Asarah B’Teves: The Fast That Looks Forward to Rebuilding the Beis Hamikdash

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Asarah b'Teves is a day of fasting. It's one of the arba ta'aniyos, the four fasts that Jews keep through the year. The Rambam, in Hilchos Taanis, perek hei, tells us about Asarah b'Teves, what happened that day and why we fast. The Rambam begins in its halacha aleph: Yesh sham yamim shekol Yisrael mis'anim בהם מפני הצרות שאירעו בהם. That these are days that kol Yisrael, all of Klal Yisrael, not just a sect or a group of Klal Yisrael, but all of Klal Yisrael fast, and this is because of the tzaros she'iru bohen that happened on that day. And of course, the reason and the point of fasting is k'dei l'orer ha'levavos liftoach darkei ha'teshuvah, to do teshuvah. It's supposed to begin the path of teshuvah, fasting. So Asarah b'Teves... Today, must do teshuva. Not just enough to fast, but the fast is supposed to bring, to lead to teshuva. What happened on Asarah B'Teves? Says the Rambam that on Asarah B'Teves, Asiri b'Teves shebo samach melech Bavel Nevuchadnetzar harasha al Yerushalayim, vheviah b'matzor uv'matzok. He surrounded the city. Nevuchadnetzar surrounds Yerushalayim, and he brings the city under siege. So this is the beginning, the beginning of the churban habayis, the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and Yerushalayim, and this is the beginning, the day that it starts. Where is the mekor in the Torah for this fast, Asarah B'Teves, as well as the others? So the Rambam in Halacha Daled tells us, V'arba yemei hatzom eilu harei heim mefurashin b'kabbalah. It's a pasuk in Tanach. Kabbalah means Tanach. Tzom haRevii, the fast of the fourth. You're supposed to fast on the revii and the chamishi. What is revii? Revii is the month. Tzom haRevii zeh shivah asar b'Tammuz shehu b'chodesh harevii. Tzom haChamishi zeh Tishah B'Av. In the chodesh hachamishi. Tzom hashvii zeh shlosha b’Tishrei, shehu b’chodesh hashevii, tzom Gedalia. Tzom haasiri zeh asarah b’Teves, shehu b’chodesh haasiri. So in Teves, the tenth month, interesting, it’s the tenth day, the tenth day of the tenth month. Is it a coincidence? We’ll learn about it a little bit, maybe. But this is not the only thing that happened in Teves. If you look at the Tur, the Tur in Siman Taf Kuf Pei lists that there are many fast days in Teves. In Megillas Taanis, we have b’shmoneh b’Teves. On the eighth of Teves already there was a problem. Nichtavah haTorah Yevanis bimei Talmai HaMelech. The Torah was translated in Greek, u’va choshech l’olam shlosha yamim. There was darkness. There’s a Medrash.

Yavan zu chayshech, v'chayshech al פני תהום. And the pasuk says that there was darkness al פני תהום. Chayshech zu Yavan. And here the Torah is telling us literally, literally Yavan. When the Torah was translated into Yevanis, into Greek, it brought darkness to the world for three days. So it's not just metaphorically that there's darkness. Literal, literal physical darkness. Bo chayshech l'olam. Unless maybe it just means a metaphor for darkness, but it would seem a certain darkness came to the world. But that's on the eighth. What about the ninth? Ninth also, b'tisha b'ei lei kasar Rabbi Seinu almahu. It's also a fast day. A terrible thing happened. But they didn't say what it was. In Megillas Taanis it doesn't say what happened on the ninth. If you take a look on the bottom of the Tur, in Megillas Taanis Tfus Vilna, you bring from the print of Vilna that there Megillas Taanis, it does say what happened on the ninth, and that is that Yoshka, Oiso ish, was born on the ninth. That's what it says. And it's a fast day. Oiso ish was born on the ninth. Interesting. And on the tenth, we have what it says clearly, Nevuchadnetzar. So it would seem that it's a terrible, terrible month, a bad month. I'd like to be me'orer something. I saw the Chasam Sofer brings from a sefer called Sefer Karnayim. Chasam Sofer, Toras Moshe, quotes Sefer Karnayim, Don Yodan. It's the name of the sefer, the peirush, Don Yodan. There he goes through the months to explain the significance of the months and the names allotted to the months. And he says, Teves. What is Teves? The loshon hatovah, that it's a month of good. It's a month of good. We know Cheshvan is called Mar Cheshvan. It's a bad month. Even when we go up and we make Kiddush hachodesh, we emphasize, Mar Cheshvan, it's a bitter month. What's so bitter about it? No Yom Tovim in it. Every Yom Tov—excuse me, every month in the Jewish calendar has uplifting days, has