Fasting on a Friday

How is this fast different from all other fasts?

Asara B’Tevet is unique in two ways.
1)  It is the only fast that cannot fall on Shabbat.
2)  It is the only fast that can fall on Friday (like this year). Asara B’Tevet falls on Friday 20.1 percent of the time. It happened last year but won’t occur again until December 22, 2034.

It is strange to fast on a Friday. Fasting on Friday means we technically fast a little on Shabbat. The fast ends around 30-40 minutes after sunset. While we don’t usually start our Shabbat dinners until then anyway, when Asara B’Tevet is on Friday, we CAN’T make Kiddush and start the meal until the fast ends. In effect, Shabbat yields to Asara B’Tevet.

What is so special about Asara B’Tevet? Let’s start by reviewing what happened on 10 Tevet.

“In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of God came to me: O mortal, record this date, this exact day; for this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem.” (Yechezkel 24:1-2)

The fast on 10 Tevet commemorates the start of the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem. Six months later, the Babylonians broke through the walls of the city on 17 Tammuz. Three weeks later, on 9 Av, they destroyed the Beit Hamikdash. Some five years later, the leader of the remaining Jewish community, Gedaliah, was assassinated on Rosh Hashanah, ending any semblance of self-rule. The assassination could only be mourned after Rosh Hashanah on 3 Tishrei. These calamities were all commemorated as fast days that will, hopefully, one day be transformed into holidays:

“Thus said the Lord of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month (17 Tammuz), the fast of the fifth month (9 Av), the fast of the seventh month (3 Tishrei), and the fast of the tenth month (10 Tevet) shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity.” (Zachariah 8:19)

Now that we know what happened on 10 Tevet, we can analyze why it is unique.

Rabbi David Abudarham, 14^th century rabbi, notes there is textual emphasis concerning 10 Tevet. God tells Yechezkel that it was “this date, this exact day” on which the siege of Jerusalem began. Abudarham suggests that this specificity would require us to fast on 10 Tevet even if it occurred on Shabbat! Now, this never happens, but if it would, we’d fast. 10 Tevet is meant to draw our attention.

The question of what makes 10 Tevet so special is compounded when we look at what happened on the date. As opposed to the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem or the destruction of the Temple or the end of the independent Jewish community – all of which were tragedies, 10 Tevet commemorates the START of the siege. Notable – yes. Tragic or catastrophic? Hardly. The events of 10 Tevet marked the beginning of the end, but does that warrant a fast day? A special fast day? Fasting on Friday or, theoretically, fasting on Shabbat?

Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein addresses the unique message of Asara B’Tevet:

“Why do we mark the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem and not just the breaching of the walls or the destruction of the Temple? The message of this commemoration is that after the destruction, we must trace its sources and mark its stages; we must look backwards to events that are not earth-shattering and perceive how the seeds of the destruction on the Ninth of Av were planted on the Tenth of Tevet. The more we study history, the more we learn that we should not concentrate only on the final act, the cataclysmic event itself, but also on all the stages that led up to it. The moral message that arises from this is the importance of sharpening our consciousness of the unfolding of the past, seeing how the branches sprout forth from the roots.”

We need to consider the root causes of the tragedies of the past to learn from them and internalize those lessons to create a better future.

UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis invokes a well-known story that teaches the importance of tackling the root of the problem.

In the mythical town of Chelm in Poland, there was just one little bridge over the valley. People noticed that there was a crack in the bridge, causing some people to trip and fall. The crack widened until some people were breaking their legs. It widened further and there was a danger that people might fall through it, and then when the gap became exceptionally wide, people, wagons and horses were falling down it to the valley below. The council of the sages of Chelm decided to deliberate on the issue. At the end of an entire day’s discussions, they announced their decision: They would build a hospital in the valley below.

Asara B’Tevet is the date of the first crack that led to a larger crack that led to even more serious damage. We better not just build a hospital. We must keep our eyes open for how, when, and why the difficulties start to prepare for what comes next and learn lessons now for the future.

Asara B’Tevet always falls on the week of Parshat Vayechi. The portion of Yaakov’s death is called, “And he lived.” Yaakov’s death, like the Jerusalem walls being breached or Temple destroyed, is a time to mourn. As the same, we look backwards to Yaakov’s life or the root causes of destruction to give us hope that there is a better future.

Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Chatam Sofer, said that there is a tradition that each year God convenes the heavenly court on Asara B’Tevet to decide whether the Beit Hamikdash will be rebuilt this year. On the day commemorating the initial event leading to its destruction, God reconsiders its rebuilding. Past, present, and future are all intertwined in the story of the Jewish people.

These days, we are experiencing many dark moments – war in Israel, hostages still being held, the rise in Jew hatred around the world. The lesson – and uniqueness – of Asara B’Tevet is that, however dark it gets, we must look to the past for ways to survive the present, while being sure, please God, of a glorious future.