Fast of Gedaliah

Rosh Hashanah is over and we have enjoyed our feasting. Today is the Fast of Gedaliah.

From Chabad.org:
"Tishrei 3rd is a fast day mourning the assassination of the Jewish royal Gedaliah ben Achikam, governor of the Land of Israel for a short period following the destruction of the First Temple. Gedaliah's killing spelled the end of the small remnant of a Jewish community that remained in the Holy Land after the destruction, which fled to Egypt. (According to many opinions, the assassination of Gedaliah actually occurred on Rosh Hashanah, but the commemoration of the event is postponed to the day after the festival)."

Today we fast from sunrise to sunset to mourn the end of Jewish occupation of the Holy Land even though there are once again Jews living in the Holy Land.

This is our history. The history of our family. I want my children to be a part of this. To take hold of that history as their own. To be proud of it and of who they are. I want them to feel a part of the community. Of this family that stretches around the globe and comes in all colors, shapes and sizes. I want them to be grounded in the past as they step forward into their futures.

So, today we fast.