The Tenth of Tevet, a fast day that began Thursday morning, commemorates the beginning of the Greek siege of Jerusalem, an event one rabbi sees mirrored in the hateful United Nations vote last week that attempted to isolate Jerusalem from the world. In the spirit of one of the most venerated sages in Jewish history, this rabbi sees the UN vote as proof that the Third Temple will rise again. On the tenth of Tevet in the year 3336 (425 BCE), the armies of the Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. This began the three-year process that led to the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and the Babylonian Exile lasting 70 years.
To commemorate the day, Jews observe a day of fasting, mourning, and repentance. The fast begins at sunrise and ends at sunset. Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf, an award-winning author and teacher for the Yeshiva of the Nations, sees the United Nations General Assembly vote last Thursday as a replay of an event recorded in the Talmud. “It is fitting that what happened at the UN should happen now, since it was basically an attempt by the enemies of Israel to put Jerusalem under siege, to isolate the city, just as the Greeks did,” Rabbi Apisdorf told Breaking Israel News. READ MORE
