The BiG Story N Every Jewish home needs the Jewish News. If you have family or friends who are marrying, consider giving them a subscription to the Detroit Jewish News. It's the community's "book of why." With it, they'll keep in touch with Jewish life. Interesting articles about their heritage, the holidays, current events and politics. Plus art, literature, dance, kosher cooking...who's having a baby, who's having a bar mitzvah and who's passed away. Give your newlyweds...or any family and friends who want to stay in touch, a useful way to do it. Give them the Detroit Jewish News by calling (248) 354 6620 today. - I'd like to send a 52-week Jewish News gift subscription Plus 5 free issues of Style Magazine A $ 72 value Please bill me 'ust $48 ($65 out of state) Payment Enclosed Card No. Exp. Date Visa MasterCard Signature (Required) Your Name Your Address Your City State Zip Phone Gift Card Message: Send the Gift Subscription to: Name Address City Phone 1 2 / 1 7 1999 116 State Zip DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Mail to: The Detroit Jewish News P.O. Box 2267, Southfield, MI 48037-2267 Phone: (248) 354-6620 •.Fax: (248) 354-1210 Allow 2-3 weeks delivery of the Detroit Jewish News . WHOME98 This event traditionally has been viewed as the beginning of a series of calamities that culminat- ed in the destruction of the Tem- ple, the loss of Jewish sovereignty and an altered relationship be-ween God and the Jewish people. In ancient times, 10 Tevet was proclaimed a day of fasting, and so it has been observed ever since. This year, it comes out on Sunday, Dec. 19. In Hebrew, the day is known as Asara b'Tevet. Unlike the two major fasts of Yom Kippur and Tisha b'Av, which are from sundown to sun- down, the observance of Asara b'Tevet begins at sunrise and ends at sunset. In the Detroit area, this means 6:46 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. Those who wish to arise especially early can even have breakfast before the fast begins. Like all Jewish fasts, however, Asara b'Tevet requires total absti- nence from food and water. Unlike Yom Kippur and Tisha b'Av, leather shoes may be worn, and washing and work are per- mitted. Unlike Tisha b'Av, tallit and tefillin are worn in the morn- ing davening. Pregnant women and nursing mothers, and those who are ill, are exempted from fasting. The rabbis remind us that the purpose of fasting is not only to grieve and mourn. Rather,' the day should rouse us to repentance and make us think about the behavior of our ancestors that brought about their downfall. We should examine our own lives and correct our behavior and atti- tudes, lest we come to suffer for our misdeeds, as well. In effect, each Jewish fast day is like Yom Kippur. The liturgy of Asara b'Tevet is like that of any other minor fast day. An additional prayer is inserted in the Amidah, or Shemona Esrei. In the synagogue, there is a spe- cial reading from the Torah with a haftorah in the morning. With the exception of Yom Kip- pur, a public fast day in Judaism is never observed on Shabbat. Fasting or any other type of mourning (even personal) is not permitted on Shabbat. If the cal- endar date happens to coincide with Shabbat, the fast day is post- poned until after Shabbat. The Jewish calendar is so devised, however, that Asara b'Tevet can never come out on Shabbat. The Israeli rabbinate designated Asara b'Tevet as Yom Ha-Kaddish HaKlali, The Day of General Kaddish." That is, a day when Kaddish (the mourner's prayer) is recited for those Jews whose pre- cise date of death is unknown. Because so many of these Jews were victims of the Holocaust, Asara b'Tevet also has taken on some of the characteristics of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remem- brance Day, although that is a separate observance. Aside from the two days of Chanukah at the beginning of Tevet, all other historical days in the month have a tragic charac- ter. On the fifth of Tevet, the news of the fall of Jerusalem reached the Jewish exiles in Babylonia (as recorded in the Book of Ezekiel 33:21). The eighth of Tevet also marked the completion of the Septuagint, the translation of the Torah into Greek. The rabbis regarded the translation as a subjugation of Judaism to Hellenistic culture and the beginning of the misuse of Torah by the gentile world. The ninth of Tevet traditionally is considered the day that Ezra and Nehemiah died (Ezra and Nehemiah led the Jewish commu- nity of Israel after their return from the Babylonian exile).