On this day, Ezra the Scribe went up to the Holy Temple and fasted, prayed, and cried in public. While he prayed and confessed, weeping and prostrating himself in front of the Temple, a large assemblage of men, women, and children gathered around him.
At that time, all of the assembled priests and Israelites swore to send away their non-Jewish wives. Ezra then issued a proclamation that all Jews residing in Israel should assemble in three days' time in Jerusalem (see Today in Jewish History for the 20th of Kislev).
Links: Ezra - Chapter 9; Ezra - Chapter 10.
They think self-surrender means to say, “I have no mind. I have no heart. I only believe and follow, for I am nothing.”
This is not self-surrender—this is a denial of the truth. For it is saying there is a place where G–dliness cannot be—namely your mind and your heart.
G‑d did not give you a brain that you should abandon it, or a personality that you should ignore it. These are the building materials from which you are to forge a sanctuary for Him, the earthly home in which the divine presence yearns to dwell.
Don’t run from the self with which G‑d has entrusted you. Instead, connect it to its true essence above. Let every cell shine with the light of self-surrender.