Tenth of Tevet-Redemption In Exile

Immediately after the chapter in the Torah concerning the destruction of Amalek, there follows the law of the sanctity of the Temple site. So our Sages declare, “The people of Israel were instructed in the performance of three mitzvot upon their entering Israel: to appoint a king over them, to destroy the seed of Amalek, and immediately afterward to build the Temple (Sanhedrin 20b, referring to Deuteronomy 12:10).” That was why our Sages placed the chapter of “The People of the City,” dealing with the laws of the sanctity of a synagogue and house of study, in Megillah, which deals with the destruction of Amalek.

Thus too, the sequence in the verse, “all the horns of the wicked will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up (Psalms 75:11).” The Sages explained, “where is their horn uplifted? In Jerusalem (Megillah 17b).” This means that the uplifting of the Horn of Israel, the redemption, is limited to a sanctified locale in Israel and cannot be diffused, lest it be nullified. Now, synagogues and houses of study have the sanctity of Israel, for our Sages state that these sacred edifices in the Diaspora will all be transposed to Israel at the time of the redemption (Megillah 29a).

The three mitzvot are linked together. When one person is somewhat exalted above others in the building of a new synagogue or house of study, which our Sages considered a miniature Temple, it is equal to the appointment of a King. (Rav Tzadok haKohen of Lublin, Tzidkat haTzaddik, #176)

We can find Redemption from the tragedy of the Tenth of Tevet in the impregnable sanctity of synagogues and houses of Study. Spend extra time in the days leading to, and on, the Tenth of Tevet, in holy gatherings and places, to taste the redemption in Exile described above.