"I will describe the distress that calls me. He hit me with three blows this month"
(Selihot for the tenth of Tevet).
In the month of Tevet, we mark three dates of calamity:
"On the eighth...the Greek king forced me to write my religion in Greek."
– on the eighth of Tevet, the Torah was translated into Greek, under duress, and not translated properly because of the fear of the Greek king. The translation does not express the greatness and radiance of the Torah and brings great darkness to the world.
"I fumed on the Ninth with deep-dug shame. He removed from me the cloak of glory and alacrity. The one who had said beautiful words was torn apart on that day. This was Ezra the Scribe. "
- On the ninth of Tevet, Ezra the scribe passed away, the pillar of the Torah in the Second Temple era. The world deserved to have Torah given through him, and with his death, darkness enveloped the world.
"Ben Buzi the Visionary was commanded about the Tenth day. He wrote for You in his book of visions. For a remembrance for a nation who is melted and disgraced" - on this day the siege began on Jerusalem in the days of the First Temple, a siege that lasted about three years until its destruction, and what is darker than the beginning of Jerusalem's destruction – the light of the world?!
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel established the tenth of Tevet as the general Kaddish day – a memorial day for the Holocaust martyrs whose date of passing is unknown. On this day, family members recite Kaddish in their memory.
This darkness needs to be illuminated... Firstly, in three out of the eight days of Chanukah, that started at the beginning of the month of Tevet, and also in our actions – as a correction to the translation of the Torah into Greek, to increase the light of the written Torah in its purity. As a correction for the death of Ezra – to increase the light of the Torah in oral form. And as a correction for the destruction of the First Temple – to add holiness and purity.
In these days, we seek to draw light and strength from the holy martyrs of the Holocaust, and from the saints of this time, we pray for the well-being of the IDF soldiers, the return of the captives, the healing of the wounded, and comfort for the bereaved families and all of Israel.
"Thus said GOD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth month, the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah." (Zechariah 8:19)