Asarah B’Tevet 59 articles

Asara B’Tevet is the day on which the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem and thus marks the beginning of the events that culminated in the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash on Tisha B’Av. The fast is considered one of the “minor” fasts and thus begins at dawn and ends at nightfall. Other calamities that occurred on that day include the translation of the Torah into Greek and the death of Ezra HaSofer. It is also the day chosen by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as the day to say Kaddish for relatives who perished during the Holocaust whose yahrtzeits are unknown.