למשמעות המשך קיומו של צום השביעי בימי שיבת ציון

Unlike the other three fasts that commemorate the destruction of the First Temple, the Fast of Gedaliah is unique in commemorating the end of Jewish administrative autonomy in the Land of Israel. The complexity of the political and economic reality in restoration Israel and the uncertainties experienced by the people are reflected in the question posed by the people regarding the continued observance of the fasts, as related in Zechariah 7. The unique significance of the Fast of Gedaliah emerges from Zechariah's response to the returnees in chapters 7-8. Whereas the questioners viewed the annulment of the fasts as an indication that God now resides in the new Temple, Zechariah's response does not provide a definitive answer to their query. Rather, it attributes to the returnees themselves the commission of the same wrongs that originally contributed to the establishment of the Fast of Gedaliah. The prophet effectively casts the question of the fasts—and, by extension, the decision regarding the redemptive nature of the return to Zion—back into the hands of the returnees themselves. Consideration of how this fast is treated in Megillat Ta‘anit shows that this question never reached a clear resolution and was the subject of ongoing debate throughout the early Second Commonwealth. By enacting measures to award Tisha be-Av and the Fast of Gedaliah the status of festivals, Megillat Ta‘anit tried to resolve the returnees' quandary, in the process further validating Zechariah's prophecy.