Fast Days

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All of Yisrael fasts on the four fast days mentioned by the prophets which are: Tzom Gedalya (the third of Tishrei), Asara BeTevet (tenth of Tevet), Shiva Asar BeTamuz (seventeenth of Tamuz), and Tisha BeAv (ninth of Av). [1] The significance and background of these fasts are explained below. The first three are discussed in this article. For the other fasts please see the following links: Tisha BeAv, Tanit Ester, Tanit Bechorim. Another related page is Commemoration of the Destruction of the Temple (Zecher LeChurban).

Tzom Gedalya

  1. Tzom Gedalya is observed on the 3rd of Tishri. [2]
  2. Tzom Gedalya commemorates the death of Gedalya Ben Achikam and the extinguishing of the spark of Yisrael causing the exile. [3]

Asara BeTevet

  1. Asara BeTevet commemorates the tragedy of Nebuchadnezzar's laying siege on the city of Jerusalem. [4]

Shiva Asar BeTamuz

  1. Shiva Asar BeTamuz commemorates 5 things: 1) The Luchot were broken. 2) The Korban Tamid in the 1st Bet Hamikdash was abolished. 3) In the 2nd Bet Hamikdash destruction, the city of Jerusalem was breached. 4) The Torah was burned by Apostomus. 5) An idol was put in the Bet Hamikdash. [5]
  2. The fast of Shiva Asar BeTamuz is observed on the seventeenth of Tamuz. [6]

Tisha BeAv

  1. Please see the separate article for Tisha BeAv.

Communal fast days

When does the fast start?

  1. If one went to sleep at night and wakes up before Olot HaShachar one may not eat. However, if one stipulated before going to sleep that one didn’t begin the fast and one would eat before Olot HaShachar, one may eat before Olot, yet the Zohar is strict under any circumstance. [7]

When to end a fast

  1. Any fast which one didn’t complete until Tzet HaCochavim is considered as though one didn't fast. [8]

Washing oneself and swimming

  1. A Baal Nefesh should be strict not to wash oneself in hot water or anoint oneself, however it’s permitted to wash with cold water or wash one’s hands, feet, and face with hot water. [9]
    1. If Asara BeTevet falls out on Friday, one shouldn’t be strict and rather should wash oneself because of Kavod Shabbat. [10]
  2. One shouldn’t go swimming in a pool or ocean on a fast day. [11]

Brushing one’s teeth

  1. It’s improper to wash out one’s mouth on a communal fast day. [12]
  2. On fast days besides for Tisha BeAv and Yom Kippur, if it will be difficult for one not to brush, one is allowed to brush one's teeth as long as one doesn't put a Reviyit of water in one's mouth at a time and ensures that one doesn't swallow any water.[13]
  3. One may swallow salvia that accumulates in one’s mouth. [14] Some say that if it’s easy one should be strict and spit it out. [15] While others say that the minhag is to be lenient altogether. [16]

Other Halachas of fast days

If one made a Bracha by accident

  1. If one made a Bracha by accident and then realized that it was a fast day, one should eat a very small amount just enough that one can taste it and continue on fasting. [17]

Smoking

  1. It’s permissible to smoke on a fast day except on Tisha BeAv (disregarding whether it’s permissible to smoke because of the health issue). [18]

Tasting food before Shabbat

  1. It’s a mitzvah to taste the Shabbat food before Shabbat to know if tastes right (Tasting food in preparation of Shabbat). However, on Friday of Shabbat Chazon, one shouldn’t taste the food. [19]
  2. If Asara BeTevet falls out to be on Friday one may taste the food if one spits it out and doesn’t swallow. [20]

Making a Shehecheyanu

  1. It’s permitted to make a Shehecheyanu on a fast day. [21]

Taking a haircut

  1. There’s a dispute whether one may take a haircut on a fast day and it’s preferable not to. [22]

Getting a hundred Brachot

  1. Some Sephardim had the minhag to wear tefillin on fast days at Mincha so as to complete 100 Brachot, however the widespread minhag isn’t so. [23]

