Yechezkel ch.24 - No Mourning!

Chapter 24 takes place on the 10 of Tevet - the day that the Babylonians besiege Jerusalem.

1. Ezekiel prophesizes about the "pot and the meat" and warns the people that Jerusalem will not protect or defend them; instead they will be stewed inside the city as the siege begins to bite.

2. Yechezkel's own wife dies and the prophet is instructed to refrain from mourning rituals. This represents the fact that people will not have the luxury of mourning loved-ones once the Hurban arrives. There is no time to mourn in the panic and pandemonium of the national collapse.