Tzom Gedaliah - The Fast of Gedaliah This fast commemorates the murder of Gedaliah, a scion of the royal house of Judah who had been appointed governor of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar (after the first exile 586 BCE). His assassination led to the end of any autonomous Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael at that time, as well as further disasters for the Jews living under Babylonian rule.