בס׳ד

"Where does it say that you have a contract with G-d to have an easy life?"

the Lubavitcher Rebbe



"Failure is not the enemy of success; it is its prerequisite."

Rabbi Nosson Scherman



28 Jan 2012

Chabad news

Chadrei Chareidim reports that a Spanish court has found Chabad Rabbi Eli Hecht not guilty of drug trafficking. If no appeal is filed, he can return to Israel within the coming week. Let's hope all goes smoothly for him.

Click here to read about the first bris on the island of St. Martin in hundreds of years.

A Connecticut judge has ruled the city of Hartford cannot use its zoning rules to prevent a sect of Orthodox Jews from using a former church as their place of worship, a case observers say had anti-Semitic overtones.
Superior Court Judge Maria Araujo Kahn recently ordered the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to undo its decision upholding a zoning enforcement officer's initial “cease and desist'' order against Chabad Chevra.
Read full article: http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=41087

27 Jan 2012

The rituals

Click here to read a post by Pamela Geller titled VIDEO: TLC's "All-American Muslim" Imam Unmosqued: Unhinged Jew-Hatred.

On a different topic, Reb Gutman Locks posted an interesting exchange of letters with a reform rabbi about observing the rituals in the Jewish religion. For those of you who missed the post, click here to read it.

In an article about this week's parsha, Rabbi Berel Wein also discusses the observance of the commandments.

"Values only have life if they are somehow translated into human action and normative behavior. Theories are wonderful but they rarely survive the tests of time and ever changing circumstances. Every scientific theory is therefore subjected to be proven by physical experiment and validation. Freedom is a great theory but unless somehow put into practical application in society it remains divorced from the realities of everyday existence."
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11185

Holocaust Remembrance Day

As the world marks Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, members of Israel's most devout group will remember the victims with prayer, study of scripture and a deep conviction in a grand plan that is beyond their earthly comprehension.

...Yehoshua Herbst, 76, recalled how his wife's grandfather was torn to shreds after a Nazi guard unleashed his attack dog.

"Why did he deserve this death? I don't understand. The explanation is that there are things we just cannot understand. But the Lord has his reasons," he said, before paraphrasing a famous rabbi who lost 11 of his children in the Holocaust. "I am proud that I belong to the people who were murdered and happy that I do not belong to the people who murdered."
Read full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/observant-survivors-keep-_0_n_1234356.html?ref=religion


26 Jan 2012

Yeah, Masood?

In a follow up to the last post, click here and here for further information.



The following is an exchange held during the January 23 Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Spokesperson: ... Yeah, other questions, please? Masood?

Question: Yes, on this race incarceration in… I mean, removal by the Israeli authorities of three Palestinian legislators from the International Red Cross offices in East Jerusalem… I mean, and so I understand article 49 of [inaudible] Geneva Convention prohibits Israel, the occupying Power, to remove these people from there and take them away. Do you have any comment? Has the Secretary-General any comment on that?

Spokesperson: I don’t have any specific comment on that, Masood, at the moment, no. No, I don’t. Yes?

Question: But you are aware of this?

Spokesperson: Yes, aware, but I don’t have any specific comment at the moment.

http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2012/db120124.doc.htm

Masood was so concerned that he again asked about the Palestinian legislators on January 24 and received the answer that the spokesperson had no update.

The New York Times reported on the incident and detailed the following information.

Cecilia Goin, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said by telephone that the organization had informed the three from the start that they could stay on the premises, but that the Red Cross did not enjoy diplomatic immunity and could not prevent the Israeli authorities from arresting them. The organization had also informed the Israeli authorities that the three were on the premises, she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/world/middleeast/israeli-police-arrest-2-protesting-palestinian-legislators.html?_r=1

So, Masood, here you have your answer.

Incidentally, Leo Rennert discusses the New York Times article in a post at American Thinker titled NY Times news judgment: Arrests of Hamas officials or Jerusalem Mufti's call to kill Jews?

The President in the news

INN has an article about former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman's opinion about the American President.

Concerning the president’s bid for re-election this November, Gillerman said that the changes in regimes in the Middle East make it more imperative for a change in favor of what he said is the need for a stronger president.

