We have just descended from an incredible spiritual high imbibing the
heilige
oiros of Chanukah to arrive at a month void of any
Yomim Tovim.
Teves is a month, not merely lacking festive days, but in its place we face some of the most tragic days in our checkered history- first and foremost the fast of
Asarah B’teves. This day, the tenth of
Teves, is preceded by two other momentously sad days, the eighth and ninth days of
Teves.
On the eighth day of this month (during a different time period), King Ptolemy of Egypt forced seventy of our
Zekanim to render a Greek translation of the holy Torah. Although many miracles transpired during the translation
- Hashem orchestrated that each of the seventy
Zekanim, although secluded from one another, rendered identical interpretations. This event was regarded as a catastrophe for us as a nation. Translating the
Torah into Greek negatively aided the Hellenists in their secularization of the
Torah and allowed them to permeate our sacred culture.
On the ninth of
Teves we, as a people, suffered a deeply profound loss upon the passing of
Ezra Hasofer.
Ezra was equated in greatness and stature to
Moshe Rabeinu.
Chazal tell us that had
Moshe not given us the
Torah, Ezra would have been next in line to hold that coveted position.
Ezra served as the dynamic leader who led the
Yidden on their return to
Eretz Yisroel from
Galus Bavel. He played a major role in facilitating the building of the second
Beis Hamikdash. He spent much effort strengthening
Yiddishkeit by means of various
Takanos and innovations that are regarded as sacred as the
Shulchan Aruch itself and therefore is credited with enabling the continuity of
Klal Yisroel and its survival until this very day.
These two days alone, the eighth and the ninth, warranted being established as fast days, however, the difficulty of casting three consecutive days as fast days would have been too difficult to uphold. Instead, our
Chazal rolled all three of these sad days into one-the fast of
Asara B’Teves.
Asarah B’Teves is the day that marks the onset of the siege of
Yerushalayim by Nevuchadnetzar, king of
Bavel, and as the commencement of the Babylonian exile eventually leading to the destruction of the first
Beis Hamikdash and the permanent decline of our glorious nation enduring until this very day.
Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky in his sefer,
Emes L’Yaakov, poses a penetrating question. We know that the destruction of the first
Beis Hamikdosh and its preamble were catastrophic events and definite cause to mourn, however, wasn’t the tragedy substantially mitigated by the eventual return from the
Galus Bavel and the rebuilding of the second
Beis Hamikdash? The destruction of the second
Bayis is definite cause to mourn and commemorate with fasts since this was the final, lasting blow that sent us into a seemingly endless G
olus!
Rav Yaakov, with his uncanny deep understanding of our history, posits that the era of the second
Beis
Hamikdash was not an age of redemption from the
Galus Bavel which began prior to the first
Beis Hamikdash going up in flames. In reality, it was decreed that the
Yidden were to remain in
Bavel many more then seventy years. However,
Hashem recognized that most of the
Yidden had already assimilated into the Babylonian people and many had already intermarried and established families through their mixed marriages, posing grave danger to our survival as a nation. It was clear in His divine vision that if the
Galus extended any longer the last vestige of our people would be lost forever. Look at what occurred to all of the ancient and medieval earlier nations! Memories of them exist today only in archaeological museums.
Hashem in His abundant mercy chose to shorten the
Galus of
Bavel and return the
Yidden to their homeland to rebuild the
Beis Hamikdash as a temporary respite. This era was to serve as a time to reinvigorate their foundations of
Torah and
Emunah and enable them to survive the long, drawn out exile. In essence, the entire duration of the second
Beis Hamikdash, was an extension of the
Galus that began in
Bavel. The second
Beis Hamikdash served as a rest-stop along the protracted
Galus journey. The epoch of
Bayis Sheini was an oasis positioned in the midst of
Galus to allow us to gather strength for the long haul. It did not contain the same level of
kedusha as the first
Bayis nor did it experience the same exalted
daily
nissim, since its intended purpose was a different focus.
Rav Yaakov concludes that now it is abundantly clear why we fast commemorating the beginning of the downfall of the
Bayis Rishon and the ensuing
Galus. Because it never ended! We are still living it!
May
Hashem end this
Galus speedily in our days.
