Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The Fast of Gedaliah
- The Essence of the Fast
Answer: The 3rd of Tishrei is Tzom Gedalia, the least known of the 6 public fast days in the year. The fast was decreed by the Sages to commemorate the assassination of Gedalia ben Ahikam, governor of Judea after the destruction of the 1st Bet HaMikdash. Gedalia was murdered in Mitzpa by Yishmael ben Netanya, who was in league with the King of Ammon against the Jews. Though Gedalia was warned of Yishmael's plot, he could not believe that a fellow Jew would commit so horrible an act. The death of Gedalia effectively ended Jewish independence in Israel for hundreds of years & resulted in thousands of deaths. We would do well to remember, as we fast, the horrific consequences that Jew vs. Jew hatred can bring, & the high price we pay for disunity.
Rabbis in Midrash
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Various Events FOR WHOM NOT TO VOTE
Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook stressed that Israeli politics is G-dly, so I have no problem answering this common question on a Torani blog. Also, Free-Will is a G-d-given right and obligation, to "destine one's fate" (R. Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, 67), so I obviously don't tell others how to vote. But once not a few (especially young) have already asked, a couple of personal words from experience and thoughts from chazal & Rav Kook which may be of help to others, mainly for whom NOT to vote.
P'ninat Mishpat Fallout from Failure to Install Elevator – part II
based on ruling 85007 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
