Questions tagged [fast-days]
Days where Jews refrain from eating and drinking.
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Does boofing meth on Yom Kippur violate the fast?
It is neither eating nor drinking.
On the other hand you are "ingesting" a substance albeit from the other end.
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How does it happen that there are fasts on Sundays?
It is mentioned in Masechet Ta'anit 4 3 that people should not fast on Sunday "ולא באחד בשבת כדי שלא יצאו ממנוחה ועונג ליגיעה ותענית וימותו". ("And not on one of the Sabbaths so that ...
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Torah reading at fast day mincha services if the fast will not be completed?
Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 566:3 rules that the chazzan does not recite aneinu at mincha of a fast day unless there are ten people present who are fasting. Mishnah Berurah 14 rules that the same ...
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Have any Orthodox rabbis or rabbinic organizations called for a communal fast on Thursday, October 12, 2023?
In response to the current war in Israel, and the current situation (as I write this: hundreds of Israelis held hostage by terrorists, including children and the elderly), the organization Hadar has ...
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Taanit dibbur breaking
If one vows to do Taanit dibbur, when are they allowed to violate it? Could they violate it in cases of substantial financial or reputational harm? Are there any sources for this?
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Water fasting from Sunday until Friday, to save time, and Havdalah
In a particular week, you have a lot of schoolwork you want to get done. You decide to do a water fast for most of the week, to save time. You'll consume only water, not food.
A.) Are you allowed ...
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Water fasting from Sunday until Tuesday, to save time, and Havdalah
The main mitzvah of Havdala is to say it on Saturday night. (Source.)
In a particular week, you have a lot of schoolwork you want to get done. You decide to do a water fast for a few days, to save ...
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What are some halachically proper fast-day greetings?
Considering that greeting someone during the Tisha B'Av fast day is prohibited, is there a proper way according to halacha to greet somone before the day?
For example, to say "have an easy fast&...
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Why do we fast when we mourn?
Ive always learned that fasting is the biggest healer of your soul, but what does this have to do with mourning and Tisha b'av.
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If one fasted on Shabbos, is he obligated to fast another day?
If one fasted on Shabbos, is he obligated to fast another fast in addition to the fast that he fasted on Shabbos?
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The Regalim and the Fasts
Looking for resources --
Are there any texts which discuss the parallels between the 3 regalim and the 3 fast days in the cycle of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash?
Off the top of my head, I can ...
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When were the minor fast days decreed by the rabbis?
Five of the six annual fast days are rabbinic and four are "minor" (i.e., daylight fasts). When, historically, were these five fast days decreed and which is the last to be decreed by the ...
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Why was Yom HaShoah not established as a fast day?
Why was Yom HaShoah, the memorial day for the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, not established as a fast day? That would be consistent as we fast on other days when we commemorate past ...
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Why are some rabbinic fasts daylight and tisha b'av is full day? [duplicate]
The 4 minor fasts and Tisha B'Av are rabbinic. Why is only one rabbinic fast a full day and the other rabbinic fasts are daylight fasts rather than full day?
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Personal Fast and Davening
If one is undertaking a personal fast (let's say for teshuvah/kapparah purposes), should one add "Aneinu" to his personal shemoneh esrei at minchah? If one normally says Shalom Rav at Mincha ...
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Source for a quote from the Chofetz Chayim
A friend of mine told me a while back that he read somewhere that the Chofetz Chayim was quoted as saying that if he could, he would annul all rabbinic fasts, for in our lowly generation these fasts ...
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Why is there no Ta'anit Esther Katan?
In a leap year, Purim is marked in the second Adar. In the first Adar, the 14th is noted as Purim Katan and the day after, as Shushan Purim Katan. The implications are limited (basically) to slight ...
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Is there a Halachic book on regular fasting?
I’d like to take on regular fasting for health reasons. My Rav permits this. He also permits it to weaken desire.
But there are so many contradictory opinions that are hard to reconcile in the ...
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Acceptability of gentile fasting
Something was brought up in a lecture by Rabbi Mizrachi (I'm not sure which video) where he says that Muslims try to follow everything Jews do--and they try to "one up" so to speak. The ...
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What was "the day" Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai disagreed?
The Shulchan Aruch OC (580:2) codifies the list of sad days some have the custom to fast for, which includes at the end:
בט' בו נחלקו בית שמאי ובית הלל - The ninth of Adar is when Beis
Shammai and ...
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Isaiah 58 and the way we fast
I certainly don't want to offend anyone, but if it is asked in Isaiah 58 whether it is this manner of fasting that G-d has chose; when one starves oneself, practices self-denial, afflicting one's soul ...
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Why was God's injunction through Zechariah, on rejoicing, not followed?
With the return home from Babylon, the Temple rebuilt, and idolatry vanquished, God said, through the prophet Zechariah, that from now on the four fast days commemorating the destruction of the First ...
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Voluntary fast requirements?
If one accepts to take on a voluntary fast, is there a specific minimum or maximum time one must fast for (I.e. sunrise to sunset)? Also with voluntary fasts is it acceptable for one to take upon a ...
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Why this common greeting: Tzom kal?
Tzom kal (easy fast) is a common greeting before the 9th of Av, but why? It runs counter to the adage, "No pain, no gain". The no pain adage seems similar to L'fum tzaara agra – according ...
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Must one fast if her stomach hurts?
If someone's stomach hurts on Sheva asar b'tammuz, should she fast? Or do these extenuating circumstances free her from her obligation?
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Is there a source for Pidyon Haben seuda equivalent to 84 fasts?
In this answer, @Motel quotes an oft-quoted idea that partaking of a seudas Pidyon Haben is equivalent to fasting for 84 days. This is fabled to be alluded to in the words 'פדיום' (Bamidbar 3:49), ...
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Chatam Sofer on Tenth of Tevet falling on the Shabbat
Abudarham argued that should we not use a calculated calendar and should Tenth of Tevet fall on the Shabbat, we would be required to fast instead of postponing it. He learns this from the common ...
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Looking for Ibn Ezra Riddle
I'm looking for the Hebrew of an Ibn Ezra riddle related to fast days: "the short, the long, the black, the white, the man, the woman."
Does anyone have a source, or the Hebrew for this?
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Why do rabbinical fasts which start on Erev Shabbos still end at tzeis hakochavim if we are forbidden from fasting on Shabbos?
Why do rabbinical fasts(i.e. all fasts apart from Yom Kippur) which start on Erev Shabbos still end at tzeis hakochavim if we are forbidden from fasting on Shabbos?
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Halachic ramifications of using a digital lollipop
A device known as the digital lollipop sends electric signals to the tongue, stimulating taste. It can theoretically represent any taste, when correctly coupled with a smelling device, similar to how ...
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The prohibition of eating before davening starts when? [duplicate]
One is not supposed to eat before davening Shacharit , though the halacha has various exceptions or special cases.
What is considered "before"? If I wake before dawn and start my day, does ...
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Why celebrate on Rosh HaShanah while on Yom Kippur we afflict ourselves
On the day of Rosh Hashanah we will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur it will be sealed. So why don’t we fast or repent more on Rosh Hashanah and celebrate Yom Kippur because the judgement is sealed? Why ...
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If one vowed to fast for a set period of time, would he continue at sunset after Shabbat?
So say someone had vowed to personally fast for a certain amount of time, and a portion of this time overlapped with Shabbat. Now it is known that we are forbidden from fasting during Shabbat, except ...
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Smoking versus snuffing tabac on Tisha Beav [duplicate]
In SA OC 554 the Caf Hachyim SK 3 rules that to smoke hookah is prohibited almost before Chats it, if not as a mean to treat constipation. But in SK 4 he allows to snuff tabac.
