(א) להתענות ד' תעניתים ובו ב סעיפים:
חייבים להתענו' בתשעה באב ובשבעה עשר בתמוז ובג' בתשרי ובעשרה בטבת מפני דברים הרעים שאירעו בהם:
(1) We are required to fast on the 9th of Av, [and] on the 17th of Tammuz, and on the 3rd of Tishrei, and on the 10th of Tevet because of the bad occurrences that occurred on those [days].
Asarah b'Tevet (10th of Tevet), aka Tzom Tevet (Fast of Tevet), is an observance wherein several events collapse into a single day of mournful commemoration. Not all of these actually occurred on the 10th of Tevet, but the dates are near enough to one another (the 8th, 9th, and 10th) to warrant mourning over them all in one fell swoop, on one single day, rather than to have three consecutive days of mourning (i.e. fasting).
With the exception of Yom Kippur, all fast days apply by rabbinic law. Admittedly, the fixed fast dates, i.e., the Ninth of Av, the tenth of Tevet, the seventeenth of Tammuz, and the third of Tishrei, are of ancient origin, as they were instituted by the prophets (see Zechariah, chapter 7). However, as they have no basis in the Torah itself, they are considered to be by rabbinical law.
(א) חייבים להתענות וכו' - והוא מדברי הנביאים כדכתיב בקרא (זכריה ח) צום הרביעי וצום החמישי וצום השביעי וצום העשירי וגו' ואחז"ל צום הרביעי זה י"ז בתמוז שהוא בחדש רביעי למנין החדשים וצום החמישי זה ט' באב שהוא בחודש החמישי וצום השביעי זה צום גדלי' שהוא בחודש השביעי וצום העשירי זה עשרה בטבת שהוא בחודש העשירי. וכל אלו הימים כל ישראל מתענים בהם מפני הצרות שאירעו בהם כדי לעורר הלבבות לפקח על דרכי התשובה ויהיה זה זכרון למעשינו הרעים ומעשה אבותינו שהיה כמעשינו עתה עד שגרם להם ולנו אותן הצרות שבזכרון הדברים אלו נשוב להטיב כמו שנאמר והתודו את עונם ואת עון אבותם וגו' ולכן חייב כל איש לשום אל לבו באותן הימים ולפשפש במעשיו ולשוב בהן כי אין העיקר התענית כמש"כ באנשי נינוה וירא ד' את מעשיהם ואמרו חז"ל את שקם ואת תעניתם לא נאמר אלא את מעשיהם ואין התענית אלא הכנה לתשובה לכן אותם האנשים שכשהם מתענים הולכים בטיול ובדברים בטלים תפשו הטפל והניחו העיקר ומ"מ אין לפטור את עצמו בתשובה בלבד כי ימים אלו הם מ"ע מדברי הנביאים להתענות בהם וכמו שכתבנו למעלה:
(1) We are obliged to fast, etc. This obligation derives from the words of the prophets, as it is written in Scripture (Zech. 8:19), "The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth..." Our Sages, may their memories be for a blessing, explained that "the fast of the fourth" is the 17th of Tammuz, since it is in the fourth month according to the way we count the months; that "the fast of the fifth" is the Tish'ah B'Av [the 9th of Av], since it is in the fifth month; that "the fast of the seventh" is the Fast of Gedalia, since it is in the seventh month [Tishrei]; and that "the fast of the tenth" is the 10th of Tevet, since it is in the tenth month. On all of these days, all Israel fasts because of the misfortunes that befell them on these days, in order to arouse their hearts to open up to the paths of repentance [teshuvah]. This [fasting] will be a recollection of our evil deeds and the deeds of our ancestors which were like our deeds now, such that they caused them--and us--these misfortunes, and in the recollection of these things we will return [nashuv] to become better [people], as it is written (Lev. 26:40), "And they will confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors..." Therefore, each person is obliged to take to heart on these days to examine their deeds and to repent [lashuv] of them, because the fast [itself] is not the essential [thing], as it is written [in Jonah 3:10] about the people of Nineveh: "And the Eternal saw their deeds, that they repented [turned back] from their evil path..." The Sages, may their memories be a blessing, said that their sackcloth and their fasting were not mentioned--just their deeds. Fasting is nothing but a preparation for repentance. Therefore, those people who, as they are fasting, go on walks or [pursue] trivial matters grasp the issue of secondary importance, but loses track of the essence. But in any case, one may not exempt oneself by means of repentance alone, because to fast on these days is a positive commandment from the prophets, as we wrote above.
