Guedaliá's fast

The day after Rosh Hashanah, that is, the 3rd of Tishrei, we observe a fast day called: "The Fast of Gedaliah"

This fast was ordered by Our Sages to remember the murder of Gedaliah Ben Ahikam, who was killed by Ishmael Ben Netanya at the instigation of the king of Ammon.  With the death of Gedaliah, the last leader of Jewish autonomy after the destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem, thousands of people were killed, and those who remained alive were exiled.

When Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroyed the first Bet Hamikdash and exiled the people of Israel, he allowed a small group of Jews to remain in Israel, choosing Gedaliah Ben-Ahikam as their governor.  Those Jews who had escaped to Moab, Ammon, Edom and other neighboring countries returned to the land of Israel and cultivated areas that the Babylonian king gave them.  They tended their vineyards and enjoyed a new respite from previous oppressions.  However, the respite was very short, because the king of Ammon was hostile and envious, and he sent the Jew Ishmael Ben Netaniah to assassinate Gedaliah.

In Tishrei, Ishmael came to Gedaliah in the city of Mitzpeh.  Although Gedaliah was warned about Ishmael's intentions, he did not believe the reports he had received, since he considered them to be only lashon hara (gossip) and it is forbidden to listen to gossip about another Jew. He received Ishmael and gave him great honor, but Ishmael murdered Gedaliah and many of the Jews who were there with him, including the guard whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed as his governor.

Those Jews who remained in the land of Israel feared the inevitable retribution of the Babylonian king and fled to Egypt. In this way, the Jews who had remained in the land after the destruction of the Temple and the exile were dispersed, and the land was left desolate.

Regarding this fast, our Sages said in the Talmud:

"This teaches us that the death of the righteous is equivalent to the burning of the House of God, since just as a fast is commanded to commemorate the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash, so too was a fast commanded to commemorate the death of Gedaliah." (Rosh Hashanah 18b).

"God will destroy death forever, wipe away tears from all faces, and make His people never to be ashamed again…"

(Isaiah 25:8)

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