days of simcha, of Yom Tov, and Mar Cheshvan is the single one out that doesn't have it. And here we say terrible things happen in Teves, and yet it's called hatovah, month of good. I went to look up that Sefer Karnayim that the Chasam Sofer brings, because it struck me interesting, because the Chasam Sofer doesn't exactly bring fully what the Sefer Karnayim says. He just speaks about Asarah b'Teves, and he says, Look over there in Sefer Karnayim. It would seem to be in sync of what we're talking. So I went to look it up, and I see it discusses how Teves is a lashon hatovah. It's a lashon of good. I don't know, if I read, I'm reading things that are not so good. How do you understand Teves is a lashon of hatovah, and yet we have a specific fast, one of the four, fasting on the Churban Habayis? Rabosai, I thought a lot about it, and it brought me to research: what is Asarah b'Teves? What is it? The day that Nevuchadnetzar—yes, the day that Nevuchadnetzar besieged Yerushalayim. But there's something very interesting, unique about Asarah b'Teves which no other fast has, even Tisha B'Av. The Tur, the Beis Yosef, they speak about an Avudraham. The Avudraham paskens that if Asarah b'Teves would fall out on Shabbos, we would fast even on Shabbos. All other fasts, including Tisha B'Av, which is the fast of all fasts, it's Tisha B'Av, it commemorates Churban Habayis.

Yet we would not fast on Shabbos. There's something called the Tisha B'Av nidcheh. If it falls out on Shabbos, we push it off. If Asarah B'Teves would fall out on Shabbos, we would fast even on Shabbos. Now it doesn't ever fall out on Shabbos. The calendar, which is preset already today, it's already set up, the calendar, it can never fall out on Shabbos, which is also interesting. It's only a theoretical. It's theoretical, which means had it fallen out on Shabbos, we would fast, but it doesn't fall out on Shabbos. So what's the point? If it fell out on Shabbos, we would fast. It doesn't happen. Interesting. I thought about it a little bit. But we have to discuss the actual avodah and the chiddush of the avodah that you would fast on Shabbos. Why? Even Tisha B'Av, you don't fast on Shabbos. What's so unique about Asarah B'Teves? So the Avudraham says, because the pasuk says that the Rabbeinu Shalom told Yechezkel, Ben adam, k'sov lecha es hayom hazeh, write this day, b'etzem hayom hazeh, because it was in this day. This is the day, the day that Nevuchadnetzar surrounded and brought Yerushalayim in captivity. So since they specify the day and b'etzem hayom hazeh. Which is actually a double lashon, redundant. It seems to be madgish. It seems to want to put strict emphasis that it must be on that day, regardless. Hayom hazeh, b'etzem hayom hazeh. And as a matter of fact, Yom Kippur is also b'etzem hayom hazeh, and it is fasted even on Shabbos because it says b'etzem hayom hazeh. Says the Avudraham that the word b'etzem hayom hazeh is teaching, it's alluding, that just like Yom Kippur, you fasted even on Shabbos because it must be that day, asarah b'Teves is b'etzem hayom hazeh, even on Shabbos. Why? What's so unique and special about Asarah b'Teves? More than Tisha B'Av? More than Tisha B'Av? And the comparison to Yom Kippur, b'etzem hayom hazeh, it's interesting. Need to take note. What is Asarah b'Teves? And the language of the pasuk is, This is the day, and the day is b'etzem hayom hazeh. And we say, Oh, look, it's like Yom Kippur. That's also there it says b'etzem hayom. What's the comparison to Yom Kippur? Or is there is just, it happens to be b'etzem hayom hazeh teaches us even on Shabbos, and there is no connection. Maybe there is nothing to do with Yom Kippur. Maybe it's just, okay, it's the same words. Or is there a connection? Or is there some message? Or is there something deeper that's in comparison, Yom Kippur, asarah b'Teves? Let's learn. We got to understand it. So I've seen many Chasam Sefers, many different places in his Chumash Torah Moshe, the Chumash Torah, in the Chasam Sefer al haShas, in the drushes. He deals with this avodah, why even on Shabbos, and he gives many different terutzim, many different answers. We will speak out some of them, but we will begin with the simple one. There's one simple answer that the Chasam Sofer gives. This is in Parshas Vayigash, in his drush l'Ches Teves. The Chasam Sofer says, if you notice, it's even on Shabbos. Why? Why even on Shabbos? He says, first of all, we would seem to, it seems to teach us that the aveilus for the Churban Habayis is applicable even on Shabbos.

