Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Fast of Gedalia צוֹם גְּדַלְיָה – Retribution and Redemption

The day after Rosh Hashana, the third of Tishre, is the Fast of Gedalia. It is one of four fasts that mark the end of what is generally called the First Temple period. The period in fact starts in the year 2488 ברה״ע hundreds of years before 2928 ברה״ע, when King Solomon dedicated the first Temple. After many years of conflict, the Babylonians destroyed the Temple on the ninth of Av 3338 ברה״ע. Many Jews had already been expelled from Judea, however a small number remained. The Babylonians wanted Judah to be a province in their empire and appointed Gedalia ben Achikam as its governor. A fellow Jew assassinated him and all of the remaining Jews fled the land. With that the land of Israel was completely empty of Jews, not even one remained. The magnitude of the destruction of the two temples is so great that one fast is really not enough to mourn this disaster as a result there are four fasts.

Poems of Slichot (סליחות-pardons, forgiveness) are said in connection with the High Holidays. They are also used as the liturgy for a fast day. The Fast of Gedalia falls during the ten days of penitence, therefore its service reflects both themes. The second piyut of the service, “My Soul Mourns” (אָבלָה נַפשִי) is dedicated to the Fast of Gedalia and mentions Gedalia ben Achikam by name.

It is an alphabetical acrostic where all the lines of each stanza rhyme. The last two of the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are doubled so as to arrive at six stanzas of four lines each. It is replete with metaphors and allusions to scripture. The spirit of the day is captured in its lamentful tone and prayer for the redemption.

The first stanza marks the 3rd of Tishre as the mournful day when the last survivors of Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the Temple were crushed. The second stanza identifies the Fast of Gedalia as the day when the elders of Israel, who survived the destruction of the Temple, were killed.

The third stanza focuses on the liquidation of the poor that remained in Israel using a phrase from the prophet Joel (1:20, “What remained from the cutting locust, the swarming locust consumed”. It follows by comparing the leaders, who were capable of annulling a bad decree, to a few remaining vines. Sadly though they were estranged and scattered.

The piyut then gives the supplication of the nation. It asks how long will G-d hide His face from us and asks Him to hear our cry, release our captives, and see our poverty. There is no person they can turn to for help. If the people are freed from their bonds, they will crown Hashem with the praise of their words.

The final stanza starts with an appeal for pity saying that the nation has been plundered in every generation and from every direction. Their troubles are compared to the sting of a flying viper. It then asks the holy one blessed be He to awaken, arise, and aggressively avenge our injuries. It closes that our iniquities should be atoned for and that we should see the end of the exile.


  
לע"נ, הדוד ,שמואל בן נח ז"ל נלב"ע ט"ו אב תשס"ט,
Acknowledgements to websites: תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/, http://hebrewbooks.org/,
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני  ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il





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