Living Torah Archives

The Tenth of Teves commemorates the siege of Jerusalem, the beginning of a series of events that lead to the eventual destruction of the Holy Temple and the Jews’ captivity in Babylonia.

The Rebbe is called to the Torah and recites the Haftorah during the afternoon prayers on the fast of the Tenth of Teves.

On the Tenth of Teves in the year 425 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, laid siege around the holy city of Jerusalem. The siege lasted over two years, eventually culminating in the breach of the city’s walls and the destruction of the Holy Temple with all the calamities that followed. But in fact, this wasn’t the first time the holy city was besieged. Years earlier, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, led a massive army against the Jews and intended to penetrate Jerusalem’s walls. But that time, it ended very differently.

The Rebbe joins the Chasidim for the afternoon services on the Tenth of Teves fast and is called upon to read the Haftarah.

On the tenth of the Hebrew month of Teves, Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon laid siege to the holy city of Jerusalem. This led to the eventual destruction of the first Holy Temple on the ninth of Av.

The Rebbe leads the congregation in the Recitation of slichos during the year of mourning for his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka.