Days where Jews refrain from eating and drinking.
20
votes
3answers
326 views
Must a jew-by-choice who is a firstborn observe the fast of the firstborn
I'm interested in the question of whether a ger who is firstborn (of both parents, say, to keep things simple) must follow the rules for Ta'anit B'khorot. There are some remarks on the wikipedia page, ...
14
votes
1answer
565 views
You accidentally broke your fast*. Now what?
What are you supposed to do if you inadvertently broke your fast*? Do you:
keep going;
extend it (if so, how long);
cancel it (if so, do you make it up a different day)?
*This question is for ...
12
votes
4answers
656 views
Fast days and time zones
If I fly westward on a fast day, and travel through one/several time zone/s, thereby going back in (clock) time, must I then fast until it ends in my current time zone? What if I fly eastward, thereby ...
12
votes
1answer
242 views
Avinu Malkeinu - middle verses said out loud by Chazan
Why do we repeat out loud the verses of Avinu Malkeinu - from Hachzireinu B'Teshuva until Kosveinu B'Sefer Slicha U'Mechila? Why only these verses? Why not others?
11
votes
3answers
198 views
How did Mordechai get *all* the Jews of Shushan to agree to fast for three days?
My question is a bit long-winded so I'll summarize first:
How did Mordechai rouse the will of all the Jews of Shushan to agree to fast for three days? And further, why did Esther limit her request ...
11
votes
1answer
277 views
Mouthwash on a public fast day?
Is it permitted to use mouthwash on a public fast day? Would a sensitive mouth, due to medical reasons be a good reason to be lenient?
(I can see it being less problematic than brushing one's teeth, ...
10
votes
3answers
197 views
Do more fasts fall out on monday and thursday, or does it just feel that way
On Monday and Thursday, we say a longer Tachanun. On a fast day (where the weekday prayers are still said), Selichot are said in addition to Tachanun.
It feels like there are many more fasts that ...
8
votes
3answers
393 views
How do I avoid thirst when fasting?
I started fasting on Yom Kippur as an adult, about 10 years ago.
A couple times I had to drink a glass of water either after Kol Nidre or before Shacharit, because I felt completely dehydrated (I did ...
8
votes
1answer
514 views
Shower or Mikvah on a Fast Day
Are you allowed to take a shower on a fast day, and is it suggested?
Once we are talking about bathing, what about going to the Mikvah on a fast day?
Does it make a difference if one goes daily, ...
8
votes
1answer
115 views
Do the customs in regards to *Yud Av* apply to *Yud-Aleph Av* on a year when the fast is pushed off?
I know that people have the custom (I don't know how universal it is), to keep a lot of the restrictions of the nine days until Chatzos on Yud Av. Such as not eating meat or doing laundry.
This year ...
7
votes
4answers
299 views
What's the best way to make ashes (for weddings and/or pre-Tisha B'Av)?
There are times that something calls for ashes, e.g.:
The meal right before Tisha B'Av, you're supposed to eat a hard-boiled egg dipped in ashes.
A groom puts ashes on his forehead shortly before ...
7
votes
1answer
81 views
Did Esther eat at the first feast she made for the king and Haman?
Esther 5:1,5:4 says that Esther made the first feast on the third day of the fast.
Earlier (4:16), Esther tells Mordechai that she will also fast for three days.
Did she eat at the feast, or was ...
7
votes
1answer
170 views
20 Sivan and the inappropriateness of new days of commemoration
The kina (elegy) "Mi yiten roshi mayim" recited on 9 Av was composed in commemoration of the events of the First Crusade as it passed through the Rhineland. It includes the following lines (freely ...
7
votes
1answer
92 views
What constitutes eating on a fast day?
For example, does chewing on a stick or piece of plastic count as eating? grass? What about chewing sugar-free gum with no nutritional value?
I imagine it must be "derech achila," but this certainly ...
7
votes
1answer
157 views
When do the restrictions of 3 weeks start when 17 Tammuz is on Shabbos?
