High Holidays · Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
What is the Fast of Gedaliah?
The Fast of Gedaliah, צום גדליה (Tzom Gedaliah), is a daytime fast on the third of Tishrei, the day after Rosh Hashanah. It mourns the murder of Gedaliah ben Achikam, the blow that sealed the end of Jewish presence in the Land after the destruction of the First Temple.
The grief it carries
After the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, a remnant was left in the Land, and Gedaliah ben Achikam was appointed to govern it — a last thread of Jewish life on Jewish soil. His assassination cut that thread. What the fast marks is not only one man's death but the scattering that followed it: the moment the remnant fled and the Land emptied. It is a small fast with a large sorrow inside it.
Where it comes from
The account is told at the close of II Kings 25 — Gedaliah's appointment, the warning he would not believe, and his killing. The prophet Zechariah later lists this among the fasts of the calendar ("the fast of the seventh month," Zechariah 8:19) and gives it a startling promise: that these very fasts are destined to become "joy and gladness" and seasons of celebration. The mourning is real, and it is not the last word.
What to do
This is a daytime fast: it begins at dawn and ends at nightfall, unlike the fasts that run a full day. If it falls on Shabbat it is postponed to Sunday, since the joy of Shabbat is not set aside for it. Selichot, penitential prayers, are added, and the Torah is read. Because the times of dawn and nightfall depend on your city and date, confirm them locally rather than by a fixed clock. Those for whom fasting is a danger to health should speak with their rabbi; the tradition guards life first.
Source: II Kings 25 (the killing of Gedaliah ben Achikam); Zechariah 8:19 (the fast of the seventh month, to become joy)..
Because dawn and nightfall for this fast depend on where and when you are, My Jewish Day (siddur, zmanim, the Hebrew calendar) gives you your own city's start and end times, so you fast by the day's true light and not a guess.
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