Thread by @JoshuaCypess

1/ For people afraid we'll forget about the atrocities of the Trump (ym'sh) regime, today is the Fast of the 10th of Tevet which commemorates the beginning of siege of Jerusalem in 588 BCE... 2608 years ago

So, yeah, don't worry. Jews are built for this
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_of_…

2/ And, contrary to popular belief, this is history written by the non-victors. Unless you understand 'victory' as defined by pure survival. My people lost the battle, but wrote the books, constructed an entire society to learn
& teach in exile

3/ Part of these fasts are to remember the morality and ethics of the tragedy. The First Temple was destroyed as punishment for sins of the worst nature, esp. 'bloodshed', which Rabbi Leibtag taught us includes corrupt justice systems & oppressing the poor

4/ Two thousand six hundred years in the future, we remember tragedy born from our indifference, injustice, inhumanity. So, as Jews, we're commanded to recall tragedy whether we're history's "winners" or "losers" because the role of leadership never stops, even when we fail.

5/ That the 10th of Tevet also mourns the loss of two leaders of the Diaspora, who taught the community how to rebuild after the destruction (commemorated on the 10th of Tevet) is also appropriate for the deeper lesson, and for the irony of 12-25-2020's synchronicity

6/ Ezra & Nechemia led the people, restored the lost traditions, taught the new generations, knew how to navigate the powerful colonial government while maintaining tradition. Again, appropriate for the Happy Holiday Tree season

7/ The last event we commemorate is the translation of the Chumash into Greek (no, not dealing with the weird 9th of Tevet retcon, frumheretic.blogspot.com/2009/01/fast-o…) & that led directly to Xianity & the mistranslation of 'Almah' that led to today's holiday
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almah

8/ Hanukkah's message of resistance to assimilation ("Hellenism") is reinforced by 10th of Tevet's mourning of the popularization (and consequent misunderstanding) of Tanakh which in turn led to the misappropriation of my Tradition and thus cultural colonialization & oppression

9/ I theorize that the prohibition of writing down the Oral Law came about from the rise of these aggressive, sectarian breakaways, as a strategy to avoid repeating the LXX tragic cultural conquest of the very meaning of my covenant & tradition

10/ The oral law eventually was written down only when the dominant surrounding culture was not a product of the Bible: Sassanian Persia was Zoroastrian, so the oral law was uninteresting & thus a written record wasn't a volatile threat.

11/ I started this topic by emphasizing every fast day is to commemorate a tragedy that came about from our sins, and notably sins against our fellow person. Murder, injustice is #1. Sin #2 is about debasing the family & inherent relationships (kids in cages? forced births?)

12/ Sin 3 is avoda zara which ultimately is treason against God. I see so many of my fellow tribespeople run after a golden calf, embracing conservative WEP & rejecting their own people in worship of the greatest evil in a half-century

Fasting without teshuva is nonsensical.

13/ Will this depraved regime be forgotten by history? Will the victims' voices be silenced? Well, here's one descendent of a victim of the Nebuchadnezzar regime, a 'loser' of a war against a superpower, telling you 2608 years later: Never Forget.

And with strength: Never Again

14/ @threadreaderapp please unroll.

@threader_app please compile.