English translation — עשרה בטבת

1.

The fast of the Tenth of Tevet is for this reason,

that "on it

(on that day)

the king of Babylon laid siege ..

against Jerusalem and brought it into siege and distress"¹,

with which began the entirety of the matter of the exile.

The later events on the Seventeenth of Tammuz

(the city was breached²),

on the Ninth of Av

(the destruction of the Holy Temple),

and on the 3rd of Tishrei or on Rosh Hashanahⁿ

were

(simply)

a continuation of that siege against Jerusalem.

(And one could say,

as was discussed once at length⁴,

that here the explanation in the opinion of the Abudraham⁵ is

that the fast of the Tenth of Tevet has in itself a stringency and severity relative to the other three fasts,

that "even if it fell on Shabbat they would not be able to postpone it to another day because it is said about it⁶

on this very day like on Yom Kippur" —

Since he is the source of all reasons for the three fasts, he is therefore more severe than the three fasts⁷)

And since the destruction of the Second Temple

(and the exile caused by this)

is a continuation of the destruction of the First Temple²

in the Second Temple "<b>His kindness</b> of the L‑rd, things"⁸

etc.)

— it turns out,

that the Tenth of Tevet is the beginning and cause for the <b>entirety</b> of the matter of exile⁹.

2.

The Torah states a principle¹⁰,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, precedes the remedy to the affliction,

meaning — He gives the power to have the most elevated manner in remedy,

and that is in the manner of "I will not place upon you"¹¹

: not only is it a remedy that helps from now onward,

or even a remedy that works retroactively¹²,

but even more: <b>ab initio</b> "I will not place upon you".

From this it is also understood,

that also regarding the "affliction" of exile, the Holy One, blessed be He, <b>precedes</b> the remedy to the affliction: even before the matter of the exile began

as mentioned above,

at the time that "the king of Babylon encamped ..

against Jerusalem"]

the Almighty had already indicated in what the "remedy" consists and in the manner of "I will not place upon you".

Our Sages say&lt;sup&gt;3,&lt;/sup&gt;

that the reason for the intensity and duration of this last exile

(until "their end was not revealed")

is the sin of baseless hatred.

And based on this, it is simple that the "remedy"

(redemption)

for exile,

is the &lt;b&gt;opposite&lt;/b&gt; — baseless love,

love of Israel,

and in its perfection, the unity of Israel;

And regarding the destruction of the First Temple, which was

(not from the aforementioned reason,

but)

because of the three sins of idolatry, forbidden sexual relations, and murder&lt;sup&gt;14&lt;/sup&gt;,

it is nevertheless known what our Sages say&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;,

that even when Jews are, heaven forbid, idolaters,

if they are in unity, no one can have any dominion over them

— one must accordingly say,

that even before the "plague" of exile began,

was in the "siege" itself

(the king of Babylon laid siege)

did the Almighty give the power for peace and unity — preceding the remedy to the plague.

3.

The explanation of this:

The action of a siege <b>simply</b> is — that "none go out and none come in"¹⁶,

no one from the besieged city can go out,

meaning that it is a situation where all must remain together in the same city

and no "stranger" from the city's inhabitants can come in — there are <b>only</b> Jews there

from the city of Jerusalem,

whose concept is — "a city that is joined together with her"^7,,

she connects and unites all Jews.

Moreover: the concept of Jerusalem is

(as indicated in its name)

— Yirah Shalem¹⁸,

the completeness of awe.

And as it stands in the early authorities",

that Jerusalem influenced fear of heaven upon all those who would come there and see the service in the Temple etc.,

and that remained with them also after their return home.

The siege on Jerusalem brings about this,

that not only should all Jews be in unity,

but moreover,

that this unity should be in a place of "completeness of fear" — a unity that is founded on Torah and commandments and holiness²⁰.

The beginning of the matter of the exile was in a manner that the <b>"strike" itself</b> had to cause the "<b>healing</b>".

And on the contrary: the "healing" is <b>before</b> the strike: the matter of unity that the siege causes,

begins openly already at the start of the siege,

before one begins to feel the "strike"

(and troubles)

of the siege,

and certainly before the purpose of the enemy in the siege comes — the conquering of the city.

And based on this — it is understood ²¹

the expression regarding the siege,

which is not usual at all: <b>supported</b> the king of Babylon — from the root of support and help²².

And even more: this was not a situation in which the Jews placed themselves by their choice,

but Nebuchadnezzar <b>compelled</b> the Jews to find themselves in a situation and condition that <b>naturally</b> caused and brought about the unity of Israel in Jerusalem together with the Holy Temple and that it should <b>nullify</b> the siege

(even to the extent of "I will not place upon you")

(true),

and consequently Nebuchadnezzar was able to have control over them].

D.

The matter of the four fasts is — "to awaken the hearts to open the ways of

the teshuvah²³,

and through this "remembrance" of the things that caused "those troubles" — "we will return to do good"²³.

it is understandable,

that the Tenth of Tevet reminds a Jew, first and foremost,

that the way to nullify "those troubles" is through — love of Israel and unity of Israel,

that all Jews must join together,

until in a manner of "joined together as one"; and with a unity that is connected with the completeness of the fear [of God] and the Holy Temple

(the inner — "and I will dwell in their midst")

— founded on Torah and His commandments.

And then will be the nullification of the fasts²⁴,

And even more: they will be transformed to "become a holiday²⁵

and days of joy and gladness"²⁴

And since the "descent" of the Tenth of Tevet is greater than the other fasts

(as above section a),

will also the ascent be greater — that it will be on a level of "<b>the essence</b> of this day" analogous to Yom Kippur <b>in superiority</b> — a Sabbath of solemn rest which is <b>higher</b> than Shabbat²⁶,

"the tenth²²

shall be holy"²⁸.

(From the sicha of Asara B'Teves 5743)