Keith Koffler has written an article titled Obama to Ignore Order to Appear in Atlanta Court.

You would think that an order by an Atlanta judge for President Obama to appear in court today would be major news. I looked for an article about the topic at Politico but haven't been able to find one. Here is one at CBSAtlanta and one at WND. But most of the MSM are ignoring this issue. If they ignore it, will it go away?

25 Jan 2012

The spirit of the film

HOLLYWOOD star Liam Neeson is considering giving up his Catholic belief and becoming a Muslim.
The actor, 59, admitted Islamic prayer "got into his spirit" while filming in Turkish city Istanbul.
Read full article: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4083596/Liam-Neeson-news-Liam-Neeson-is-thinking-about-becoming-a-Muslim.html

Why, pray tell, did Mr. Neeson not experience an epiphany when filming Schindller's List?

The first of Shevat

Wishing you a good Chodesh.
Below are a few salient points about Rosh Chodesh Shevat.

On the first of the month, Moshe, inspired by prophecy from G-d, began to recite the words of the Book of Devarim to Israel.
..For thirty-seven days, Moshe spoke these words to all Israel. He began the first of Shevat and ended the seventh of Adar.
...The later Sages have, therefore, said that the first of Shevat is comparable to the day of the giving of the Torah.
...Because the period of transmission of the Book of Devarim was this thirty-seven day interval, all the days from the first of Shevat until the seventh of Adar are especially well suited for renewed inspiration in the study of Torah and the doing of Mitzvot.
Continue reading: http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/shevat/default.htm

24 Jan 2012

His last words

Jonathan S. Tobin has written an article titled “I Am Jewish” — Remembering Daniel Pearl as the 10th anniversary of the journalist's kidnapping approaches this week.

But though this anniversary is a sad one, his last words must also serve as a reassurance the Islamists who murdered him will not prevail. Though an Islamist winter has followed the Arab spring, the words “I am Jewish” resonate today as the cry of a Jewish people who will not perish.
Read full article: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/01/24/daniel-pearl-jewish-al-qaeda/#more-781851

In the video below, the menorah that belonged to Daniel Pearl's great-grandfather is kindled at a White House Chanukah lighting ceremony in 2007 with Geroge W. Bush and the Pearls in attendance.

Interrupting ringtones

A number of days ago, it was reported that the New York Philharmonic's music director interrupted a performance due to a ringing cellphone.

It’s the dreaded sound at any live performance — a ringing cellphone.

That’s what happened Tuesday night at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall during the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony by the New York Philharmonic. Maestro Alan Gilbert was forced to stop the orchestra until the phone was silenced.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20120112/ENT/120119809

This morning, I caught an article in the Huffington Post about a Slovakian violist who incorporated a cell phone ringtone into his recital after he was interrupted while playing. The description section of the YouTube video states that the concert took place at the Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Presov Slovakia.
The following is an excerpt from the article.

"This video of Slovakian violist Lukas Kmit improvising around Nokia's signature ringtone is so good, many have thought it was a sly piece of advertising for the Finnish telecommunications giant. But, as it turns out, it's 100% the real deal, with the classical fiddler - our term - interrupted mid-performance by an inconsiderant mobile phone owner before taking the tune and playing it on the violin himself. "

Can someone kindly post a comment as to when 'inconsiderant' became part of the English language? Thanks, in advance.
UPDATE: Inconsiderant has been corrected to inconsiderate.

I will never forget how I attended a lecture given by a distinguished speaker who asked, at the onset of her lecture, for cellphones to be turned off. Sure enough, she was interrupted by a cellphone a few minutes into the lecture. Once again, she asked that cellphones be turned off. A few minutes later, there was another interruption.
So let's be more considerate and SHUT OFF our cellphones.
Hamodia recently had a letter from a reader aboout how his son came home from school saying how much the rebbe loved his cellphone as he was always on it during recess when his responsibility was to be watching over the boys playing in the yard.

23 Jan 2012

Thank you, CAMERA

Chadrei Charedim has published a list of venues for an atzeret tefilah for the eldest son of Rav Ovadia Yosef which will take place tomorrow, Erev Rosh Chodesh Shevat. May Rabbi Yaakov Yosef merit a refuah sheleima.

