The Fast of Gedalia (/ˌɡɛdəˈlaɪ.ə, ɡəˈdɑːliə/; צוֹם גְּדַלְיָה Tzom Gedalya), also transliterated from the Hebrew language as Gedaliah or Gedalya(h), is a minor Jewish fast day from dawn until dusk to lament the assassination of Gedaliah, the governor of what was the Kingdom of Judah.
[1] His death ended Jewish autonomy following the destruction of the First Temple and the fall of King Zedekiah.
[4] The events are recounted briefly in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 25:25–26: But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mitzpah.
And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.A fuller account is in Jeremiah chapter 41,[5] where the murder of a group of envoys and the kidnapping of the gubernatorial staff and family are also related: In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah.
[6]In Flavius Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, the story of the conspiracy is provided in considerable detail.
[10] According to the Talmud, the aim of the fast day is "to establish that the death of the righteous is likened to the burning of the House of our God.
The Avinu Malkeinu prayer is recited and as it is during the Ten Days of Repentance the additions reference the new year.