That's the first thing we learn from here, that not Shabbos pushes off aveilus of Churban, but the aveilus of Churban could be done on Shabbos. And he brings a raya, very interesting raya, and that's why it's in Parshas Vayigash. Some sofer, with his interesting insight, his keen insight, brings an interesting thing. When did the meeting between Yosef and Binyamin, the reunification between Yosef and Binyamin, happen? So he says it happened on Shabbos. Az eiz ach doch some sofer. When we read in the parsha that we just had, Parshas Vayigash, that Yosef and Binyamin unite, and they hug and they kiss each other and they cry on each other's shoulders, when did this occur? It occurred on Shabbos, says the Chasam Sofer. And where do I deduce this from? He says because it says, Vatevach vehachen, the meal that they prepared for the shevatim, for the brothers, vatevach, he invited them for a meal. It was erev Shabbos haya. And then it says, Vaboker or, the next morning, vhaanashim shulchu, they were sent away. So what day was it on the calendar? Must have been Shabbos. And yet we find that they both, Yosef falls on Binyamin, Binyamin on Yosef, and they cry. Chazal say Yosef cried for the two Batei Mikdash. About Binyamin cried for what? For Mishkan Shiloh. Ah, says the Chasam Sofer, you see from here that you're allowed to cry, you're allowed to be misabel for the churban habayis even on Shabbos. Classic, classic Chasam Sofer habayis. Beautiful. From the pasuk, he has a beautiful raya from the story that Yosef and Binyamin, they come together, they meet up, and they cry. And Chazal say they were crying over the churban of the Mishkan and the churban of the Beis Hamikdash. Ay, it was Shabbos? You see, you could cry, be misabel for the Beis Hamikdash even on Shabbos. Fragt the Chasam Sofer, so why only Asarah b'Teves? Then it should be even on Tisha B'Av. Even on Tisha B'Av, we should be allowed to fast and be misabel on the Beis Hamikdash. Answers the Chasam Sofer: the Beis Hamikdash was the end of the churban. It was the end of the churban. It began with Asarah b'Teves. Asarah b'Teves was aschalta d'puranusa. It's the beginning, the beginning. Who knows where it's gonna go? Who knows where, how far and how bad it's gonna result? It's gonna end. So meila, aschalta d'puranusa is worse. Asarah b'Teves is more chamur. Then Tisha B'Av, as hezogt der Chasam Sofer, he brings a raya. Reb Akiva, the Gemara tells us in Makos that when he came to the Beis Hamikdash, where the Beis Hamikdash once was, in the makom Hamikdash, a shual, a fox, comes out of the makom Hamikdash. Reb Akiva laughs, and he smiles, and he's happy. And they ask him, What are you happy? And of course the question is, the shual coming out of the Beis Hamikdash is the symbol of the churban, Al tzion ada v'libeinu, alei lo chashchu eineinu, al hartziyon shualim hilchu bo. So in the eichah itself, it's clear that this is the epitome of the churban. This is the low point of the churban, Al tzion ada v'libeinu, that should bring us to sorrow. And yet Reb Akiva sees it and he smiles and he laughs. Says the Chasam Sofer a unique pshat. He saw the end. It can't get worse than this. This is it. This is it. This is where it ended, shualim hilchu bo. So it's the end.