On another topic, I want to thank Camera for its tremendous work in trying to ensure honest reporting in the media.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter misrepresented a key Middle East issue yet again, this time in a Cable News Network (CNN) appearance. He has done this often in the past regarding Israel (examples – here and here). This time the ex-President erroneously blamed Israel for the flight of Palestinian Arab Christians from “Palestine.”
Read full article from Camera at: http://blog.camera.org/archives/2012/01/jimmy_carter_puts_foot_in_mout_1.html

Click here to read CAMERA Prompts LA Times Correction on Haredim.

Speaking of the L.A. Times; Lauri Regan has penned an article titled
A GOP Candidate's Bitter Ex-Wife Receives More Coverage Than a Video of Obama Dining with Terrorist-Supporters.

In April 2010, Roger L. Simon published an article on PajamasMedia entitled, "Why is the L.A. Times Burying the Obama/Khalidi Tape?" Of further consequence is why the media -- and Americans -- are not demanding that the L.A. Times immediately release the tape.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/a_gop_candidates_bitter_ex-wife_receives_more_coverage_than_a_video_of_obama_dining_with_terrorist_s.html#ixzz1kJjojT8M

The L.A. Times should have released the tape years ago and should certainly do so ASAP. Can you imagine what power a person can wield and what someone can do with a video in his possession which may reflect negatively on an elected official?

The siyum

Approximately one year ago, the members of the shul where my husband davens decided to take upon themselves to learn mishnayot leilui nishmat a rebbe who had passed away many years before. The idea was for the members to complete the entire mishnayot within the year and have a siyum dinner the day of the rebbe's yahrzheit.

Someone signed my husband up for one of the more difficult masekhet mishnayot. Since then, my husband assiduously reviewed the masekhet every Friday evening after our meal, as well as after the Sabbath noon meal. Two weeks ago, he finally completed the masekhet.

This evening, the shul will be marking the yarzheit with a siyum dinner. As I woke up this morning, I contemplated what made my husband follow through on the undertaking. Surely, he is a man of integrity and tries to fulfill what he promises. But, it is more than that. Even if no one in shul would be any the wiser if my husband hadn't completed the masekhet, the One Above would have known. We live with the knowledge that we are accountable to Hashem each and every day.

As the members of the shul joyfully celebrate accomplishing a momentous task, I hope they will undertake a new goal for the coming year.

22 Jan 2012

The first deed of the day

Rav Moshe Leib Sassov says that if a person wants to make sure his day is one filled with Avodas Hashem and avoid aveiros, he should try to make sure his first deed is a good one. Since Mitzva Goreres Mitzva, once you have the first mitzva under your belt, the law of this mishna says that it should continue, as you are already propelled in the right direction. This is Mirumaz in the pasuk (Bo 13:2), "Kadesh Li Kol Bichor", the first action should be designated for Hashem.
However a person may still worry that his first mitzva may not be done wholeheartedly and therefore this plan will not help. Therefore he says, have rachmanus on another Jew. Even if your intention is not pure, the mitzva will still stand tall as you have helped another Jew regardless. This is Mirumaz in the next words, "Peter Kol" to patur yourself from all worries, "Rechem" have rachmanus on a Jew.

Even with this a person may be concerned that the Jew he helped, is not worthy and therefore his mercy was misplaced and not considered a Mitzva. To this says Rav Moshe Leib, we only need to continue the next words of the Pasuk, "BaAdam U'Babiheima" whether he was a worthy man or an animal and not worthy of kindness, "Li", Hashem says, leave that to Me. You will get your S'char either way.
http://revach.net/article.php?id=4907

At the New York Times

David Gerstman has penned an article titled Helping the NY Times Become ‘Truth Vigilantes’ at PJMedia.

In general, when the Times reports on Israeli violence against Palestinians, it seems that any charge made by the Palestinians is worth reporting without skepticism. Similarly, the Times accepts nearly every claim made by Palestinian leadership at face value.
Read full article: http://pjmedia.com/blog/helping-the-ny-times-become-truth-vigilantes/#comments

Dov Linzer has wrote an op-ed a few days ago in the New York Times in which he attempts to define the term modesty according to the teachings of Jewish tradition.

