Hot answers tagged fast-days
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The Mishnah Brurah (549:1) explains that the main point of a fast is to do teshuvah, and not the fast itself: By Ninveh, concerning G-d undoing the decree to destroy them, it says "And G-d saw their actions," not "And G-d saw their fast." The fast is merely a preparation for the teshuvah. He continues, quoting the Chayei Adam, that those people who spend the ...
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Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe OC 1:168) holds that in general one can have a wedding on the night of 17 Tammuz when necessary, but says in that same teshuva that for sure when the fast is Nidche that you can't have a wedding Saturday night. (I assume all other restrictions follow.)
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The custom of reciting Avinu Malkeinu repetitively by the chazzan and congregation is brought in Mateh Efrayim (תרב סי"ג), without any explanation. [The Mateh Efrayim himself writes to begin from א"מ קרע, however the Ktzey Hamateh at the bottom brings the custom to start from א"מ החזירנו בתשובה]. The only reason I could find is mentioned in שער יששכר מאמר ...
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The Vilna Gaon (OC 470, s.v. v'ein) explains the opinion that exempts women from fasting as due to the fact that women lack k'dushas b'choros (the sanctified status of firstborns). A male with an older sister also lacks k'dushas b'chor since he is not a firstborn, so the opinion that exempts the older sister would certainly exempt the brother.
In fact, a ...
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The firstborn, if a son, fasts. If the firstborn is a girl, then the first son is not the first born for the sake of this fast.
http://sephardicjudaism.blogspot.com/2007/03/passover-first-born-if-son-fasts-on.html
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That person should be eating at some point in the last 3 hours if there's any risk that the nausea will affect their health (e.g. dehydrate).
The rules are:
Guarding one's health is more important than fasting. Always.
Fasting part of the day is better than not fasting at all. (E.g. children close to Bar/Bat Mitzva are expected to fast a few hours on Yom ...
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According to the always-reliable Wikipedia, this is a machlokes. R' Elyashiv recommends participating in a seudas mitzva, and thus, breaking the fast early, in order to avoid this problem.
There is some discussion among the poskim (halakhic authorities) regarding whether a firstborn born through caesarean section is required to observe this fast, given ...
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The Aruch HaShulchan writes in OH 559:9 that although from the letter of the law, when Tisha b'Av is pushed off from Shabbos, people involved in a bris can daven mincha and then break the fast during the day, that "we never heard of anyone doing such a thing" and that not only for Tisha b'Av, but on any fast that is pushed off, we don't make any meal during ...
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The widespread reason given why we fast on ערב פורים is to commemorate the fasts mentioned in the מגילה which אסתר requested the Jews to observe before she went to the king. However, the Abudraham (סדר תפלות תעניות ופי׳, ועיין לקו״ש ח״ו עמ׳ 371) states several difficulties with this explanation. Firstly, אסתר went to אחשורוש on the first night of פסח, ...
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You can listen to him discuss it here at 56:12. He says it isn't rau'i l'achilat adam (fit for human consumption) so it isn't considered eating. He quotes some opinions that it is a problem of washing the inside of the mouth on Yom Kippur, but he doesn't seem so impressed by the idea.
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The earliest source is the Shu"t Mishpetei Shmuel 12 quoted by the Magen Avraham 44:5. He bases it on the gemara in Moed Katan 26a that says you need to fast if you see a sefer Torah burnt in your dream. The Igros Mosheh OC 3:3 holds that according to halachah, most authorities hold that only those who drop it need to fast, but there is a minhag for those ...
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In addition to the other excellent answers, I want to point out one more source because of its direct relevance to the specific question asked.
The Talmud records (Megillah 5b) that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi publicly bathed in the city of Tzippori on the 17th of Tammuz. Tosfot and Rashba there already point out that he was making a public statement that the ...
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From Wikipedia:
In halakha, there are two general types of fast: the communal fast and the individuals' fast. Among other differences between the two, a special prayer is added by the Chazzan (leader of the prayers) on communal fasts whenever both ten fasting individuals congregate and the Chazzan is fasting.
While the Magen Avraham treats the ...
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From Wikipedia:
Many authorities, including the Rema (OC 470:2), note the custom that the father of a firstborn should fast on his child's behalf until the child reaches halakhic adulthood. The Rema rules that if the father is a firstborn himself, the mother should fast on behalf of the child. The Mateh Moshe and Maharil dispute this and rule in such a ...
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The Talmud rules (Rosh Hashana 18b) that the Temple related commemorative dates have 3 possible statuses: in a time of peace, they are holidays; in a time of oppression, they are fasts; in a time of neither peace nor oppression, they are optional fasts, with the exception of Tisha Bav which remains an obligatory fast. The Ramban (quoted in Beit Yosef OC 550) ...
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What should someone ... do...?
The correct answer is CYLORAMP = Consult Your Local Orthodox Rabbi And Medical Professional.
In short, this is a very serious health concern brought on by fasting. One should consult his rabbi and his doctor.
Asking on a forum such as this cannot provide a simple answer to a complex and personal problem.
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The Aruch haShulchan writes (OC 551:31):
אע"ג דאין אבלות לקטן כמ"ש ביו"ד סי' שפ"ד זהו בסתם אבלות אבל באבלות דרבים שהוא זכרון לחורבן בית קדשינו ראוי לחנך גם הקטנים [מג"א סקל"ח] ולאו משום דאבלות זו חמירא מסתם אבלות דאדרבא שיש דברים שמקילינן באבלות ישנה כדאמרינן ביבמות [מ"ג:] ע"ש אלא דבזה יש חינוך ליראת ד' שהקטן כשישאל על מה זה יבינו לו עניין חורבן בית ...
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The only Biur Halacha to OC 549 strongly implies that the bride and groom do not need to complete the fast when it is pushed off, but they do when it is not pushed off. He implies that all 4 of the Churban-related fasts are the same in this regard. (Rav Ovadia Yosef makes a parallel diyuk to what I am making in Yehavveh Da'at 3:37).
While the Magen Avraham ...
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Re the first response, the halacha as described in Shulchan Aruch 564 is quite different than presented. First, fasts always start at amud hashachar (72 minutes l'chumra, 90 minutes super l'chumra). The only exception is where one fell into a deep sleep with no intention of eating afterward. However, most people either set their clock to davka wake up early, ...
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Before Taanis Esther:
We got married on a Wednesday evening, the day before Taanis Esther which (in תשמ״ז) was a מוקדם being that Purim was on Sunday.
I asked Rav Neuwirth שליט״א (the author of שמירת שבת כהלכתה) if we needed to fast.
He showed me a (שער הציון (ט״ז in Hilchos Purim - תרפ״ו - that said that we did not have to fast in this case.
After Yom ...
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