(לה) וחלוק יש ביניהם שארבעת הצומות הם נדחין לפעמים כשחלו בשבת חוץ מי' בטבת שאינו חל לעולם בשבת אבל הוא חל לפעמים ביום ששי ומתענין בו ביום ואפי' היה חל בשבת לא היו יכולין לדחותו ליום אחר מפני שנא' בו בעצם היום הזה כמו ביום הכפורים ... ושאר הצומות כשחלין בשבת ואפי' ט' באב דוחין אותם לאחר השב'.
(35) There is a distinction between them - the four public fast days are pushed off when they fall out on Shabbat, except for the Tenth of Tevet. It never falls on Shabbat but it does sometimes fall out on Friday, when we do observe the fast. Even if it did fall out on Shabbat, we would not be able to push off this fast to another day because it says regarding it "...this exact day..." (Ezekiel 24:2) just as it says regarding Yom Kippur...and when the other fast days fall out on Shabbat, even Tishba b'Av, we push them off until after Shabbat.
The 8th of Tevet, mid-3rd Century BCE
The 8th of Tevet is viewed in Judaism as a dark day in history - the day on which great violence was done to Hashem's Torah. It was on this date that the translation of the five books of Moshe into a pagan tongue (Greek), i.e. the Septuagint, was completed. Note that the Septuagint was only the first five books, not the complete TaNaKh (24 books), at this stage.1 The addition of the Nevi'im and Kethuvim was a later project. The account is recorded very differently in Megillat Taanit and Masekhet Soferim than in the propaganda literature Pseudo-Aristeas.
(כ) ... בח' בטבת נכתבה התורה יונית בימי תלמי המלך והחושך בא לעולם שלשת ימים. בט' בו לא כתבו רבותינו על מה. בי' בו סמך מלך בבל את ידו על ירושלים להחריבה....
(20) ... On the eight of Tevet the Torah was translated into Greek in the days of King Ptolemy, bringing darkness to the world for three days. What occurred on the ninth was not recorded by our rabbis. On the tenth of Tevet the king of Babylon laid his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it....
מעשה בה׳ זקנים שכתבו לתלמי המלך את התורה יונית והיה היום קשה לישראל כיום שנעשה העגל שלא היתה התורה יכולה להתרגם כל צרכה:
It once happened that five elders wrote the Torah for King Ptolemy in Greek, and that day was as ominous for Israel as the day on which the golden calf was made, since the Torah could not be accurately translated.
Next, Masekhet Soferim relays the counter-story from Pseudo-Aristeas (a propaganda tract used to promote the Septuagint) and amends it with a list of the corruptions deliberately made to the Septuagint. Note that in the tract the number of elders is exaggerated from five to seventy-two (marked in green).