Jewish tradition teaches men and women alike that they should be modest in their dress. But modesty is not defined by, or even primarily about, how much of one’s body is covered. It is about comportment and behavior. It is about recognizing that one need not be the center of attention. It is about embodying the prophet Micah’s call for modesty: learning “to walk humbly with your God.”
Read full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/opinion/ultra-orthodox-jews-and-the-modesty-fight.html

I disagree. While modesty is also defined by comportment and behavior, how one dresses is also an integral part of the term.

12 Jan 2012

Irresponsible words

Whether he made anti-Semitic remarks or not, I leave that to you to be the judge but it pays to heed his message of not using words irresponsibly.

A suburban Cleveland church where the father of pop star Katy Perry delivered a sermon that drew accusations of anti-Semitism has released an apology in which he says he regrets his "hurtful and ugly language."

...In his apology, Hudson says that with the help of God, he won't again make such comments.

"We can do lots of harm even to those we love simply by using words irresponsibly. ... I apologize for the hurt that I caused my Jewish friends," he said.

Read full article: http://news.yahoo.com/perrys-father-apologizes-remarks-jews-234138039.html

11 Jan 2012

Good manners

Yesterday I made up to meet a friend in front of a house where an engagement party was taking place. As I arrived early, I prepared to wait. A woman in her seventies was standing outside, waiting for her husband to emerge from the house. She had already wished her mazal tov to the family and had expected her husband to be outside. We started conversing and she remarked about how impressed the chsson's family was with the unity in the town and how everyone had come out on a wintry night to give best wishes to the couple.

A few minutes later, my friend arrived and I excused myself. We stood outside, conversing, while the woman I had spoken to went to investigate her husband's whereabouts. When she emerged with her husband, she came over to me, a woman years her junior, and thanked me for the pleasure of my company.

I was flabbergasted by her wonderful manners and lamented how today's generation needs to learn from the one that preceded it.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband was asked by a young man to pass him a siddur. After he passed the man the siddur, he expected to be thanked. THe man didn't say a word. My husband berated him.

"Aren't you going to say thank you?"

"For what?" the man answered. "It wasn't your siddur."

My husband responded, "does it cost you anything to say thank you?"
The man turned to him angrily and said, "you should thank me."

That was the end of the discussion. But I can't help wondering if the man had grown up in the environment of the elderly lady and her husband, whether he would have had better manners.

An insurance scam

Police have told community leaders that car firebombings that rattled a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn were probably an insurance scam, and not a hate crime, the Daily News has learned.

Vandals on Nov. 11 torched three cars in Midwood, tried to set a fourth afire and scrawled messages of hate — swastikas, KKK and “f--- the Jews” — on a nearby van and benches.

...But police sources said investigators now believe the graffiti was probably scrawled in a ruse to make the firebombings look like an act of hate.

“We’re investigating the possibility that some of the evidence was manufactured to make this look like a bias crime,’’ one source said.

Another source said investigators are “pretty certain” the cars were torched so someone could collect insurance money.

“We don’t think it’s about hating Jews,’’ the second source said.
Read full article: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/hate-firebombings-insurance-scam-cops-article-1.1004283


And speaking about scams, here is one about a teacher who tried to scam the system.


Her spelling was so atrocious, it was downright criminal.

A veteran Manhattan educator was busted for allegedly forging a jury-duty letter with so many errors that it raised red flags when she used it to excuse more than a dozen school absences.

Mona Lisa Tello, 60, a bilingual-science teacher at the HS of Graphic Communication Arts in Hell’s Kitchen, was arrested this week on three felony counts of forgery related to her grade-A screw-up.

Tello channeled an errant third-grader rather than a 13-year teaching veteran when she misspelled “trial” as “trail,” “cited” as “sited,” and “manager” as “manger” in a careless note on fake letterhead from Hudson County Superior Court in Jersey City.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/bad_spell_gets_teach_busted_bvwZ277lq6ERyPkCDFtXrJ#ixzz1j9E3HMkL

10 Jan 2012

Emunah

In a roadside motel on the way down to Mitzrayim Moshe Rabbeinu was almost killed because he didn't give his son a Bris Milah. He was on his way to do the great mitzva of rescuing the entire Jewish nation. Why didn't this mitzva protect him?

