Don’t you just love having a fast day on erev Shabbos? Great for the diet! Just smelling the delicious food cooking - but no eating! And Asara b’Teves is our only fast like that. At least it’s a short fast! (In the southern hemisphere, though, it’s quite long!) There must be something unique about it.
In fact, there is much we can take from Asara b’Teves (aside from a grumbling stomach). Even if you’re reading this after the fast, I hope to share some inspirational thoughts relevant to us.
Back in school, we had nice pictures of all the months of the Jewish year on the wall, and the picture for Teves was of soldiers surrounding Yeurshalayim. (I think the soldiers with their weapons interested me more than the meaning.) On a more serious note, the beginning of the siege around Yerushalayim began the actual churban, which we are still in today. The second Beis HaMikdash period was never fully free from the Nations and golus. It’s a sad time to remember.
The Avudraham says that if Asara b’Teves would fall out on Shabbos, we would need to fast! (It won’t ever happen, based on the setup of our calendar.) This is based upon the pasuk in Yechezkel: “On this very day.” And it is actually more serious and significant than Tishah b’Av! Tishah b’Av is when the churban actually happened; however, it was because of the events which were on Asara b’Teves. What were those events?
The Chasam Sofer says that the decision of whether or not the Beis HaMikdash will be rebuilt that year is decided on Asara b’Teves. The rule is, if it wasn’t rebuilt that year, then it’s like it was destroyed that year. And just like one would fast for a really bad dream (it depends on the exact dream) even on Shabbos - because fasting is the remedy and it can’t be pushed off - so too this fast is crucial because the fate of the Beis HaMikdash that year is dependent on this day.
Chazal bring several reasons for fasting on Asara b’Teves. One reason is because Nevuchadnetzar, king of Bavel, laid siege to Yerushalayim. The siege lasted for three years, culminating with the destruction of the first Beis HaMikdash on Tishah b’Av.
Klal Yisrael were really deserving for the churban to have been on Asara b’Teves (even with the three-year siege it would’ve been on Asara b’Teves.) The Medrash Tanchuma says Hashem, in His great mercy and kindness, delayed the churban until the summer months. The summer is hot and dry, but it’s possible to find shade and rest. In the freezing wet and cold winter, the churban would have claimed many more lives while the Jews were being forced into golus. (I heard an accurate description of the freezing winter rains in Eretz Yisrael: As soon as you feel the wetness, it enters your bones and doesn’t leave until the warm spring. And that’s with the heater on full-blast!) Warming up from the cold is harder than cooling down from the heat. Hashem did not need to make that change, but He did it because of chavivus, His love for us.
Another reason for the fast is because the Torah was translated into Greek. The Chasam Sofer asks: Why was that so bad? There was a nes, miracle: All 70 talmidei chachamim who were forced to translate the Torah - each one separately - did it with the exact same translations and changes! Shouldn’t we celebrate that nes?
No, it was not good for us. Firstly, the Nations would now have the written Torah, with the ability to read the Torah/Bible, along with all their interpretations and misinterpretation. They would have the ability to read at face value the stories about Klal Yisrael, especially the most challenging ones (cheit ha’egel is a favorite), along with the harsh language used by the prophets, which they misquote and abuse. These were all used against Klal Yisrael, and we suffered terribly from it.
I heard the following from the Maggid Rav Boruch Rosenblum shlita: Based on a pasuk in the Navi Zecharia… “and I will awaken my sons Zion over your sons Yavan…” This means the Greeks wished By to remove Klal Yisrael’s status as Hashem’s children, the Chosen Nation. The Medrash Tanchum says Yavan will claim to Hashem, “We had the Torah translated into Greek! Now, we are also your children, not just Klal Yisrael! They are no longer special.” Hashem responded, “That’s why there is Torah she’ba’al peh, the Oral Torah, meaning Mishnayos. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted it to be written just like the Torah, but I didn’t allow, for this reason. Only Klal Yisrael has Torah sheh ba’al peh, and they remain my children because of it!” Mishnayos means the explanation of the talmidei chachamim, passed from rebbi to student. But just the fact that the Torah was translated and created the challenge is a reason to mourn.
In sefer Ohr Gedalyahu (Torah from Rav Gedalya Shor zts”l), he says Asara b’Teves happened because of a lack of bitachon. Teves is a month connected to Eisav. It’s the month when Avraham Avinu died, and it was on that day Eisav murdered, stole, etc. - altogether five major sins. He heard that Avraham died, and had a panic attack. “Midas hadin got the tzadik as well?!” Then he denied Hashem’s hashgachah, involvement, in running the world. This came along with a great feeling of yiush, giving up.
The month of Teves brings with it these feelings. It’s in the middle of the cold, dark, dreary winter. Melancholy is an accurate description. To become disheartened and in despair are feelings of this time. It’s exactly what the yetzer harah wants.
People desire warmth and coziness. A fetus in its mother’s womb is the coziest and most content being in the world! Warm, fed, loved…Compare the following: Shmuel takes a mid-winter vacation trip to the Bahamas. He is sitting on the beach basking in the sun, wearing his beach attire, sipping his favorite ice-cold drink. He takes a selfie, and sends it to his friend Yehuda. Yehuda lives in Boston, and during the winter, there isn’t any warmth outside. Yehuda looks at the picture and promptly takes a selfie and sends it back to Shmuel. Shmuel looks at the picture, and sees Yehuda sitting in his easy chair near the roaring fireplace, with a blanket draped around his shoulders, another one over his slippered feet, clutching a mug of hot-coco with marshmallows, with the snowflakes falling outside the window in the background. Who is cozier and more content at that moment? Yehuda!
How do we achieve this contentment? By having bitachon in Hashem that He takes care of us and is running everything in the world.
There’s a reason Chanukah comes right before Asara b’Teves. There was the nes of the victories and the nes of the oil. The oil burning for eight days was a nes shel chavivus; they didn’t need it because they could have used tamei oil, but Hashem did it anyway, just to show His love for us. Because the chavivus is to encourage us to keep going, even if things are not completely resolved.
Asara b’Teves is a time to see this chavivus. Even when the golus was first beginning, it was pushed of until the summer and didn’t begin in the winter. And how can we recognize this chavivus? Through the Torah sheh ba’al peh, through the teachings of our talmidei chachamim, which only we have.
Have bitachon in Hashem, feel His closeness, and do not despair. Don’t despair regarding the war in Eretz Yisrael and the hostages. Keep davening! Keep praying for the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash, which we should merit to have rebuilt this year with the coming of Moshaich!
Adapted from shiurim given by R’ Yisrael Altusky, shlita, Yeshivas Torah Ore, Yerushalayim. Shiurim can be heard at the Kol Halashon website.
R’ Dovi Chaitovsky
