Ḥatam Sofer explains
that our Sages instituted a fast day to commemorate the beginning of the Babylonian
siege of Jerusalem, which began on the Tenth of Tevet is that "On that
day, when the Babylonian king approached the earthly Jerusalem, the Heavenly
Court sat, and decided the fate of Jerusalem to be destroyed." That is,
parallel to the earthly events, there was a heavenly event in which Jerusalem's
fate was sealed. On the Tenth of Tevet, as the Babylonian army commenced the
siege of Jerusalem, the Heavenly Court commenced its deliberations on the
future of the Holy City and decreed that she and her Temple were to be destroyed.
Ḥatam Sofer adds
"Our Sages teach that any generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt is
to be considered as the generation in which it was destroyed, thus, every year
the destruction (as it were) is renewed. Thus, annually on the Tenth of Tevet, the
day on which the Heavenly Court began to deliberate the fate of Jerusalem, it
reconvenes to determine the fate of the Holy City and the Temple for the coming
year." As was the case, more than 2600 years ago, every year until the
Temple is rebuilt, the Heavenly Court judges the Holy City and decrees an
additional year of destruction.
Ḥatam Sofer cites
the comment of Abudraham (14th century CE), that should the Tenth of
Tevet fall on Shabbat (an impossibility, based upon our fixed calendar), the
fast would not be postponed. Ḥatam Sofer notes that, other than Yom Kippur, the
only fast that is not postponed from Shabbat is the Fast of a Dream (though one
who fasts because of a bad dream must fast on a weekday to compensate for having
fasted on Shabbat). [Shulḥan Aruch, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 294:4]
Tur explains that fasting is inconsistent with the pleasure of
Shabbat (oneg Shabbat), however, the Fast of a Dream carries an element
of pleasure, in the fact that one who fasts hopes thereby to annul the bad
dream. (Tur adds that nonetheless, one must have the compensatory fast
for having disrupted the main pleasure of Shabbat.)
We may assert
that fasting on Yom Kippur as well conveys an element of pleasure, in that the
one who fasts engages also in repentance, through which he hopes to be sealed
in the Book of Life for the coming year.
Based upon the
above, Ḥatam Sofer suggests that since the prime purpose of fasting is "to
arouse the heart to open the paths of repentance" [Maimonides, Laws of
Fast Days, 5:1] the fast of the Tenth of Tevet also carries an element of
pleasure, in that the one who fasts hopes to influence the decision of the
Heavenly Court in favor of rebuilding Jerusalem.
In my opinion,
the central point of Ḥatam Sofer's enlightening comments is that the essence of
the Tenth of Tevet is the opportunity to improve ourselves and thereby bring
about the building of the Third Temple. Indeed, as was the case on the Tenth of
Tevet when the Babylonian siege began, God issued a warning that the
destruction was near and provided our ancestors with the opportunity to repent
and thereby avoid the destruction of Jerusalem, so too in our days, the Tenth
of Tevet presents the opportunity to repent and rebuild the Holy City and her
Temple.
It is our hands!
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