The Meshech Chochma asks how can Moshe do something so seemingly irresponsible like bring his wife and children with him to Mitzrayim? He answers that Moshe was still not confident that the Bnei Yisroel would believe what he was going to tell them. He therefore brought his family to prove that Hashem was taking them all out of Mitzrayim or else he wouldn't dare bring his own family to get stuck there as well.

His family's coming to Mitzrayim was a continuation of his lack of faith in Bnei Yisroel's emunah. If not for this lack of emunah his son would not be on the trip with him in the first place. Therefore the mitzva of redeeming Bnei Yisroel could not save him.
http://www.thejewisheye.com/rev_pshemos.html

Candidates - past and present

Joel Richardson speaks about Ron Paul in an interview at WND.

An activist group whose leaders object to the beliefs of Pat Buchanan, a senior adviser to three American presidents, a candidate for the Republican nomination in 1992 and 1996, and the Reform Party’s presidential candidate in 2000, is announcing victory in its campaign to have the author of multiple best-selling books removed from MSNBC.
Continue reading: http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/critics-claim-msnbc-has-suspended-pat-buchanan/

9 Jan 2012

Shnayim Mikrah Ve'echod Targum

"And these are the names of the Children of Israel" (Shmos 1:1). In conjunction with the public reading of the parsha, our Chachomim require that every individual learn it on his own and be familiar with its basic pshat. To achieve this level of mastery, they instituted a three-tiered review of the parsha: The text itself must be read twice, followed by Onkelos. Shnayim Mikrah Ve'echod Targum, "twice the text and once the translation of Onkelos", is the name of this mitzvah. A G-d fearing man should study Rashi's commentary in addition to Targum.

The Levush writes that it is hinted at (remez) in the first pasuk of this week's Parsha. The Hebrew letters of the pasuk "V'eila Shemos Bnei Yisroel" are an acronym for: V'chayav Adam Likros Haparsha Shnayim Mikra Ve'echod Targum Vze Chayavim Kol Bnei Yisroel".
http://www.thejewisheye.com/rev_pshemos.html

A penny for your thoughts

A southern Israeli father of two who donated 1800 shekels ($470) to a synagogue last Yom Kippur was repaid in spades last week with a whopping 18 million shekels ($4.7 million) for a winning “Lotto” lottery ticket, which cost him a grand total of 64 shekels ($16).

“I truly believe I won because I gave money to the synagogue on Yom Kippur,” said the man, who is in his 40s. “I contributed 1,800 shekels to the synagogue and HaShem gave me back 18 million shekels.”
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151535

And speaking about money, the following is an excerpt from an article about paying in pennies.

A University of Colorado student wanted to protest his high tuition. He paid his $1,400 tuition payment with 1,400 one-dollar bills. I guess that is somewhat understandable, but when you switch to pennies it gets even worse. Jason West from Utah was arrested after paying his medical bill with pennies. He disputed the bill that the clinic sent him for $25. He went in person to pay his bill and asked if they accepted cash payment. They answered that they did, and he promptly dumped 2,500 pennies on the counter. The clinic called the police and Jason was issued a summons for disorderly conduct. That ticket carries a penalty of up to $140. It was the way he dumped the pennies that got him fined.
A man was upset with the Fulton County tax office. He decided that he was going to pay his fee for renewing his license plates in pennies. Pennies come in boxes of $25 and weigh about 15 pounds. He found a bank willing to supply him with the requisite pennies, and they told him that he was the only person to make a withdrawal using a hand truck! The license fee was $167. He boxed up 15,000 pennies and included a check for the remaining $17. He mailed his pennies to the tax office, which was only a block away. The shipping charge came to $16. The office accepted the payment without comment. Did they legally have to accept the payment? Halachically, does someone have to accept payment in pennies?
Read full article: http://www.5tjt.com/local-news/12904-pay-with-pennies-call-the-coppers

8 Jan 2012

Will we ever learn?

