Download PDF Isaiah 55:6–56:8 Ashkenazim read this Haftarah at Mincha on all fast days except for Yom Kippur.  (Sepharadim generally recite no Haftarah on these days.) This is done to encourage the giving of charity, which the Talmud deems the most important aspect of fast days: Tosafot on Megillah 21a-  s.v. “One who Reads” תוספות […]

To receive source sheets for any of Rabbi Glatstein’s shiurim, please email rabbiglatsteinsourcesheets@gmail.com Shiur provided courtesy of Torah Anytime

To receive source sheets for any of Rabbi Glatstein’s shiurim, please email rabbiglatsteinsourcesheets@gmail.com Shiur provided courtesy of Torah Anytime

Haftorah for a Ta’anis Tzibbur Shiur provided courtesy of Torah Anytime

When it comes to the day the walls were breached we commemorate only the date for the second Beit HaMikdash (17 Tammuz). When it comes to the siege, why do we only commemorate when it occurred during the time of the first Beit HaMikdash? Why does the Navi call the fasts not by the day […]

Ptolemy ordered the sages to translate the Torah into Greek. The day it was translated is considered by a Chazal to be a dark day. Why? Chazal say some fast on the 9th of Tevet but they wouldn’t give a reason why. Machzor Vitry provides a reason. Unlike 17 Tammuz and 9 Av, the 10th […]

When commemorating loss, we use the halachic system of aveilut, mourning. Fasting is not part of that system, yet when it comes to the four days associated with the loss of the Beit HaMikdash, we don’t only mourn, we fast! Why? We also see, from Zechariah that in the future, when the Beit HaMikdash is […]

Besides the siege of Yerushalayim, two other events occurred in Tevet – the translation of the Torah into Greek and the death of Ezra HaSofer. Why do we fast for Ezra and nobody else and what was the tragedy of the translation of the Torah – Yehoshua translated the Torah into 70 languages? Is there […]

There is no break between Vayigash and Vayechi, Rashi describes it as a closed Parsha, because of the “closure” (emotional/spiritual) Bnei Yisrael felt when Yaakov died. Why describe the feeling as “closed”? The three reasons we fast on Asara B’Tevet are 1) because the Torah was translated into Greek, Ezra passed away, and because siege […]

The Avudraham says that were Asarah B’Tevet to fall on Shabbos we would fast on Shabbos. Why does it warrant fasting even on Shabbos? Shiur provided courtesy of Torah Anytime