The four fasts of the destruction ארבע התעניות
Three fasts around the ninth of Av, named by the prophet Zechariah together with it: each marks its own step towards the destruction—and the promise that all of them will become festivals.
Zechariah names them together: "the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful seasons." Four fasts—four steps of one disaster.
The tenth of Tevet—the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by the army of Nebuchadnezzar. It is the only one of the fasts which, in the opinion of some authorities, is not postponed even for the Sabbath—so grave is the beginning held to be.
The seventeenth of Tammuz—the breaching of the city wall; the Mishnah lists five calamities of that day, and the first of them is older than the rest: the tablets were broken. From it to the ninth of Av run three weeks, "between the straits."
The third of Tishrei, the fast of Gedaliah—the killing of Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the governor left over the remnant. With his death the last Jewish presence in Judah came to an end, and so the day one man was killed became a fast for the whole people.
On the timeline
Sources
Tanakh
- Zechariah 8:19 — the four fasts named together
- 2 Kings 25:1 — the siege begins — the tenth of Tevet
- Jeremiah 41:1–3 — the killing of Gedaliah
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Mishnah Taanit 4:6 — five calamities of the seventeenth of Tammuz and the ninth of Av
- Rosh Hashanah 18b — the fasts will become festivals when there is peace
Basis: Talmud and midrash.