שוב מעשה בתלמי המלך שכנס ע"ב זקנים והושיבם בשבעים ושנים בתים ולא גלה להם על מה כנסם נכנס לכל אחד ואחד מהם אמר להם כתבו לי תורת משה רבכם. נתן המקום עצה בלב כל אחד ואחד והסכימה דעתן לדעת אחת וכתבו לו תורה בפני עצמה: וי"ג דבר שינו בה. ואלו הן אלהים ברא בראשית (בראשית א׳:כ״ו) ויאמר אלהים אעשה אדם בצלם ובדמות (שם) ויכל בששי וישבות בשביעי (שם ב) זכר ונקבה בראו (שם ה) הבה ארדה ואבלה שם (שם יא) ותשחק בקרוביה לאמר (שם יח) כי באפם הרגו איש וברצונם עקרו אבוס (שם מט) ויקח משה את אישתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על נושאי אדם (שמות ד׳:כ׳) ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו בארץ מצרים ובארץ כנען שלשים שנה וארבע מאות שנה (שם יב) ואל זאטוטי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו (שם כד) לא חמד אחד מהם נשאתי (במדבר ט״ז:ט״ו) את צעירת הרגלים (ויקרא י״א:כ״ב דברים י״ד:כ״ד) אשר חלק ה׳ אלהיך אתם להאיר לכל העמים תחת כל השמים (דברים ד׳:י״ט) אשר לא צויתי לעבדם (שם יז):
It happened that King Ptolemy assembled seventy-two elders and placed them in seventy-two rooms without telling them the reason for which he had assembled them. He then went to each one of them and said to him, ‘Write for me [a translation of] the Torah of Moses your master’. The Omnipresent inspired them and the mind of all of them was identical, so that each on his own wrote the Torah, introducing thirteen corruptions as follows: ‘God created in the beginning’. ‘And God said I shall make a man in image and likeness.’ ‘And He finished on the sixth [day] and rested on the seventh [day].’ ‘Male and female He created him.’ ‘Come let Me go down and there confound their language.’ ‘And Sarah laughed among her relatives, saying.’ ‘For in their anger they slew oxen and in their self-will they digged up a stall.’ ‘And Moses took his wife and his children and set them upon a carrier of men.’ ‘Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt and in the land of Canaan and in other lands was four hundred and thirty years.’ ‘And he sent the elect of the children of Israel.’ ‘And upon the elect of the children of Israel He laid not His hand.’ ‘I have not taken one desirable thing from them.’ ‘The [beast] with small legs.’ ‘Which the Lord thy God hath allotted to give light unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.’ ‘Which I commanded should not be served.’
Note that by the 2nd century CE, Hellenized Jews had rejected the Septuagint version in favor of alternative Greek translations, i.e. those rendered by Aquila (a convert - possibly Onkelos; early 2nd-century), Theodotion (a Hellenized Jew, mid-2nd century), and Symmachus (a Samaritan convert; late-2nd century).2 Renowned Jewish scholar Emanuel Tov asserts that the Jewish rejection of the Septuagint was actually much sooner, before the fall of the Second Temple, and even sooner than that - before the inception of the Christian sect:3
Jews already began to see the LXX [Septuagint] as problematic in the pre-Christian period.…With the advent of Christianity in the first century C.E., the LXX, which began as the biblical text for Greek speaking Hellenistic Jews, was accepted as holy writ by this new group of early Christians, and was concomitantly dropped by other Greek-speaking Jews and ceased to be considered authoritative scripture by them. Around the same time, the Samaritans adopted the version of the Torah known as the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Qumran community that had assembled texts of different types ceased to exist.
The Sages of did not permit any books outside the Torah to be rendered into Greek, so the addition of the Nevi'im and Kethuvim to the Septuagint would have put the entire product into disfavor among the Jewish community.
אֶלָּא אֵימָא רַבּוֹתֵינוּ לֹא הִתִּירוּ שֶׁיִּכָּתְבוּ אֶלָּא יְוָנִית וְתַנְיָא אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אַף כְּשֶׁהִתִּירוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ יְוָנִית לֹא הִתִּירוּ אֶלָּא בְּסֵפֶר תּוֹרָה
Rather, say in explanation of the baraita: And our Rabbis permitted them to be written only in Greek. And it is taught in another baraita that Rabbi Yehuda said: Even when our Rabbis permitted Greek, they permitted it only in a Torah scroll, and not for other books of the Bible, which must be written only in Hebrew.
Another of the stated reasons for Jewish rejection is that the Septuagint, which had thirteen intentional corruptions from the very start, had become further corrupted with Christian alterations during the 1st century. This seems to be what prompted the creation of new Jewish translations into Greek in the 2nd century. Tehillim 14:3 is an oft-cited example of early Christian tampering - altered to match Romans 3:10-18 of the Christian epistles (though Christian sources insist that this proves the opposite, i.e. that the Septuagint was quoted by the New Testament writers as "the Bible of the Apostles").
