The Fast of Gedaliah
Tzom Gedaliah (Fast of Gedaliah) is an annual
fast day instituted by the Jewish Sages to commemorate the assassination
of Gedaliah Ben Achikam, the Governor of Israel during the days of Nebuchadnetzar
King of Babylonia. As
a result of Gedaliah's death the final vestiges of Judean autonomy after
the Babylonian conquest were destroyed, many thousands of Jews were
slain, and the remaining Jews were driven into final exile.
The fast is observed on the day immediately following Rosh
Ha-Shanah, the third of Tishrei.
In the Prophetic Writings this fast is called 'The Fast of the Seventh'
in allusion to Tishrei, the seventh month.
When Nebuchadnetzar King of Babylonia, destroyed the Temple's Sanctuary in Jerusalem and exiled the Jewish
people to Babylonia, he allowed an impoverished remnant to remain in
the land and appointed Gedaliah Ben Achikam as their Governor. Many
Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other neighboring lands
returned to the land of Yehudah, tended the vineyards given to them
by the king of Babylonia and enjoyed a new respite after their earlier
oppression.
The King of Ammon however - hostile and envious of the Judean remnant sent a loyal Jew,
Yishmael Ben Netaniah, to assassinate Gedaliah. In the seventh month (Tishrei) Yishmael
came to Gedaliah in the town of Mitzpa, and was received cordially. Gedaliah had been
warned of his guests murderous intent, but refused to believe his informants in the belief
that their report was mere slander. Yishmael murdered Gedaliah, together with most of the
Jews who had joined him and numbers of Babylonians whom the Babylonian King had left with
Gedaliah The remaining Jews feared the vengeance of the Babylonian King and fled to Egypt.
The surviving remnant of Jews was thus dispersed and the land remained desolate. In
remembrance of these tribulations, our Sages instituted the 'Fast of the Seventh' on the
day of Gedaliah's assassination in the seventh month.
There is an opinion that Gedaliah was slain on the first day of Tishrei, but the fast was
postponed till after Rosh Ha-Shanah, since
fasting is prohibited during a festival. Concerning this fast day, the Rabbis have said
that its aim is to establish that the death of the righteous is likened to the burning of
the house of our God. Just as they ordained a fast upon the destruction of the Sanctuary,
likewise did they ordain a fast upon the death of Gedaliah.
When Rosh Ha-Shanah falls on Thursday and
Friday, the fast is postponed till Sunday, since no public fast is observed on Shabbat
with the exception of Yom Kippur.
The fast is observed from daybreak till the stars
appear at night. The cantor includes the prayer Anenu in the
repetition of the Shachrit amidah. A Torah Scroll
is withdrawn (from the ark) the Thirteen
Divine Attributes are said and the Passages of Vayechal are read from the Torah (Exodus 32: 14 and 34:
1-10).
Sources: Orthodox Union
|