Above: Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem circa 1900, roughly 2,000 years after the destruction of the First Temple! Today is the Tenth of Tevet an important day on the Jewish calendar, and a minor fast day. The fast begins at dawn and concludes at nightfall and there are no other physical constraints beyond fasting, in contrast to the major fast of Tisha B’Av. Because it is a minor fast day, there are many exemptions from the fast, many women do not fast, and certainly those who are nursing or with young children are exempt. Whether or not one is fasting we certainly do keep in mind the importance of the day, which…