Who was Gedaliah and why does he have a fast dedicated to him?
The very next day after Rosh Hashana is the 'Fast of Gedaliah'. Perhaps not surprisingly, this event is utterly overshadowed by the surrounding big deals of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. But who was Gedaliah and why does he have a fast dedicated to him?
Is this fast a piece of Jewish obscurantism, a chance for a tiny proportion of Jewish people to show how much 'frummer' (more observant) they are than everyone else, or is it a vitally relevant feature of Jewish practice which is unfairly overlooked by the majority?
Clive Lawton OBE is an Educational consultant, a magistrate and a regular teacher and presenter at JW3 where his course subjects move between diverse subjects exploring literary, philosophical, historical and religious themes. One of the founders of Limmud Clive has been a Headmaster, on the Metropolitan Police Authority and is now CEO of the Commonwealth Jewish Council and Independent Tribunal Chair for the NHS
