Zom Gedaliah

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The Jewish fast of Zom Gedalja commemorates the murder of Gedalja ben Achikams (Gedalja son of Achikams) in 582 or 581 BC. Remembered.

Emergence

586 BC Chr. After a war of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II. , Of the fall of the southern kingdom (Judah) , and the destruction of Solomon's Temple led many Jews to have been Babylon into exile .

Gedalja ben Achikam was appointed governor of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II . He resided in Mizpah and encouraged the Jews to submit to the Babylonians and not be afraid of them. Gedaliah was a grandson of Schafans who was an advisor to King Josiah (= Josiah). In the decades before the destruction of Jerusalem, fierce wars about direction were fought in Judean politics over the question of whether one should resort to armed resistance in association with Egypt or rather adopt a cooperative stance against Babylonian imperialism. Schafan and later Gedaliah stood up for an alliance with the Babylonians.

After just two (other sources name seven) months in office, he was murdered by Ishmael ben Natanja, a descendant of the royal family of David . Ishmael ben Natanja came to Gedalja in Mizpah with some followers and were warmly received by him. Although Gedalja had been informed of the murderous intentions of his guests, he did not believe his informants. He was murdered along with some Jews and Babylonians whom Nebuchadnezzar had left with him.

After the murder, many of the Jews who remained in the country, including the prophet Jeremiah , fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians' vengeance . The Babylonians destroyed the last remnants of Judean autonomy, and many of the remaining Judeans were killed or taken into exile.

The day of Gedaliaa's murder has been a day of fasting ever since.

The events are described in the Old Testament in 2nd Book of Kings chapters 25, 22-26 and in the Prophet Jeremiah chapter 41.

date

In the Jewish calendar , Zom Gedalja is generally held on the 3rd of Tishri . If the 3rd Tishri falls on a Sabbath , the fasting day is postponed by one day to the 4th, because there should not be fasted on a Sabbath. It follows Rosh Hashanah , the Jewish New Year's Day.

Zom Gedalja will take place on the following day in 2020:

  • September 21 (= 3.Tishri 5781).

Note: Jewish holidays begin on the evening before the specified day.

Newer meaning

In recent years, a special commemorative event has been celebrated at Zom Gedalja on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. This is intended to establish a connection between the first political murder of a leading Jewish politician and the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin on November 4, 1995.

See also

Web links