Why does the Gemara say, at the top of amuda aleph, that anyway the 3rd of Tishrei would be a yom tov due to the fact that it's one of the 4 Fasts that will be days of "sasson and simcha".
why will Tzom Gedalya be a day of Sasson and Simcha for itself (and not for the nes of the shtaros)?
I am sure I am not understanding something here...
tuvya marcus, jerusalem, Israel
The four fasts are sad days only when when we do not possess the Beis ha'Mikdash, because they all represent mourning for disasters that happened to Klal Yisrael concerning the Beis ha'Mikdash. When the Beis ha'Mikdash stands, on the contrary -- they are times of joy because they show how the mourning for the destruction of the Beis ha'Mikdash and the Galus have been transformed into rejoicing.
This is stated at the beginning of 18b, where the Gemara cites the verse from Zecharyah 8:19.
After the first Beis ha'Mikdash was destroyed, Gedalyah was a Tzadik who still remained at the head of the Jewish people. After he was murdered, the Jews became fully under the rule of Bavel. When we have the Beis ha'Mikdash back, we do not need to mourn about this, but on the contrary we rejoice that Hash-m saved us from our enemies and rebuilt the Beis ha'Mikdash.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom