Tishah B'Av we understand, that was the day that the Bais HaMikdosh was destroyed.

Tzom Gedalya was the end of our political control in Eretz Yisroel.

Shiva-Assar BeTamuz was the day that the walls of Yerushalayim fell, and one could argue that the destruction of the walls means the destruction of Yerushalayim. Without walls, there is no Yerushalayim in terms of Maaser Sheini, for example, as we are learning in Bava Metzia.

Each Tzom seems to correspond to an aspect of destruction, be it the Bais HaMikdosh, Yerushalayim, or our political control, except for today, Asarah BeTeves. It doesn't seem to fit in.

What makes today even more remarkable is that Asarah BeTeves is Docheh Shabbos! It overrides Shabbos! Since we have a set calendar, it turns out that Halacha LeMaiseh, none of these four fast days can occur on Shabbos. However, the Avudraham, who is even quoted by the Bais Yoseif, maintains that if we didn't have a set calendar, and these fast days were to occur on a Shabbos, all of them would be pushed off to Sunday, except for Assarah BeTeves. Even if today were Shabbos, we would still be fasting! It's an amazing thing. It's so amazing that even Reb Chaim comments on it in the infamous stencils. He explains the Avudraham's reasoning which is based on the Pasuk in Yechezkel that says "BaEtzem HaYom HaZeh." All the other fast days can be pushed off to later in the month, but Asarah BeTeves has to be that day, "BaEtzem HaYom HaZeh."

Why should that be? Why should the nature of Asarah BeTeves be such that it overrides Shabbos? Especially considering it seems to be the least important of all the fasts! It doesn't even seem to correspond to any form of destruction, and yet it is the most Chamur, the most forceful in the sense that it even overrides Shabbos.

In his Kuntris on Chanukah and Assarah BeTeves, called Kedushas Shmuel, Rav Shmuel Yissachar Dov Toibenfeld discusses this Avudraham. It goes something like this:

The Gemara in Rosh HaShana (31a) says that the Shechinah made 10 travels before returning to her place, so to speak. We know that the Shechinah hovered above the lid of the Aron HaKodesh in the Kodesh HaKodashim. When the Jewish people sinned, the Shechinah began to depart, little by little.

First, she went from above the Kapores, from where she used to speak to Moshe Rabbeinu, and from where all the prophets focused to receive prophecy, to one of the Keruvim that Shlomo HaMelech had made.

Then she went to the other Keruv, and made her way slowly, step by step out of the Mikdosh to the city; to Yerushalayim.

From Yerushalayim, she went to the mountains, and to the desert.

From the desert, she returned to her place, leaving us with death, destruction and Galus.

Amar Rav Yochanan, Rav Yochanan said, "The Shechinah waited for six months in the desert; maybe, just maybe the Jewish people would do Teshuvah."

Those six months ended on Tes Tamuz, says the Maharsha, the day the walls of Yerushalayim fell during the time of the first Bais HaMikdosh.

It comes out then, according to the Maharsha, that the day that the Shechinah left Yerushalayim, was today, Asarah BeTeves. As long as the Shechinah was present, a siege was impossible. The Pasuk says, "Yerushalayim, Harim Saviv Lah, VeHashem Saviv LeAmo… (Tehillim 125)" However, once the Shechinah left, what remained was a physical wall which lacked the divine protection it once enjoyed. That's when the siege began.

In other words, while the physical destruction of Yerushalayim and the Bais HaMikdosh occurred later, the destruction, so to speak, of Kedushas Yerushalayim, was on Asarah BeTeves. The Kedushas HaMikdosh, which Yerushalayim once had was lost. And that is the Ikar Churban. The essential loss of the Bais HaMikdosh is not so much the physical structure, but rather the Kedushah that it embodied.

This is how Assarah BeTeves fits in with the other fast days. It also corresponds to an aspect of destruction, the essential aspect, Kedushah. Assarah BeTeves is the day that the Shechinah left Yerushalayim and waited in the desert, hoping desperately that we would do Teshuvah.

But, why should it be Docheh Shabbos?

The Gemara in Yevamos (6a) says that the building of the Bais HaMikdosh is not Docheh Shabbos. But the Korbanos and the Avodah in the Bais HaMikdosh certainly is Docheh Shabbos. While building the physical structure does not override Shabbos, strengthening and maintaining its Kedushah does.

Rav Toibenfeld says that really there are two aspects to building the Mikdosh. Building the physical structure, and building the Kedushah She-Bo. Everyone understands how to build the physical structure. But how do you build Kedushah? Says Rav Toibenfeld, by not building. By refraining from those activities forbidden to us, by being Shomer Shabbos, we build Kedushah. The holier the day, the more forbidden activities there are. That is how you build the Mikdosh even on Shabbos. The physical structure is built during the week, but the Kedushah of the Mikdosh is built even on Shabbos.

This is one way to understand why the fast of Assarah BeTeves would be observed even on Shabbos. The Teshuvah that we do on Tisha B'Av, is focused on the physical loss of the Bais HaMikdosh, which is perhaps something tangible and easier to relate to. The Teshuvah of Assarah BeTeves however, should be focused on our lost Kedushah. That type of Avodah, the Avodah of building Kedushah is performed even on Shabbos.

The Mussar Haskel from this is obvious. While all of the external aspects of Yidishkite are critical, we must not lose sight of the Kedushah factor. Every Berachah we make says, "Asher Kidshanu Bemitzvosav." The Mitzvos are supposed to be Mekadesh us. Since we have a daily regimen of Mitzvos and set schedules, and the like, we have to be careful not to perform them as robotic actions, but to strive to give them new meaning and energy. In fact, Rav Eliyahu Dessler writes in his Michtav M'Eliyahu that Brachah means multiplicity. When we make a Berachah on an apple, we are asking for more apples, but we are also asking for more G-dly apples. When a person makes a Berachah with Kavanah, not only do more apples come to the world, but more G-dly apples come to the world. Through the physical action of reciting a blessing, physical sustenance comes to the world. Through the spiritual action of Kavanah, sustenance imbued with sanctity comes to the world. However, if a person makes a Berachah without Kavanah, all that comes to the world is apples. Physical apples. Apples that are devoid of Kedushah. That Berachah would become a Kelalah; that blessing would, G-d forbid, become a curse. Instead of greater G-d awareness in this world, more spirituality, there would be more physicality.

Especially now, with all that is going on in Eretz Yisroel, we should make a decided effort to do Teshuvah for our lost Kedushah, for the Kedushah of Yerushalayim, for the Kedushas HaMikdosh that we yearn to experience with the rebuilding of the Bais HaMikdosh, both physically and spiritually, Bimheirah BeYameinu, Amein.