TEVET, TENTH OF (Asarah be-Tevet). Minor fast commemorating the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by the armies of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (II Kings 25:1). This siege was the prelude to the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.   

The fast commences at dawn and lasts until nightfall. The special liturgy includes penitential prayers (SELIHOT) and a reading from the Pentateuch (parts of Ex. 32 and 34) dealing with the worship of the Golden Calf and Moses' intercession for God's forgiveness. The same passage is read in the Afternoon Service with the addition of a prophetical reading from Isaiah 55 and 56.   The Israel Chief Rabbinate has designated the Tenth of Tevet as the remembrance day for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

It was suggested that KADDISH be recited on this day for the six million victims. The date was chosen because it seemed appropriate that the day which commemorates the first national tragedy should also commemorate the most recent disaster. Outside Israel, however, and even within the Jewish State, the Tenth of Tevet is hardly known as a day of memorial for the six million martyrs, and Yom ha- Shoah, the Holocaust Memorial Day on Nisan 27 is the more widely observed commemoration.

FAST OF TEVET