Fasts Into Feasts
An Exploration into Potential Holidays
From Hadesh Vol. 1, Iss. 8 — Calendar
By: Jacob Levin
In parashat Vayera, Rashi comments that Lot served the angels matza because it was Pesach.1 The destruction of Sodom was about 400 years before the Exodus– how could Lot celebrate Pesach if the events of Pesach had not yet occurred?
A rationalist answer might be that matza is very quick to make, and Lot wanted to feed his guests quickly.2 But this answer does not explain Rashi– it simply provides an alternative commentary. Maybe the rationalist could explain instead that Pesach was a Canaanite agricultural holiday before the Israelites adopted it when they left Egypt. While this is a reasonable answer, I’d like to propose a mystical answer with precedent: Each day in the Hebrew calendar has a unique spiritual potential, and Lot was acting in accordance with the potential of the fifteenth of the first month.
This is not the only time that a holiday was celebrated without fully comprehending its reason to be a holiday. God commands the Israelites to celebrate the seventh day after leaving Egypt even before they leave Egypt.3 The Israelites do not yet know of the splitting of the Sea, but begin celebrating even at the edge of the Sea itself. Only in hindsight do they feel celebratory emotions.
God commanded us to celebrate the 22nd day of the seventh month, but nothing had happened on that day until the times of the kings.4 King Solomon had completed the Temple in the eighth month,5 but did not dedicate it until the following seventh month. He began the dedication seven days before Sukkot, the eighth of the month, so that the altar would be ready for the festival. At the end of the festival, when the altar is fully operational and the Temple is completely finished, and all Israel recognizes the establishment of the House of David and the House of God’s Name in Jerusalem, they rejoice on the 22nd of the month, on Shemini Atzeret.6 This is why the haftara of Shemini Atzeret is that episode in Kings– because Shemini Atzeret is the holiday commemorating the Temple and the Davidic dynasty.7
Hanukkah itself was a “potential holiday”. The Tabernacle was completed on the 25th of the ninth month, but it was not inaugurated until the first month, in anticipation of that year’s Pesach.8 Thus Hanukkah had potential from the Exodus, but was not “activated” until the Greek exile. Similarly, the First Temple was completed in the eighth month, but was not inaugurated until the following Sukkot. This would imply that there is a current “potential holiday” in the eighth month that has yet to be “activated”. 8 Maybe this holiday will commemorate the inauguration of the Third Temple.
“Potential holidays” can be “activated” negatively, too. That is, their spiritual potentials are realized but in the direction of fasting rather than feasting. The prophet Zekhariah lists four of these: the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months. These are what we today call the Seventeenth of Tammuz, the Ninth of Av, the Fast of Gedalia, and the Tenth of Tevet. Zekhariah says that these days will become feasts in the future with the final redemption.9
The Seventeenth of Tammuz was supposed to be the day we received the tablets. A midrash subtly suggests that this would have been the Day of Judgment, as opposed to Rosh Hashana, which would’ve had a different focus.10 This would be fitting, as one can only be judged according to a law code. The reception of the law would actualize our willing subjugation to God’s justice. In the future, this may be the day that the Sanhedrin reconvenes with proper ordination (semikha), reestablishing the enactment of God’s law in the Land of Israel.
The Ninth of Av was supposed to be the day we entered the Land of Israel. Instead, because we rejected the land God gave us, and thereby rejected Him, both our Temples were destroyed on that day. There is a tradition that the Messiah will be born on the Ninth of Av.11 In general, we do not celebrate the birthdays of our heroes. There are also traditions that King David was born on Shavuot12 and Abraham on Rosh Hashana,13 but we do not celebrate those days because they are birthdays of significant figures. Rather, the fact of their births elucidates the natures of the holidays. It is possible that the Ninth of Av will be the day that our republic14 is reestablished, with a Sanhedrin, a Temple, and a king– whatever that event may look like.
The Fast of Gedalia is interesting in that it is not called by its date. Accordingly, there is an opinion that the third day of the seventh month is not the day Gedalia was assassinated– he was murdered on the first of the month, Rosh Hashana– but it is the first day we are able to fast, since fasting is prohibited on holidays.15 According to some opinions, we already feast on the day it should be, namely the second of the month, as Rosh Hashana was traditionally celebrated only one day in Israel.16 However, since the overwhelming majority of opinions contend that Rosh Hashana is two days right now, there is a great potential on the third day of the month. It is possible that this is the day the Messiah will be recognized, appointed, or coronated.
Finally, the Tenth of Tevet. This may be the most enigmatic of the four fasts, since there is relatively little that happened on that day. Whereas the other fasts have grand events like the destructions of the Temples, the breaking of the tablets, or the assassination of the final vestige of hope and communal continuity in our land, the Tenth of the Tenth is the beginning of the Babylonian siege… and not much else. Nearby days contain other, similar events: on the fifth, news of the destruction reached Babylon;17 on the eighth, the Torah was translated into Greek; and on the ninth– we don’t know, but it was bad.18 Even the nearby dates are enigmatic.
These events can be understood using my theory of exile.19 A quick refresher: Exile can be broken up into three stages. The first stage, that of Joseph, is the loss of the “national tongue”, or how a nation relates to itself and to others. The second stage, that of Judah, is when the leadership is exiled mentally or physically. The last stage is that of Jacob, when the Temple is desecrated or worse.
On the fifth, news reached Babylon, and on the eighth, the Torah was translated. News and translation both relate to the stage of Joseph, the first stage of exile, wherein the exiled nation loses its “national tongue”. Notably, another event often attributed to the Tenth of Tevet is the sale of Joseph, the archetype for that first stage of exile.20
As a microcosm of exile itself, the siege may be broken into three stages: the laying of the siege (Tenth of Tevet), the rupture of the walls (Seventeenth of Tammuz), and the final destruction (Ninth of Av). The laying of the siege is parallel to the stage of Joseph, the rupture of the walls is parallel to the stage of Judah, and the final destruction is parallel to the stage of Jacob. Thus, the Tenth of Tevet is the epitome of the stage of Joseph.
In light of this analysis, it may be that on this day we will regain our “national tongue”, and prophecy will return to Israel.
May the redemption begin immediately, and all these fasts become feasts.
Rashi on Genesis 19:3
R Aryeh Kaplan on Genesis 19:3
Exodus 12:16
Numbers 26:35
I Kings 6:38
I Kings 8:65-66, cf. II Chronicles 7:9-10
TB Megillah 31a. My greatest thanks to Rav Avi Grossman for teaching me this.
Yalkut Shimoni I Kings 184
Zekhariah 8:19
Pesikta D’Rav Kahana, Piska 30. See also מדבר קדמות להחיד”א, מערכת ר, אות יד.
Based on Eikha Rabbah 1:51, quoted in TJ Berakhot 2:4
TJ Chagiga 2:3 in conjunction with TB Kiddushin 38a
TB Rosh Hashana 11a
See my article entitled The Book of the Republic for more context surrounding this word.
Rabbeinu Yerucham, Ibn Ezra, and Radak maintain that Gedalia was murdered on Rosh Hashana, in contrast to the actual wording of TB Rosh Hashana 18b.
Baal Hamaor and Meiri on TB Beitza 5a
Ezekiel 33:21
Megillat Ta’anit Adar
For a deeper dive, see my article entitled Refracted Exile.
Derashot Beit Yishai (p. 242) by R’ Shlomo Fischer, to give but one example.