Asarah B’Tevet
January 10, 2025 @ 7:13 am - 4:32 pm
Asarah B’Tevet is a Jewish day of observance.
On Asarah B’Tevet, the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tevet, in the year 3336 from Creation (425 BCE), the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Thirty months later—on 9 Tammuz 3338—the city walls were breached, and on 9 Av of that year the Holy Temple was destroyed. The Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia for 70 years.
Asarah B’Tevet is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance. Jewish people refrain from food and drink from daybreak to nightfall, and add selichot (prayers for forgiveness) and other special supplements to their prayers.
The fast ends at nightfall or as soon as you see three medium sized stars in the sky (breaking the fast after Kiddush (a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays), when the fast is on Friday).