalms rallies will also be held in London and Manchester.
Today, one of six days of fasting in the Jewish calendar, marks the siege of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. He later completely conquered the city and destroyed the Holy Temple.
Beit El Chief Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed sees special contemporary relevance to today's fast. "Days of fasting of this nature are not only a testimonial to the troubles of the past," he wrote in the latest edition of his town's weekly journal, "but are chiefly days of repentance and reckoning for improving our deeds in the present… Maimonides explains that the troubles over which we fast and cry include when foreigners make war on Israel, or when they decree that we may not fulfill Jewish precepts, or when they come... to take land from us."
Rabbi Melamed therefore notes that the troubles of recent years, "with non-Jews pressuring us to give over parts of the Land of Israel, are clearly among those things over which we must fast and cry out." He explains that today's Fast of Tevet must be directed towards precisely this tribulation of "international pressure and terrorist violence aiming to take away our land... 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 to not give in under any circumstances to those who wish to destroy us."
The Fast of Tevet has also been declared by the Chief Rabbinate as a general day of Kaddish [a memorial prayer] for Holocaust victims whose date of death is not known. Rabbi Dov Begun, of the Meir Institute for Jewish Studies (Machon Meir), notes a direct connection between the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holocaust:
"The destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem led us into a 2,000-year exile, the pinnacle of which was the terrible Holocaust. By announcing 'May G-d's great Name be magnified and sanctified,' we are saying that despite all the tortures of the exile, His great name will be magnified via our return to Zion and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple... Today, we must mend our ways especially with regards to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, when our enemies wish to restore the siege around Jerusalem by establishing a state... There are even voices at home whose faith and spirit have been weakened and who seek to fulfill the wishes of our enemies..."
Today, one of six days of fasting in the Jewish calendar, marks the siege of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. He later completely conquered the city and destroyed the Holy Temple.
Beit El Chief Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed sees special contemporary relevance to today's fast. "Days of fasting of this nature are not only a testimonial to the troubles of the past," he wrote in the latest edition of his town's weekly journal, "but are chiefly days of repentance and reckoning for improving our deeds in the present… Maimonides explains that the troubles over which we fast and cry include when foreigners make war on Israel, or when they decree that we may not fulfill Jewish precepts, or when they come... to take land from us."
Rabbi Melamed therefore notes that the troubles of recent years, "with non-Jews pressuring us to give over parts of the Land of Israel, are clearly among those things over which we must fast and cry out." He explains that today's Fast of Tevet must be directed towards precisely this tribulation of "international pressure and terrorist violence aiming to take away our land... 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 to not give in under any circumstances to those who wish to destroy us."
The Fast of Tevet has also been declared by the Chief Rabbinate as a general day of Kaddish [a memorial prayer] for Holocaust victims whose date of death is not known. Rabbi Dov Begun, of the Meir Institute for Jewish Studies (Machon Meir), notes a direct connection between the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holocaust:
"The destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem led us into a 2,000-year exile, the pinnacle of which was the terrible Holocaust. By announcing 'May G-d's great Name be magnified and sanctified,' we are saying that despite all the tortures of the exile, His great name will be magnified via our return to Zion and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple... Today, we must mend our ways especially with regards to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, when our enemies wish to restore the siege around Jerusalem by establishing a state... There are even voices at home whose faith and spirit have been weakened and who seek to fulfill the wishes of our enemies..."