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Why is a mere siege (Asara B'Teves) significant enough to warrant its own fast day? The shiur develops that galus occurs in four stages that reverse the four languages of geulah. The siege represents the loss of the highest level - v'lakachti - which undoes our freedom and connection to Torah (תורה).
This shiur examines the four fast days commemorating the destruction and exile, as listed by the Rambam (רמב"ם) in Hilchos Ta'anis: Tzom Gedaliah, Asara B'Teves, Shiva Asar B'Tammuz, and Tisha B'Av. Rabbi Zweig raises a fundamental question: why does a mere siege of the city (Asara B'Teves) merit its own fast day when it seems insignificant compared to the actual breaching of walls or destruction of the Beis Hamikdash? The shiur develops a novel framework based on the parallel between the four languages of geulah (hotzei'ti, v'hitzalti, v'ga'alti, v'lakachti) and the four stages of galus. Just as redemption from Egypt proceeded through four distinct stages - cessation of work, relief from pressure, Krias Yam Suf, and Kabbalas Torah (תורה) - so too the process of entering galus reverses these stages in opposite order. The first step into galus (Asara B'Teves) therefore undoes the highest level of geulah (v'lakachti - Kabbalas Torah).
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Hilchos Ta'anis 5
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