Tam avoneich, bas Tzion. It's the end. At the end, not so bad. Baruch Hashem, it's over. You know, there's an expression in English: be happy, because it can't get worse. This is what it is. This is how it... this is where it... this is it. At some point, this is tam avoneich. This is it. This is where it ended. But in the beginning, it's called aschalta depuranusa. Aschalta depuranusa. You never know how bad it'll get, and mimeila it's worse. And that is asara b'Teves. That's the first teretz I found from the Chasam Sofer. A simple teretz. Yes, asara b'Teves on Shabbos, because churban habayis and the aveilus of Yerushalayim, yes, on Shabbos. I Tisha B'Av, that's not... and the answer is because Tisha B'Av is the end. And it's interesting, even on Tisha B'Av, as half day passes, we start already minimizing. We start the aveilus and the halachos of the aveilus. We start being mema'et. This is tam avoneich. We reached the end, and now from here on only it'll turn better. And right away the next day, we start having Shabbos Nachamu. Right away we start being menachem. Asara b'Teves is the beginning, which will drag on till the end. Mimeila, aschalta depuranusa is much worse. The Chasam Sofer actually... Gives another teretz, very interesting teretz. The Chasam Sofer says that what was the aveirah that gave Nevuchadnetzar the koach to destroy the Beis HaMikdash? Ah, moyridik, huh? It's a moyridik Chasam Sofer, beautiful. It's another answer of the Chasam Sofer. Now in this piece, the Chasam Sofer alludes to it. He says, I wrote in another place a different answer to explain the avodram, but this is what it is. Later on he brings, a few pages later from a different drasha, he brings that it was Shabbos. It was Shabbos. The chilul of Shabbos, Nevuchadnetzar knew that this will give him the koach, the ability to win, to overcome Klal Yisrael and destroy the Beis HaMikdash. And he says a chiddush, b'etzem hayom hazeh, that's when Nevuchadnetzar came. He came on Shabbos. Asarah b'Teves took place on Shabbos. Ben adam, ksov lecha es hayom hazeh, b'etzem hayom hazeh, because it happened on etzem hayom hazeh, Shabbos. Because he knew that it's the Shabbos, the fact that the Yidden didn't keep the Shabbos is going to give him the koach, give him the ability to destroy the Beis HaMikdash. Mimeila, it happened on Shabbos. It was that we did not keep the Shabbos that brought about the churban habayis, mimeila, asarah b'Teves, the day that he besieged Yerushalayim, afilu b'etzem hayom hazeh, on Shabbos, we fast. There's yet a third teretz that the Chasam Sofer says, which I will share with you in a minute. But there's another interesting Chasam Sofer. Chasam Sofer says, he brings from the Shlah. This is in Parshas Vayechi. Chasam Sofer says that the four fasts are merumaz in the story of Yaakov when he encounters Sari shel Esav, and the Sari shel Esav hits him b'kaf yereicho, v'al kein lo yochlu bnei Yisrael es gid hanasheh, is the four fasts. What? Brings the Shlah that the Sari shel Esav hits Yaakov in the thigh, in the gid hanasheh, and therefore we don't eat the gid hanasheh. That has to do with the four fasts? So he explains.

