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The Tenth of Tevet by Rabbi Berel Wein – One day commemorates a variety of Jewish tragedies.
The Tenth of Tevet is one of the four fast days that commemorate dark times in Jewish history.
The others are Tisha B’Av (the day of the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem), the 17th
of Tammuz (the day of the breaching of the defensive wall of Jerusalem by Titus and the Roman
legions in 70 CE), and the third of Tishrei (the day that marks the assassination of the
Babylonian-appointed Jewish governor of Judah, Gedaliah ben Achikam. He was actually killed
on Rosh Hashanah but the fast day was advanced to the day after Rosh Hashanah because of
the holiday).

Hanukkah today is often referred to as the Festival of Lights, or chag ha-ooreem in
Hebrew. The origins of this term are quite old, going back to the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius.
Josephus lived in Jerusalem in the first century of the Common Era. In his work Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus describes
the origins of the holiday we now know as Hanukkah.

The Hebrew word for peace, shalom ( שׁלום (is derived from a root denoting wholeness or completeness, and its frame of reference throughout Jewish literature is bound up with the notion of shelemut, perfection.
Its significance is thus not limited to the political domain — to the absence of war and enmity — or to the social — to the absence of quarrel and strife. It ranges over several spheres and can refer in different contexts to bounteous physical conditions, to a moral value, and, ultimately, to a cosmic principle and divine attribute.
In the Bible, the word shalom is most commonly used to refer to a state of affairs, one of well-being, tranquility, prosperity, and security, circumstances unblemished by any sort of defect. Shalom is a blessing, a manifestation of divine grace. In inquiring about the peace of one’s fellow, one inquires as to whether things fare well with him. (In a borrowed sense, we read: “Va-yish’al David…li-shlom ha-milhamah“; “David asked of him…how the war prospered” [II Samuel 11:7].) The usage of the term is thus not restricted to international, intergroup, or interpersonal relations. It signifies a state of prosperity, of blessed harmony, on several levels, physical and spiritual.

Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Originally a harvest festival celebrating the autumn harvest, Sukkot’s modern observance is characterized by festive meals in a sukkah, a temporary wood-covered hut, celebrating the Exodus from Egypt.

Summer is coming to an end and the High Holidays are soon approaching! Thankfully, the
Jewish tradition has a special way of easing into the
High Holiday spirit: Elul.
What is Elul? Simply put, Elul is the last month of the Jewish calendar year. This year, it begins at sundown on Wednesday, August 16, and culminates in Rosh Hashanah. Traditionally, Elul is meant to be used as a time for introspection and reflection. The point of Elul is to set the tone for the High Holiday period, so it’s all about taking personal stock of the past year and thinking about the year ahead. Leading up to Rosh Hashanah, Jews engage in cheshbon hanefesh (“an accounting of the soul”). The entire month is a ‘preparatory period’ to make repentance more meaningful, genuine and intentional. What sort of customs are practiced?

The 17th of the month of Tammuz is observed as a minor fast day, with eating and drinking forbidden from dawn until sundown. Like Tisha B’Av, which comes just three weeks later, the 17th of Tammuz (often called by its Hebrew name, Shiva Asar b’Tammuz) is said to commemorate not to just one calamitous event in Jewish history, but several tragedies of the Jewish people. The Mishnah in Taanit 4:6 lists five events that occurred on the 17th of Tammuz: Moses broke the tablets of law he had been given on Mount Sinai, the priests in the First Temple stopped offering the Tamid (daily) sacrifice because Jerusalem was besieged and they ran out of sheep, the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in the Second Temple Period, a Roman general named Apostomos burned a Torah scroll, and an idol was erected in the Temple by the Romans.

In preparation for God’s appearance on Mount Sinai, Moses and the Israelite
people “stood at the foot of the
mountain” Exodus 19:17 waiting to see and to hear what transpires. The unusual preposition — be-tachtit (“at the foot of”) — is understood in the Midrash to mean that the Jewish people were literally standing under the mountain. That is, at the moment God speaks the Ten Commandments, God also
uproots Mount Sinai from the ground and holds it over the people, as if to say, “If you accept the Torah, fine; if not, here shall be your grave.” Avodah Zarah 2b The implication is that the
Jewish people accepted Torah only through coercion.

Seven Holocaust survivors whose lives were affected by the October 7 onslaught on Israel are preparing to attend this year’s March of the Living event in Poland. The march, which the March of the Living nonprofit holds annually at the Auschwitz former death camp on Israel’s national Holocaust memorial day, Yom Hashoah, is set to happen on May 6 this year, with the October 7 delegation leading. Bella Haim, grandmother of the Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped during the attack and later accidentally killed by Israeli troops in Gaza while trying to escape; Danit Gabay, who was with her children at Kibbutz Re’im during the terror onslaught; and Daniel Louz from Kibbutz Be’eri are among the members of the delegation. They are among 55 Holocaust survivors set to attend
the march, along with thousands of Jews, many of them members of youth movements from This year’s event also features a commemorative march in Budapest to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Hungarian Jewry, organizers say.