Nearly 100 soldiers are confined to a Seattle base following a report of missing sensitive military equipment, including scopes and night lasers, a spokesman said Sunday.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/08/us/washington-missing-base-equipment/index.html

Victor Sharpe has penned an article at American Thinker titled Looming Destruction: Will Jews Ever Learn?

On the eve of the Second World War, Chaim Weizmann, who was to become Israel's first president, wrote the following about the persecutions taking place in Nazi Germany:

It would require the eloquence of a Jeremiah to picture the horrors, the human anguish, of this new Destruction and of a new book of Lamentations to depict the present plight of Israel among the nations.

Several decades earlier, Max Nordau, one of the most noted European philosophers of the 19th century, and supporter of Theodore Herzl, once told the great Zionist leader and Jewish patriot, Vladimir Jabotinsky, that "the Jew learns not by way of reason, but from catastrophes. He won't buy an umbrella merely because he sees clouds in the sky. He waits until he is drenched and catches pneumonia."
Continue reading full article: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/looming_destruction_will_jews_ever_learn.html

7 Jan 2012

Subject to revocation

The Muslim Brotherhood denied on Saturday that it had assured Washington it would uphold the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty and the second in command says the MB will not recognize Israel under any circumstances.

Caroline Glick writes about The land-for-peace hoax.

The rise of the forces of jihadist Islam in Egypt places the US and other Western powers in an uncomfortable position. The US is the guarantor of Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. That treaty is based on the proposition of land for peace. Israel gave Egypt Sinai in 1982 and in exchange it received a peace treaty with Egypt. Now that the Islamists are poised to take power, the treaty is effectively null and void.

The question naturally arises: Will the US act in accordance with its role as guarantor of the peace and demand that the new Egyptian government give Sinai back to Israel? Because if the Obama administration or whatever administration is in power when Egypt abrogates the treaty does not issue such a demand, and stand behind it, and if the EU does not support the demand, the entire concept of land-for-peace will be exposed as a hoax.

Indeed the land-for-peace formula will be exposed as a twofold fiction. First, it is based on the false proposition that the peace process is a two-way street. Israel gives land, the Arabs give peace. But the inevitable death of the Egyptian- Israeli peace accord under an Egyptian jihadist regime makes clear that the land-for-peace formula is a one-way street. Israeli land giveaways are permanent. Arab commitments to peace can be revoked at any time.
Read full article: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=252431

6 Jan 2012

Parshat Vayechi



Helping the stranger

Below is a video about Eritrean refugees in Israel. If you view the clip on YouTube, you can read the comments posted. Would the comment posted by @TheGreenPastures be considered incitement or would it be viewed as a quote from a religious text?

5 Jan 2012

The rainbow

This afternoon, as we drove through a heavy downpour, the sky suddenly cleared for a couple of minutes and the sun shone through. Suddenly, we saw a rainbow and recited the blessing one pronounces upon seeing that phenomenon.
When I got home, I googled "saying a brocha on a rainbow" and came across an interesting document titled "Halacha of the rainbow" which posed various questions and answers about the subject including:

Question:How is the rainbow connected with the coming of Moshiach?

Answer:Before the coming of Moshiach, a very special rainbow will appear. This rainbow will be so bright that all rainbows that have appeared on earth will seem very dim and weak in comparison.The bright strong colors of this rainbow are a sign that the Redemption is about to come. It is this rainbow, the Zohar tells us, that G-d was speaking about when He said to Noah (Gen. 9:16), "I will look at it to recall the eternal promise."(Zohar 1:72b as quoted in Discover Moshiach)

Click here to read full article.

The fast of the tenth of Tevet

'And it was in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth (day) of the month, that Nebuchadnetzar, King of Babylon came, he and all his hosts, upon Yerushalayim, and he encamped upon it and built forts around it. And the city came under siege till the eleventh year of King Tzidkiyahu. On the ninth of the month famine was intense in the city, the people had no bread, and the city was breached.' (Second Melachim 25).

We see then, that the tenth of Tevet - on which the siege of Yerushalayim began, was the beginning of the whole chain of calamities which finally ended with the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.
Read full article: http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/tevet/fast.htm