He brings from the Shlah that the malach fighting Yaakov was trying to make churban habayis. Part of the struggle was Esav trying to destroy the hold, the leg of Yaakov, what kept him up, which is merumaz, the Beis Hamikdash. It's part of the ma'avak, the war of Esav against Yaakov throughout the generations, the Beis Hamikdash. V'al kein lo yochlu bnei Yisrael es gid hanasheh. Es is Tisha B'Av. Es is Tisha B'Av. Why? Aleph, taf. Tishah and vav. As I'm saying, he brings from the Shlah. Al kein lo yochlu bnei Yisrael es gid hanasheh. Es, es, aleph, taf, Tisha B'Av. Tisha B'Av. Gid is gimel, tishrei. The gimel is the gimel Tishrei. Yud is Yud Teves. And daled, which should be tzom of Shiva Asar, it's tzom revi'i. Remember we spoke that the fasts are not actually the day. There's no date in the Tanach when in the month you're supposed to fast, but just gives you the month: tzom revi'i, tzom chamishi, tzom asiri. So what is shivah asar b'Tammuz? Shivah asar b'Tammuz is tzom ha'revii. See, that's the daled. So, kein lo yoichlu. You're not allowed to eat. So, ... gimmel, yud and daled. Gimmel, Tishrei; yud, Yud Teves; daled, the fourth month, Yud-Zayin b'Tammuz. Brings from the Shlah. Fragt the Chasam Sofer, why are all of them the date? Tishbah was aleph, tof is tisha. Gimmel is gimmel Tishrei. Yud is Yud Teves. Yet what? No? Yud-Zayin is what? The month. Fragt the Chasam Sofer. Says the Chasam Sofer a chiddush, which is very much along the lines of what we spoke. He brings a Medrash. The Medrash says, Tzidkascha kaharerei Keil, u'mishpatecha tehom rabbah. Tzidkascha, your righteousness is kaharerei, it's like very strong mountains, u'mishpatecha, yet your mishpatim is tehom, is very deep. HaTzidkus sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu oseh, mefaresim hayom k'pisum harerei Keil. The tzidkus of Hashem are open, they're clear, aval mishpatecha, dinim, ma'alim zmanim k'halmei shel tehom rabbah. They're deep, they're hidden. Tisha B'Av, he says, Chasam Sofer, is mishtzitkascha kahari. It's open, it's revealed. Why? Mizmor l'Asaf, Elokim, bo'u nachloscha. Mizmor, it should say kinah. What do you mean? The fact that the goyim came and destroyed the Beis Hamikdash is a mizmor? It's a song? It's a happy occasion? Kinah miba'ei lei. Ela mizmor sheshafach chamasoi al eitzim va'avanim. In the Beis Hamikdash, it's destruction. On one hand, it seemed a terrible yad Hashem, a terrible anger of Hashem, charei af. Yet at the same time, we saw tzidkas Hashem. Within encompassed in all the tzar and yagon, in all the tzar and yagon, there was tremendous tzidkas Hashem sits out in the open. So meileh Tisha B'Av is out in the open, as he says, es Tisha Av. Ma she'ein kein Yud Zayin, he says, that we don't see. We didn't know terrible things happened on Yud Zayin. We didn't see the end, the good that came at the end that resulted from all of it. So meileh the Yud Zayin...

Bitamnus is hidden. As I said, the sam sefer, a drush here again, rabboisai, here the vort. His question is why, Tisha Aleph Tov, which is Tisha Av, that's clear, the day. Yud Zayin is not open. We don't know which day, but it's the month. So he says maybe, maybe, he says, because the tzidkas Hashem, the kindness of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, became apparent in Tisha B'Av. But by Yud Zayin it still wasn't apparent, and meileh it's hidden, and therefore, toheim rabba, it's under cover, so to speak. So it's only b'remez. Then the Chasam Sofer says that, I don't understand why, nu, Asarah b'Teves is the day is open. It's clear. Azoi fregt the Chasam Sofer, and he's mefalpel back and forth. There's something unique about Asarah b'Teves. There's something very unique about it. Like I show you, it's different than any other taanis. What is it? We still haven't came to the end of the information. What is Asarah b'Teves? Avuchadnetzar besieged, and this is something which is different, a different fast day than all other fasts. Rabboisai, I find the answer in yet another Chasam Sofer. You ready, rabboisai, for another Chasam Sofer? Yeah? Nu, ready for another Chasam Sofer? Okay. But before I tell you this last Chasam Sofer, I'm going to bring you, quote you, an interesting Yaavetz. That the Chasam Sofer in the droshes brings and discusses an interesting observation from the Ivetz. The Ivetz says, notice that all the fasts are at days that already the sun is going down, which means the days are getting shorter. Shiva Asar, right? Tisha B'Av, Tzom Gedalia. Those are already the days that what? It's starting to get less and less day and more and more night, that the sun is going down