Lead Tidbit
Remember... and do something!

It might seem obvious to say this, but it is something we must very often have in

mind. Whenever we are commanded (or asked) to remember something, we are meant to do something with the remembering. ZACHOR is not just a mental exercise. Neither is a yahrzeit or an anniversary. Remembering is meant to be a stimulant to action, or at least to serious thinking, which will be translated into action.

Despite the fact that the first two or three days of Tevet are part of the joyous holiday of Chanuka, the month is referred to as "a month of pain". There are three days in a row of fasts, although only the third day is a public fast, required of all healthy Jews - male and female - from the age of mitzvot and up. Friday (Jan.2) is the 8th of Tevet, the date of the Targum Shiv'im, the forced translation of the Torah into Greek. This day, says the Gemara, is as "black" as the day of the Sin of the Golden Calf, because the Written Torah without the explanations of the Oral Torah is not able to be translated, without misunderstandings and distortions resulting. We need to remember, but we need to do more. We need to recommit ourselves to the "package deal" of Torah, that is based on the inseparable nature of the Written Word, the Oral Law and Tradition, and Rabbinic Legislation.

Similarly, the 9th of Tevet is the yahrzeits of Ezra and Nechemia, who are responsible for the restoration of Torah to the people and the return of the people (unfortunately a relatively small part thereof) to Eretz Yisrael after Babylonian Exile. The loss to that generation was devastating, because they essentially had no successors to carry on their work. Here again, we need to do more than just remember. In the personalities of Ezra and Nechemia we have the combination of aspirations that should be a major part of the lives of all Jews today: Torah learning and practice and return to Eretz Yisrael. A little introspection and commitment to greater efforts on our parts in these areas will go a long way.

And then there is the 10th of Tevet, the first of the four fasts for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash - AND every- thing it means to the people of Israel. It follows that a fast day and the mourning of the Churban are supposed to stimulate us to examine the causes of the Churban and hopefully do something about creating the right Jewish environment that will bring G-d to the conclusion (so to speak) that there is no longer any need or reason to delay the Complete Redemption.

Add to all of the above, the reminder of the Holocaust because Asara b'Tevet has been designated as Yom Kaddish K'lali, a day of mourning victims of the Sho'ah whose yahrzeits are unknown.

There is a lot of heavy thinking that goes along with the events of the 8th, 9th, and 10th of Tevet. That thinking must lead each of us to resolve to strengthen our commitment to Torah, the People of Israel, and the Land of Israel. Then, all the thinking becomes constructive and not merely depressing. Then we stand a chance of breaking out of the mournful cycle of Jewish Life... in rebuilt Yerushalayim.