* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
Imagine if before October 7th, we had set a day of fasting and contemplation and thought together about what real danger lurks for us, and what to do.
In a certain sense, this is the essence of the fast of Asara B’Tevet which we will observe tomorrow.
What happened on Asara B’Tevet?
On this day, the Babylonians first laid siege to the Jerusalem.
But wait, the siege only started on this day. No tragedies had yet occurred, so why are we fasting? To remember our complacency and our inability to heed the approaching disaster.
We are all aware of the relevance of Tisha B’Av, the day when the Temple was destroyed. But if we had truly grasped the message of Asara B’Tevet on the day our enemies surrounded the walls of Jerusalem, there would have been no destruction of the Temple and no Tisha B’Av.
Our commentators explain the significance of Asara B’Tevet in this way: It teaches us that at the first sign of danger, at the moment when we first perceive a crack in our foundation, we should strive to change our ways and restore what is broken. We must not forget the day on which it was still possible to rectify our situation.
This need for a heightened awareness of our condition is true not only on the national level but on the personal level as well. Sometimes we perceive a small disruption in our personal lives, relationships, children’s education, the state of our health, or economic circumstance. It is incumbent upon us to address the problem right from the start before our situation completely deteriorates and everything falls apart.
So, tomorrow we will observe the day in which King Nebuchadnezzar and his army encircled the holy city of Jerusalem. We will mourn our failure to prevent that former catastrophe and work towards building a better world.