(ג) הַכֹּ֥ל סָר֮ יַחְדָּ֢ו נֶ֫אֱלָ֥חוּ אֵ֤ין עֹֽשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב אֵ֝֗ין גַּם־אֶחָֽד׃
(LXX 13:3) πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρεώθησαν, οὐκ ἔστιν ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός. τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν· ἰὸς ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν, ὧν τὸ στόμα ἀρᾶς καὶ πικρίας γέμει· ὀξεῖς οἱ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐκχέαι αἷμα· σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν· οὐκ ἔστιν φόβος θεοῦ ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν.
Where the Greek text of LXX 13:3 (=MT 14:3) has χρηστότητα (honesty) as its rendering for the Hebrew ט֑וֹב (good), the parallel passage at Tehillim 53:4 (LXX 52:3) has the more appropriately-translated term ἀγαθόν (good) instead.
(ד) כֻּלּ֥וֹ סָג֮ יַחְדָּ֢ו נֶ֫אֱלָ֥חוּ אֵ֤ין עֹֽשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב אֵ֝֗ין גַּם־אֶחָֽד׃
(LXX 52:3) πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρεώθησαν, οὐκ ἔστιν ποιῶν ἀγαθόν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός.
There is no evidence of any Hebrew version of Tehillim 14:3 which has the expanded text presented above. Only in the Greek of Romans 3:10-18 do we see the text arranged as it is in the accepted text of the Septuagint. Nota bene: The passage as laid out in Romans is what is called a "string of pearls" - a liturgical weaving together of several verses with a common theme, in this case Tehillim 14:3 (the proper text) has added to it Qohelet 7:20, Tehillim 53:2b-3, 5:9b, 140:3b, 10:7; Isaiah 59:7-8a; and Tehillim 36:1b.
The 9th of Tevet, ca. 5th Century BCE
(יג) לא נודע - ובסליחות שלנו איתא שמת עזרא הסופר:
it was not known - In our selichot penitential prayers it says that on this day Ezra the Scribe died.
Ezkera Matzok, Selichot Addition to Shacharit Service (Joseph ben Samuel, 1050)
‘I remember the distress which befell me; three blows He inflicted on me in this month… on the 8th day… the Greek King compelled me to translate the Law (Torah) into Greek… on the 9th, Ezra the scribe, was forcibly torn away… on the 10th (the day when the Babylonian enemy began to lay siege to Jerusalem prior to the destruction of the First Temple) the son of Buzi (Ezekiel) was commanded to record in the book of prophecy the date of this very day as a memorial for a despised and decaying people
The 10th of Tevet, 70 CE
The final cause for our mourning on this day is the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. This is recorded in far more places than the other two events - the TaNaKh, the Talmud, and Josephus among them.
״צוֹם הָעֲשִׂירִי״ — זֶה עֲשָׂרָה בְּטֵבֵת, שֶׁבּוֹ סָמַךְ מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיְהִי דְבַר ה׳ אֵלַי בַּשָּׁנָה הַתְּשִׁיעִית בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָעֲשִׂירִי בֶּעָשׂוֹר לַחֹדֶשׁ לֵאמֹר. בֶּן אָדָם כְּתׇב לְךָ אֶת שֵׁם הַיּוֹם אֶת עֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה סָמַךְ מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל אֶל יְרוּשָׁלִַים״. וְאַמַּאי קָרֵי לֵיהּ ״עֲשִׂירִי״ — עֲשִׂירִי לֶחֳדָשִׁים. וַהֲלֹא הָיָה רָאוּי זֶה לִכְתּוֹב רִאשׁוֹן? וְלָמָּה נִכְתַּב כָּאן — כְּדֵי לְהַסְדִּיר חֳדָשִׁים כְּתִיקְנָן.
