During these past two weeks, we have seen the blessings of the fire as we lit our Hanukkiot, but we have also seen the destruction that an all-consuming fire can bring. Many of us have friends or family in the Los Angeles area at this time. Thousands have lost their homes, and some have tragically lost their lives. I have been checking in with some rabbi friends in LA, and one reported that half of their congregation have lost their homes. Compounding the pain is the lack our ability to stop the fire. For so many on the west coast, they feel like the walls are closing in, and there’s no way out.
Sometimes, there is a confluence of events that connect us back to sacred time and ritual that can help us when we feel like we are under siege with no where to escape. What can one do when one feels totally helpless in the face of such destruction?
Tomorrow, our people will observe a minor fast day called Asarah B’Tevet (AKA the 10th of Tevet - click on the link for more information). It is the only minor fast that is observed on a Friday, and ends into Shabbat. Asarah B’Tevet is arguably the least known of the four minor fast days, and also unique, perhaps because it is tied to the destruction of the first Temple, not the second Temple. The 10th of Tevet memorializes the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadneezer’s Babylonian army when the destruction of Jerusalem became almost inevitable to her inhabitants. The holiday gained significance following the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948. The Chief Rabbinate established Asarah B’Tevet as Yom HaKaddish HaKlali, a day for the recital of Kaddish for those whose date of death is unknown.
Nevertheless, we are left with a holiday that is seemingly not as important as the other minor fast days concerning the second Temple, even though we know that after the siege and the exile from Israel, the Jews returned six decades later to rebuild the Temple.
My teacher, Rabbi Ed Feld, shared the following about the holiday’s significance:
"Though the Temple in Jerusalem was reconstructed after six decades, though Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem sometime later, and though Israel once again became an independent power under the Hasmoneans some four hundred years later, in Jewish eyes there was never a return to what was seen as the special time when the First Temple was in its glory. Perhaps the loss of the First Temple is metaphorically captured by the rabbinic notion that the Urim and Tumim, the priestly breastplate which represented the tribes of Israel and through which the Divine communicated to the High Priest, was lost in the destruction of Jerusalem and never recovered in the Second Temple period. It is an image which captures the sense that prophecy had ended: there was no longer a definitive link to heaven…"
In other words, some things survived the destruction, but some things were lost forever. But Asarah B’Tevet does not put its entire focus on mourning what was lost. In fact, we are commanded not to recite prayers of remembrance on this day, rather, we engage in confession of our sins. And of course, we fast. Fasting was a way for our people to cope with natural disasters and the march of conquering empires that were simply out of control. The idea was to encourage repentance and to seek divine mercy in times of crisis. I also think it was a way for us to exert even a modicum of agency in a world spiraling out of control.
Rabbi Feld wrote, “So we fast not so much to commemorate the past, but to remind ourselves how far we are from getting back to a place where the Divine light shines through with clarity. We have to face our own failure to rebuild the Jerusalem of heaven here on earth.”
But fasting and self-reflection are not the end of our action, just the beginning. I return to the Jewish new year, specifically Yom Kippur, when we recite the prayer of the High Priest who would pray for the inhabitants of Sharon, a region subject to earthquakes, “May their houses not become their graves.” As we are reminded on the high holidays, Teshuvah (repentance), Tefillah (prayer) and Tzedakah (charity and acts of justice), can avert the severity of the decree. Although many of us feel powerless across the country, we can still help.
This week, tragically, a house of God burned down. A cornerstone of our Conservative/Masorti community in Southern California, the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, lost its building in the fire. In a letter to members sent Wednesday morning, the synagogue’s leadership informed the congregation that all staff was safe. Their sacred Torah scrolls had been rescued from the sanctuary, chapel and classrooms before the fire destroyed the building, and are now being safely stored in the home of a congregant and added, “In the desert of ancient days — and in Pasadena today — we know that sanctuaries have always been built and rebuild…We are devastated, but we will rebuild. We are here, together, and we will be okay.”
Thankfully, we can help with that rebuilding:
You can support the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center community by donating directly the synagogue - https://www.pjtc.net/
Many other synagogues and families who need help as well, so please consider donating to to the USCJ Disaster Relief Fund.
Please join us for a special Shabbat of reflection and renewal. On Friday night, I will be leading us in a special musical Spirits of Shabbat with Robin Koota, focusing on the value of Mindfulness - Metinut (mitt-ee-NOOT מתינוּת. Together we will focus on presence and intentionality. On Shabbat morning, I will deliver the dvar torah, and following services, we will have a guest teacher, Rabbi Marci Bloch, who will introduce us to the power of ethical wills, one of the main themes of this week’s parashah, Vayechi. I am also sharing my Yom Kippur sermon about ethical wills as well - I hope you find it meaningful.
As we stand at the intersection of devastation and hope, I want to leave you with this: while the destruction and losses we face — whether through fire, loss of community, or the challenges of our own spiritual exile — may feel insurmountable, they are not the final word. Just as the First Temple was lost, but a future generation rebuilt, so too can we rebuild our hearts, our communities, and our world.
The holiday of Asarah B’Tevet reminds us that we are called to action, not just mourning. We fast, we reflect, and we acknowledge our collective responsibility to repair what has been broken. In the face of crisis, the Jewish people have always found ways to rebuild — not just physical structures, but the sacred bonds that hold us together. In this spirit, let us respond to the destruction we witness, not with despair, but with faith in our ability to rebuild — together.
I hope you’ll join us this Shabbat for a time of reflection, renewal, and action. As we bring mindfulness into our hearts, engage in ethical wills, and give what we can to those who need it most, we will show that even in the darkest times, we can be vessels of light.
May we all find the strength to rebuild, renew, and restore. May the fires that burn outside be extinguished by the light we carry within.
Shabbat Shalom - may God bring us peace, and an end to the suffering,
Rabbi David Baum
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