more and more. Asara B'Teves is in the days that what are going actually, Hashemesh, that the sun is actually getting bigger. There's more. Now the truth is, of course, Tisha B'Av is a longer fast day than Asara B'Teves. If you look at the clock, it's definitely longer. But there's something about the fact that the shemesh is rising here. By Asara B'Teves, it's beginning its rise, while from Shiva Asar it's beginning its what? Its decline. And the Ivetz points this out. And the Chasam Sofer is busy with it. What does the sun have to do with Klal Yisrael? We don't follow the sun. We're not tachas hamazal and tachas the celestial, the sun, the moon. We're not tachas the ebishter. Ayin sham ba'arichus. I was thinking the significance of this, and let us quote a beautiful Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer yet in another place, in his drush l'Zayin Adar, the Chasam Sofer discusses the difference between Asarah b'Teves and the rest of the fasts. Why Asarah b'Teves will be done even, would be fasted even on Shabbos, says the Chasam Sofer. A chiddush, chiddush nifla, correct. He asks the question: Why were they gozer a taanis that Yerushalayim was captured, was taken captive, surrounded? You think this was the only time nations of the world surrounded Yerushalayim? This has happened many times through the history. Why do we make this—the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, that was an occurrence once, twice—but the fact that they besieged Yerushalayim happened a lot in Tanach. Says the Chasam Sofer, rak hataam hu, d'ma shehoysa ir b'tirdas hamatzav shtei shanim hamachtas zu machmas shehoysa yom, shesamach melBavel, mata al Yerushalayim. It's not...

Occurrence that happened when Nevuchadnetzar surrounded and put captivity to Yerushalayim, but it was the same, that time, that day, above, in the beis shel maalah, says the Chasam Sofer, they sat in debate: should we give Yerushalayim and the Beis Hamikdash back to the Yidden, or should we let Nevuchadnetzar destroy Yerushalayim? And of course they won, the mekatrigim, the ones who were being melamed chov on Klal Yisrael, they won, and the Beis Hamikdash was given over in the hands of Nevuchadnetzar to get destroyed. Says the Chasam Sofer, this is not something that happened years ago, but it happens every Asarah b'Teves. Kol shelo nivneh Beis Hamikdash b'yamav, ki'ilu nechrav b'yamav. This debate, this day of decision, what will be with the Beis Hamikdash, happens every year on Asarah b'Teves. Will we rebuild the Beis Hamikdash? The other fasts are about things that happened in the past. It's about the history. Yes, we need to learn from our history. Not to do the aveiros that brought about that history, and to do teshuva. But asarah b'Teves is that today in Shamayim, the debate begins anew: what's going to be in the future. When Tisha B'Av comes, will we have a Tisha B'Av on the floor, or will we have a Tisha B'Av in the Beis Hamikdash, b'simchah u'v'sasson? That's what happens on Asarah B'Teves. Hear, rabosai. All other fasts, the question was, what's the difference between Asarah B'Teves and all the other fasts? And the answer is, all the other fasts are about the past, the avar. This is a yom tefillah u'teshuva about the asid. The halacha is that on Shabbos one may fast a taanis chalom. A person gets a bad dream, he may fast even on Shabbos. Why? Because he needs to do teshuva now in order to stop, to stop the upcoming, the oncoming gezeirah that might be decreed on him. He must fast on Shabbos. It's a tzorech of Shabbos. The Rishonim even call that an oneg of Shabbos, because he's in a bad state of mind, he's suffering. What's going to be? What's coming in the future week ahead? In the future, days ahead, he had a bad chalom. Asarah b'Teves, says the Chasam Sofer, is the same fast, like a taanis chalom, about the future, and therefore we fasted even on what? On Shabbos. We fasted even on Shabbos. Now, rabosai, let's go back and try to answer all the questions that we spoke. We began by asking, Asarah b'Teves? Teves? It's a good month. Teves. The Karnaim speaks that it's Teves, and I think maybe that's what the Chasam Sofer means when he says this vort. He sends us to the sefer Karnaim, and he says it's merumaz there, what we're speaking. I think this is what he means, the Chasam Sofer, that it is about hatovah. This month is a great month. We could turn it into tov. It's true that we're fasting. It's true that we're fasting, and we're bringing up the memory of the fact that Yerushalayim was besieged, but we're not bringing it up as an aveilus of the past, but as an his'orerus.