(א) וַיְהִי֩ דְבַר־יְהֹוָ֨ה אֵלַ֜י בַּשָּׁנָ֤ה הַתְּשִׁיעִית֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָעֲשִׂירִ֔י בֶּעָשׂ֥וֹר לַחֹ֖דֶשׁ לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) בֶּן־אָדָ֗ם (כתוב) [כְּתׇב־]לְךָ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם הַיּ֔וֹם אֶת־עֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה סָמַ֤ךְ מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֙ אֶל־יְר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃
(ג)... וצום העשירי זה עשרה בטבת שבו סמך מלך בבל על ירושלם:
(3) ... And the fast of the tenth — This is the Tenth of Tevet, when the king of Babylon began to besiege Jerusalem.
Since the Jews of Jerusalem could not understand Greek, Josephus was employed by his Roman friend Titus, leader of the Siege, to translate for him - marking him as a traitor against his people in Jewish memory. The original Aramaic text of Josephus's works is no longer extant, thus it is presented below in Greek as the oldest form available to us.
יוסף בן מתתיהו, מלחמות היהודים, ו':ב':א'
(α) ... ὁ Ἰώσηπος, ὡς ἂν εἴη μὴ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐν ἐπηκόῳ, τά τε τοῦ Καίσαρος διήγγελλεν ἑβραίζων.
Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:2:1
(1) ... Josephus stood in such a place where he might be heard, not by John only, but by many more; and then declared to them what Cæsar had given him in charge: and this in the Hebrew language.
Yom haKaddish haKlali, 1951
Since 1951, the Tenth of Tevet has also been marked as a General Kaddish Day (Yom HaKaddish haKlali) in Israel to mourn the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The Mourner's Kaddish (an Aramaic prayer for the deceased dating to the time of Ezra) is recited on this day for people whose date or place of death during the Holocaust is still unknown.
(א) אבל: יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא. [קהל: אמן]
(ב) בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ בְּחַיֵּיכון וּבְיומֵיכון וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל בֵּית יִשרָאֵל בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]
(ג) קהל ואבל: יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא:
(ד) אבל: יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרומַם וְיִתְנַשּא וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל שְׁמֵהּ דְּקֻדְשָׁא. בְּרִיךְ הוּא. [קהל: בריך הוא:]
(ה) לְעֵלָּא מִן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא בעשי”ת: לְעֵלָּא לְעֵלָּא מִכָּל וְשִׁירָתָא תֻּשְׁבְּחָתָא וְנֶחֱמָתָא דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]
(ו) יְהֵא שְׁלָמָא רַבָּא מִן שְׁמַיָּא וְחַיִּים עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]
(ז) עוֹשה שָׁלוֹם בעשי”ת: הַשָּׁלום בִּמְרומָיו הוּא יַעֲשה שָׁלום עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]
(1) Mourner: Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba: [cong. Amen.]
(2) Mourner: b’alma di-v’ra chirutei, v’yamlich malchutei b’chayeichon uvyomeichon uvchayei d’chol beit yisrael, ba’agala uvizman kariv, v’im’ru: “amen.” [cong. Amen.]
(3) Cong. and mourner: Y’hei sh’mei raba m’varach l’alam ul’almei almaya.
(4) Mourner: Yitbarach v’yishtabach, v’yitpa’ar v’yitromam v’yitnaseh, v’yithadar v’yit’aleh v’yit’halal sh’mei d’kud’sha, b’rich hu, [cong. b’rich hu.]
(5) Mourner: l’eila min-kol-birchata v’shirata, tushb’chata v’nechemata da’amiran b’alma, v’im’ru: “amen.” [cong. Amen.]
(6) Mourner: Y’hei shlama raba min-sh’maya v’chayim aleinu v’al-kol-yisrael, v’im’ru: “amen.” [cong. Amen.]
(7) Mourner: Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu v’al kol-yisrael, v’imru: “amen.” [cong. Amen.]
Notes
- Emanuel Tov, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2015), 16.
- Origen, Hexapla (3rd century).
- Emanuel Tov, "The Bible and the Masoretic Text," TheTorah.com (10 parts; online: https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-bible-and-the-masoretic-text).