About The Fast Of Gedaliah The Fast of Gedaliah, or Tzom Gedaliah in Hebrew, is one of four fast days instituted by the Rabbis to commemorate the destruction of the Temple (Beit HaMikdash) and subsequent exile from Israel. It is held on the day after Rosh Hashanah, the third of Tishrei, and lasts from dawn to nightfall. The story of Gedaliah's murder is briefly recounted at the end of Kings 2, 25:22-26. A more detailed telling of the event can be found in Jeremiah, 41. Tzom Gedaliah is named after Gedaliah Ben Achikam. After Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, destroyed the first Temple in Jerusalem, he sent the Jews into exile. However, a small number of Jews were allowed to stay in the land under the rulership of a Babylonian-appointed Jewish governor, Gedaliah. Gedaliah was a fair leader and under his watch the Jews were able to live in peace. In fact, many Jews returned from exile and the land prospered. While this could not make up for the loss of the Temple, it marked a positive change from the extreme hardships and oppression of their recent past. Unfortunately, this respite did not last long. For political reasons, the king of Ammon convinced a fellow Jew, Yishmael Ben Netaniah, to assassinate Gedaliah. Yishmael not only killed Gedaliah |