When do the restrictions of 3 weeks start when 17 Tammuz is on Shabbos (e.g. this year)?
Do they start motzei shabbos (already 18 Tammuz), since the 17 Tammuz is technically on shabbos or do they ...
7
votes
3answers
253 views
7
votes
1answer
120 views
Fasting for non Religious Reasons?
I was recently asked to fast as a part of a multi-faith community fast as spiritual preparation for doing voter engagement work (I work for a multi-faith, multi-ethnic community organization.)
Here ...
7
votes
1answer
130 views
Yom Kippur - nicotine patch
Is there any problem with wearing a nicotine patch on Yom Kippur or any other fast day? (sources please)
6
votes
5answers
678 views
Oops, I just missed the siyum for Fast of the Firstborn
I am a firstborn. Suppose I wake up late on Erev Pesach and walk into shul right after they finish the siyum. Can I still partake in the post-siyum meal, or am I too late? More precisely, what are ...
6
votes
2answers
77 views
Why do the Destruction-related Fasts not have names?
There are three Fasts on our calendar that commemorate stages in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple:
17 Tammuz
9 Av
10 Tevet
(I realize that we could consider Tzom Gedaliah a partial ...
6
votes
2answers
130 views
Why isn't Ta'anit Bechorot pushed back to Thursday when Pesach falls out on Shabbas?
When the first Seder falls on Motzei Shabbas, Ta'anit Bechorot is pushed back to Thursday. Why does it stay on Friday when Pesach falls out on Shabbas?
6
votes
2answers
126 views
Are males with older sisters “firstborn” for the purposes of the Fast of the Firstborn?
Assuming you follow the tradition that only first-born males are obligated to fast the day before Passover, do the males who have an older sister count as first-born or not?
Wikipedia doesn't seem to ...
6
votes
3answers
295 views
What is the best way to break a fast?
After a fast often people get sick when they eat. What type of food or drink is the best way to break the fast and avoid becoming ill?
6
votes
1answer
96 views
What are the opinions regarding eating small-bits-at-a-time (“leshiurin”) on Tisha B'Av when necessary?
I know on Yom Kippur, if someone is medically required to eat, s/he should do so with only a bit of food every few minutes, to avoid the full severity of eating "a full serving in one sitting."
On ...
6
votes
2answers
358 views
Until what time in the morning may you eat on a fast day?
On fast days that begin in the morning, (Asara B'Teves, Taanis Esther, Shiva Asar B'Tamuz, Tzom Gedalya) if you intend to eat when you awake, until what time may you eat in the morning? Does it depend ...
6
votes
1answer
263 views
Kiddush on Yom Kippur
If I must eat on Yom Kippur is there a Chiyuv To make Kiddush? If there is not Is there a situation where you do?
6
votes
1answer
54 views
Why did the animals of Ninveh have to fast and wear sackcloth?
In Yona 3:7-8 we find that the people of Ninveh included the animals in their teshuva process. Why make the animals fast and don sackcloth? How was this part of the teshuva process?
6
votes
0answers
49 views
Has anyone declared a time of oppression regarding the four Temple fasts?
The Sha'ar haTziyun (OC 550 sk 9) speculates if in his day (~1900 CE) there was enough oppression of the Jews to warrant declaring the fasts of 10 Tevet, 17 Tammuz and 3 Tishrei into full fledged ...
6
votes
0answers
65 views
Counting towards a Keriat HaTorah one who accidentally ate
We have Halacha that at least 6 people need to be fasting in order to read the Torah in a fast day. However, let's say there are 10 people and 5 are definitely fasting and one who accidentally ate ...
5
votes
3answers
99 views
5
votes
3answers
246 views
5
votes
2answers
173 views
Under what circumstances may one eat or drink on a fast day?
When and for what health reasons should we break our fasts? (assume the person is not elderly or pregnant.)
5
votes
2answers
172 views
Fasts for pregnant women and new mothers
What fasts are pregnant women and women right after childbirth obligated to keep?
Thanks.
5
votes
2answers
308 views
Haircuts on Fast Days
Is one allowed to take a haircut on a fast day like Tzom Gedaliah and or Asarah B'Teves?
5
votes
1answer
88 views
5
votes
1answer
102 views
Taanis Bechoros for a first born from a C-section
Does someone who was a first born, but was born from a C-section have to fast on Ta'anis Bechoros?
The only source I know which addresses this is the Kaf HaChaim on Shulchan Aruch (470:3) who says ...
5
votes
1answer
106 views
Fasting on Erev Shabbos/Yom Tov
Is it permitted to fast on Erev Shabbos or Erev Yom Tov? I've heard about people taking on fasts until chatzos, but no later. What is the halacha on this?
5
votes
2answers
127 views
Headache remedy on a fast day?
Even with proper pre-fast hydration and caffeine reduction, I almost always get a headache starting around hour 20-22 of a fast and growing from there. Taking a nap is sometimes possible and ...
5
votes
0answers
41 views
Why do we read vayechal twice on a fast?
I have been doing some research on the question of vayechal at mincha and have hit a roadblock. So far, here are the questions I have considered and feel ok with as "answered":
why lain at mincha on ...
5
votes
0answers
65 views
Fasting for Medical Recovery
Yesterday, a request was publicized in the name of R' Chaim Kanievsky to accept a fast in the afternoon to fast today for the medical recovery of R' Y.S. Elyashiv, unless it interferes with one's ...
4
votes
3answers
94 views
4
votes
2answers
50 views
Asara B'Teveis on a Friday
This year Asara B'Teveis came out on a Friday. Suppose you would Daven Mincha before Plag and Kaballas Shabbos right after Plag and come home when it is still light outside, would you be allowed to ...
4
votes
3answers
57 views
Please translate “Shem Yinone mechoilol maichovim” in a selicho for Tzom Gedaliah
Please could someone offer a translation of the phrase “Shem Yinone mechoilol maichovim” in the Selicho for Tzom Gedaliah that begins “Oz Terem Nimtochu” (near the beginning of the selichos)?
4
votes
2answers
215 views
If you're really thirsty (e.g. breaking a fast), do you make a bracha first on the water or solids?
I know generally speaking, when prioritizing brachos, if you have food and drink, the food goes first; also, shehakols tend to rank low.
But what if you're really, really thirsty (e.g. breaking a ...
4
votes
1answer
101 views
Customs surrounding fasting when a sefer torah falls to the floor?
Based on this question I would like to know what the earliest source for fasting when a sefer torah falls comes from? Is is true that if a person is in the room but turns away so as not to see it ...
4
votes
1answer
54 views
Ban on Shabas fasts derived from lechem hapanim?
The Shabas table song "Ki eshm'ra Shabas" includes the following stanza:
רָשׁוּם/רָשַׁם בְּדַת הָאֵ׳ חוֹק אֶל סְגָנָיו בּוֹ לַעֲרוֹךְ לֶחֶם פָּנִים בְּפָנָיו עַל כֵּן לְהִתְעַנּוֹת בּוֹ עַל פִּי ...
4
votes
0answers
31 views
If someone has broken their fast on Yom Kippur is anything extra added to birchas hamazon? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Benching on yom kipper
I have heard that if one breaks his fast on Yom Kippur he should add into his birchas hamazon the section of "Yaaleh V'yavo". Is this true or do ...
3
votes
4answers
190 views
Fasting on the wedding day - when getting married right before or after a fast
When a person gets married a day before Yom Kippur or a day after Tzon Gedalya - does he/she have to fast two days in a row?
3
votes
2answers
64 views
Six fast days? What's the sixth?
On Mekor Judaica's website, I see a Sephardic siddur for sale, for the שש תעניות, the six fast days.
I was only aware of 5 fast days:
Ta'anit Esther
Tzom Gedaliah
10th of Tevet
17th of Tammuz
Tisha ...
3
votes
2answers
52 views