To turn it into something good in the future. It's a fast which is supposed to bring out that we have the future ahead, and we can make it a positive future. The greatest hatovah that the Eibishter could do for us is to give us the opportunity to fix and bring back the Beis Hamikdash. That's Chodesh Teves. Chodesh Teves, hatovah. This is the month. Yes, I am fasting about a Beis Hamikdash, and of course, I don't mean literally Beis Hamikdash per se. I meant the besieging of Yerushalayim, which led to a Churban Habayis. But it's not about the aveilus of the past, but it's about the opportunity to do teshuvah, to fix for the future, to change the calendar of Tisha B'Av should be a yom of simcha, a Yom Tov. We had a question: why is it that the Asarah B'Teves is different than the other fasts, that the day becomes bigger, the sun is rising, while the other fasts are days that the sun is declining? And the answer is, gevaldik, maybe, maybe that there's a remez here. Remez is that it's about the sun rising. We're fasting as it's the future ahead to make it shine. The future ahead, vaker, is the sun rising. It's days of good, not that the sun is declining. The other fast is about a tekufah that's gone. It's about a history that once was. Asarah B'Teves is about rising of the sun, a future that will come ahead. It's a different type of a fast. And this fast is even on Shabbos, like a taanis chalom. I think with this we can go back also to explain what the Chasam Sofer points out, that Yosef and Binyamin, they meet, and they cry about the Churban Beis Hamikdash and the Churban of the Mishkan. The Chasam Sofer says, you see from here that even though it was Shabbos, it was permitted to be misabel on the Churban habayis. Possibly that there's two parts to the aveilus. Aveilus can mean that I'm sad about the past. Aveilus could also be that I'm mesaken for the future. It's a way of fixing for the future. Yosef and Binyamin uniting, they cried about the Beis Hamikdash that won't be, realizing that the unification of the brotherhood of Yosef and Binyamin. is how eventually the Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt. There's different types of aveilus. Of course, aveilus, sad about the past, that has no place on Shabbos. But to bring up the memories of the Beis Hamikdash, to be misabel, that through that I could fix and I could bring about the Beis Hamikdash. It is about Shabbos. Shabbos is about Klal Yisroel uniting. Shabbos is about an achdus in Klal Yisroel. So its proper place is the unification of a Yosef and a Binyamin. Bring up the memory of a Beis Hamikdash we don't have in tefillah, in hope that we will rebuild the Beis Hamikdash. And possibly we can explain with this the Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer says from the Shlah that Shivah Asar b'Tammuz is hidden, while Asarah b'Teves, Asarah b'Teves, that's out in the open. Why is it different? Why Shivah Asar and Asarah b'Teves is out in the open? It could be possibly Asarah b'Teves is a different type of aveilus than Yud-Zayin b'Tammuz. Yud-Zayin b'Tammuz is an aveilus of the past and the pain.

That comes with it. Asarah b'Teves is tzidkas Hashem. It's to bring out that it could be good, that in the churban, from churban comes good and positive, and the ability to rebuild, and the ability to rebuild. So, Anochi nami, asarah b'Teves is begalui, because tzidkas Hashem karei keil. Yud zayin b'Tammuz is mishpatecha tehom rabah, because it's only about the past, and it was the aschalta. The aschalta is dark. The beginning of a churban is dark. The beginning of a churban is hidden. We don't understand. But as the sun rises, and we see we're holding it by the brink of rebuilding, and we have the ability to rebuild, that tzidkas Hashem, it's begalui. Asarah b'Teves is aveilus for the besieging of Yerushalayim and the churban habayis that passed, but only in the context of rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash. And that's the difference between that and Yud zayin b'Tammuz. I think it's important we take the opportunity to realize the potential that we have in asarah b'Teves. We could change the future. We could change the future that it could be l'sasson ul'simcha, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu should mekabel our tefilos and our taanis, and im yirtzeh Hashem we should be zocheh not to have this year a Tishah B'Av, and we should be able to bring simcha, haidahah to the Eibishter in the Beis HaMikdash. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.