My question is if to ...
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Is it permissible to learn Hilchot Teshuva on Tisha Beav?
The Shulchan Aruch paskens (OC 554) that it is forbidden to learn most parts of Torah on Tisha Beav, except for a few small sections about aveilut.
The question is: the Shulchan Aruch doesn't ...
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Why specifically the size of a date on Yom Kippur?
Often times a kezayis or beitza is the amount of food necessary to transgress a food related prohibition. Why is a date specifically the quantity one must eat to be liable on Yom Kippur?
Shulchan ...
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Who SHOULD accept a taanit dibbur?
If one is home with his family (especially these days when everyone is home, all day), would it be fair to his family members not to speak to them (besides strict divrei Torah)?
EDIT:
In what cases ...
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"Anenu" for taanit le'shaot - fasting half day
If one would practically only be missing breakfast, could he say anenu in shacharit and finsh the fast (and not in mincha by which time he has eaten)? or must anenu in shacharit go together with ...
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Who is "the author of the Shulchan Aruch" in this teshuvah of Rashbash?
The Rashbash (R' Shlomo Duran, the son of the Rashbatz, d. 1467) has a teshuvah (#360) written during an epidemic (unfortunately all too relevant now). At the time when he wrote this teshuvah, the ...
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Does the COVID19 epidemic in NYC qualify as "Dever B'ir - a Plague in the City"?
Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim, 576) defines dever r"l or pestilence as an epidemic killing 3 people in 3 days (not 3 people in 4 days; not 3 people in 2 days) for a city of 500 working age men. How is ...
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What is the difference between a sickness and a plague?
Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim, Siman 576) discusses fasting and praying for Dever (a plague), and also for a sickness (choli). What is the difference between sickness and plague?
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Fasting in Nissan for epidemic
In general we refrain from observing fast days during the month of Nissan (S"A O"C 429:2). There are some exceptions, like a taanis chalom.
For a communal distress such as a deadly epidemic a ...
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Taanis bechorim when unable to attend a siyum [duplicate]
This year, due to coronavirus related isolation measures, the probability is that a bechor would be unable to attend an actual siyum on erev pesach.
Can a bechor see a siyum online or must he fast on ...
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Day of Yosef’s Sale
I saw in a medrash - but can’t recall where - that the brothers sold Yosef on the tenth of Teveis.
Does any which medrash I could find this in?
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Fast days and אל ארך אפים
I have heard various opinions about saying Keil erekh apayim before the Torah reading on fast days.* Most say that we should only do that if the public fast day falls on Monday or Thursday. What are ...
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If you're well-hydrated at the start of a fast, can you keep drinking water throughout the fast? If not, why not?
Generally speaking, when the Torah is discussing the concept of fasting, whether on individual fasts or public fasts, it mentions the prohibition of neither eating, nor drinking.
But water has a ...
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Does the Torah acknowledge that there are various types of fasts: dry fasts, water fasts, and perhaps others?
Generally, when observant Jews think about fasting, they think about the dry fasting done on the 9th of Av or Yom Kippur, in which we neither eat nor drink. This is related to the idea of rising above ...
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Holocaust Remembrance Fast Day
Rabbi Yom Tov Schwarz (See: “EYES TO SEE: Recovering Ethical Torah Principles Lost in the Holocaust”) argues that the Jewish people (led by the Torah observant community) should designate a fast day ...
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Why fast 3 days and not more or less?
Starting with the Mishna in Ta'anis 1.4 we learn that there are occasions (lack of rain in this case) when we fast BeHaB, i.e. Monday, Thursday, and Monday.
הִגִּיעַ שִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר בְּמַרְחֶשְׁוָן ...
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Do communities set public fast days for hurricanes or other natural disasters?
I hear occasionally about fast days in Israel when there's no rain. Some examples are in this answer. From one of the links there, R' Mosheh Lichtenstein is not in favor of fasting for rain in a ...
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