3 Tishrei · Yahrzeit
Gedaliah ben Achikam
Gedaliah ben Achikam was the last governor of Judea, appointed by the Babylonians after the destruction of the First Temple.
The Fast of Gedaliah
Gedaliah was a highly worthy and respected member of the community, and his administration was beneficial. The Babylonians had no interest in the complete ruin of their province, so the Jewish community began to actively revive, and its prosperity to grow. Agriculture and viticulture developed. This growth was fostered by the peace and security maintained, in part, by the forces of the Babylonian military garrison.
Gedaliah himself called for loyalty to the Babylonians, and at that time this compromise was the lesser evil. Gedaliah enjoyed the support of the prophet Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah).
Gedaliah made Mitzpah his residence, a city in the territory of the tribe of Binyamin, about 12 km north of Jerusalem. When the military commanders, along with the prophet Yirmiyahu, arrived in Mitzpah, Gedaliah addressed them, saying: "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. As for me, behold, I dwell at Mitzpah, ready to stand before the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken" (Yirmiyahu 40:9-10). It is further related that the Jewish refugees who had fled during the war to the neighboring lands of Moab, Ammon, and Edom returned once they learned of Gedaliah's appointment, and they were able to gather a great harvest.
Among those who came to Mitzpah was Yishmael, son of Netanyah, a descendant of the royal line. The commander Yochanan, son of Kareach, together with other commanders, warned Gedaliah that Yishmael had been sent by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, to kill him, but the governor did not believe them. Yochanan insisted on his suspicions and was even prepared to secretly kill Yishmael himself before he could carry out his criminal plan, but Gedaliah sharply rebuked him. The governor was afraid to believe slander and preferred to take the risk rather than wrong an innocent man with suspicion.
The book of the prophet Yirmiyahu relates that in the seventh month, Tishrei, Yishmael, son of Netanyah, came to Gedaliah with ten men, and after the meal, treacherously murdered him. He also killed the governor's attendants and the Chaldean garrison. Having seized the Jews remaining in Mitzpah, Yishmael intended to cross the Jordan and head toward the Ammonites. When Yochanan and the other commanders, who had not been in Mitzpah at the time of Yishmael's murders, heard what had happened, they gathered a militia and set out against Yishmael. They overtook him at Givon and freed the captives, but Yishmael himself escaped with eight men and fled to the Ammonites.
Gedaliah was killed during the massacre carried out at the festive meal on the second day of Rosh Hashana (the 2nd of Tishrei), but since fasting is forbidden on a festival, the fast is customarily observed on the day after the holiday.
When the sages of the Talmud explain why a fast was established on this day, they emphasize Gedaliah's righteousness, saying: "The death of the righteous is equivalent to the burning of the Temple" (Rosh Hashanah 18b). At the same time, while acknowledging Gedaliah's merits, the sages criticize him for his excessive trustfulness. In the account of the murder of the Jews by Yishmael, it is written: "And the pit into which Yishmael cast all the bodies of the men whom he had slain because of Gedaliah…" (Yirmiyahu 41:9). The sages ask why the prophet's words imply that responsibility for their deaths falls on Gedaliah, since it was Yishmael who killed them. Their answer is: "Since [Gedaliah] should have heeded the advice of Yochanan, son of Kareach, and did not, Scripture holds him responsible, as though he had killed them himself" (Niddah 61a). Gedaliah displayed an "excess of righteousness," regarding Yochanan's warning about Yishmael's evil intentions as slander, and as a result, not only he himself but other Jews perished as well. Jewish leaders bear a heavy responsibility — loving their people with all their heart, they must also recognize the danger posed by certain individuals among them and know how to stop them in time.
The Fast of Gedaliah is mentioned in the book of Zechariah (8:19) as "the fast of the seventh (month)."