Fast of the 10th of Tevet -- Tzom Asara b'Tevet – Tuesday, December 18th Tuesday, December 18th is Asara b'Tevet, a fast day. The fast is the shortest of the year, beginning at 5:44 am and ending at 5:12 pm. Fast Day Shacharit will be at 6:30am and Fast Day Mincha/Maariv will be at 4:15 pm The fast commemorates the day when the Babylonians first siege around Jerusalem, leading to the breach of Jerusalem's walls (17 Tammuz), ultimately to the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (9 Av), and later with the assassination of Gedalia, also to the total loss of Jewish sovereignty and unity in Eretz Yisrael (3 of Tishrei). After the Holocaust, when searching for an appropriate religious way to mark our many losses, the Chief Rabbinate of the newly formed State of Israel declared the 10th of Tevet as the day upon which Kaddish and El Maleh Rachamim should be recited for victims who had no known date of death, or no known mourners to remember them. Eating and drinking are forbidden. All other elements of regular life (e.g. wearing leather shoes, bathing) are permitted, though it is appropriate to avoid celebratory music, special-purchase shopping, and other joyful activities.