The Fast That Could Have Overridden Shabbat
Why did one medieval rabbi argue that today’s fast, Asarah BeTevet, is so critical that it should override the joy of Shabbat itself?
This fast marks the day in 587 BCE when the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar began his brutal siege of Jerusalem. We recount a history of starvation and confinement that ultimately led to the destruction of the First Temple (II Kings, 25:1).
The Usual Rule
Jewish law is firm: when a fast day—other than Yom Kippur—falls on Shabbat, it is rescheduled to Sunday or Thursday. Oneg Shabbat, the sanctity and joy of the Sabbath, overrides the fast.
A Radical Exception
Yet the 14th-century scholar Rabbi David Abudarham defends a startling exception: were Asarah BeTevet to fall on Shabbat, we would fast anyway. He notes that because the Bible describes the siege of Jerusalem as occurring “on this very day” (Ezekiel 24:2), Asarah BeTevet supersedes Shabbat.
A Siege Is a Unique Category of Cruelty
On a deeper level, the imposition of a siege is a moral catastrophe that demands an exception. A siege—or blockade—is the deliberate, slow-motion infliction of hunger, death, and devastation on a civilian population. Its consequences are so severe, so painful, and so corrosive, that they warrant remembrance on the very day they begin.
A Warning for Our Time
The rules of the Hebrew calendar ensure this opinion will never be tested in practice: the Tenth of Tevet can never fall on Shabbat.
But its message remains urgent. Any society that imposes a siege betrays the very values this fast is meant to teach.
Asarah BeTevet is a wake-up call: to reject all sieges, and to recognize the dignity, safety, and freedom of all people.
And whether or not you’re fasting today, let this be a meaningful day, leading us toward compassion, responsibility, and action.
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