Dawn to nightfall
Eating and drinking are forbidden from dawn (alot hashahar) until nightfall. One who wants to eat before dawn should have this in mind before going to sleep.
Holidays3 Tishrei · Dawn to nightfall
A fast day in the Ten Days of Repentance, mourning the murder of Gedalia ben Ahikam and the end of Jewish life in Judea after the First Temple.
NextMonday, October 4, 2027 · dawn to nightfall
After Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple in 586 BCE, he appointed Gedalia ben Ahikam governor of the Jews who remained in the land. Gedalia gathered the survivors and urged them to tend their fields in peace.
On the third of Tishrei he was murdered by Yishmael ben Netanya (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 40–41). Fearing Babylonian revenge, the remnant fled to Egypt, and the last light of Jewish self-rule in Judea went out.
The prophet Zechariah calls it "the fast of the seventh month" (8:19). The Sages taught that the death of the righteous is equal to the burning of the House of our God.
Keeping the fast
Eating and drinking are forbidden from dawn (alot hashahar) until nightfall. One who wants to eat before dawn should have this in mind before going to sleep.
Healthy adults fast. Following Sephardic practice, pregnant and nursing women do not fast on the minor fasts, and anyone who is ill should ask a rabbi.
Unlike Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, washing, wearing leather shoes and work are permitted.
The third of Tishrei on Shabbat moves the fast to Sunday, the fourth, because we do not fast on Shabbat.
In the synagogue
The fast falls in the Ten Days of Repentance, so the Selichot of the season are said, with the additions for a fast day.
The Selichot"Answer us on the day of our fast": added by the hazzan in the repetition of Shaharit and Minha, and by each person in the Minha Amidah.
HaMelekh HaKadosh, Zokhrenu and the other additions of the Ten Days are said as on the days around it.
Shaharit and Minha
"Vayehal Moshe": Moses pleads for Israel after the golden calf, and God reveals the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.
Many communities add the haftarah "Dirshu" (Isaiah 55:6–56:8), "Seek the Lord while He may be found."
Sephardic U media
Keep learning
Questions
His murder ended the last Jewish self-rule in Judea after the First Temple and led to the exile of the survivors. The prophet Zechariah lists it among the four fasts of mourning.
According to tradition he was killed on Rosh Hashana, but we do not fast on a festival, so the fast was set for the next day after it.
Following Sephardic practice, they do not fast on the minor fasts. Anyone unwell should ask a rabbi.
It begins at dawn and ends at nightfall, about 20 to 40 minutes after sunset depending on your location and custom.