Giving Tzedaka

  1. It’s customary to give Tzedaka at mincha on a fast day, the value of the amount of food one would have eaten that day. [24]

Individual fast days

Related Pages

References

  1. ↑ The prophet Zechariyah (8:19) stated that in the future the fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth will become days of happiness for the Jews. In Gemara Rosh Hashana 18b, Rabbi Akiva explains that number in the pasuk refers to the number of the month. Thus, the fast of fourth is the ninth of Tamuz, the fifth is the ninth of Av, the seventh is the third of Tishrei (fast of Gedalyah), and tenth is tenth of Tevet. The Tur 549:1 and Rambam (Taniot 5:4) rule like Rabbi Akiva. Tur 549:2 explains that on the ninth of Tamuz the wall of Yerushalyim was broken by the first Bet HaMikdash, however, nowadays we fast on the seventeenth of Tamuz when the wall of Yerushalyim was broken by the second Bet HaMikdash. These four fasts are codified as halacha by the Rambam (Taniot 5:2-3), S”A 549:1, Mishna Brurah 549:1, and Yalkut Yosef (Moadim pg 527).
  2. ↑ Chazon Ovadia, Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 3
  3. ↑ Rambam (Taniyot 5:2), Chazon Ovadia, Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 3
  4. ↑ Rambam (Taniyot 5:2), Chazon Ovadia, Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 4
  5. ↑ Rambam (Taniyot 5:2), Chazon Ovadia, Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 1
  6. ↑ Tur 549:2 explains that on the ninth of Tamuz the wall of Yerushalyim was broken by the first Bet HaMikdash, however, nowadays we fast on the seventeenth of Tamuz which was when the wall of Yerushalyim was broken by the second Bet HaMikdash. This codified as halacha by the Rambam (Taniot 5:2-3), S”A 549:1, Mishna Brurah 549:1, and Yalkut Yosef (Moadim pg 527).
  7. ↑ S”A 564:1, Yalkut Yosef (Kitzur S”A 550:3), Sh”t Yabea Omer 5:22(5), Piskei Teshuvot 564:1
  8. ↑ S”A 562:1
  9. ↑ Mishna Brurah 550:6 and Shaar HaTzion 550:8
  10. ↑ Mishna Brurah 550:6
  11. ↑ Piskei Teshuvot 550:6 and Sh”t Bear Moshe 3:77
  12. ↑ S”A 567:3
  13. ↑ Yalkut Yosef (Moadim pg 534) writes that for all fast days besides Tisha BeAv one if it will be difficult for one not to brush one is allowed to brush one's teeth as long as one doesn't put a Reviyit of water in one's mouth at a time and ensures that one doesn't swallow any water. Sh”t Minchat Yitzchak 4:109 (quoted in Piskei Teshuvot 567:1) agrees. See Rabbi Mansour on DailyHalacha.com who writes that one may brush one's teeth with less than 3 oz of water but one should keep his head bent downward and spit the water out immediately, without gargling, to avoid swallowing any water.
  14. ↑ Mishna Brurah 567:13
  15. ↑ Chaye Adam 132:22, Mateh Efraim 612:7, Moadim UZmanim 1:59
  16. ↑ Piskei Teshuvot 567:2, Bet Meir, Ashel Avraham, Aruch HaShulchan 567:4
  17. ↑ Sh”t Yabea Omer Y”D 2:5(6), O”C 10:41, Yalkut Yosef (Kitzur S”A 550:26) however, Kaf HaChaim 568:16, Daat Torah (of the Maharsham), Sh”t Mishneh Halacha 7:80, Sh”t Shevet Sofer O”C 25, and Piskei Teshuvot 568:2 rule that one shouldn’t eat it but rather say Baruch Shem. Teshuvot VeHanhagot 1:329 writes that one should taste it, not swallow, and then spit it out.
  18. ↑ Sh”t Yechava Daat 5:39, Sh”t Yabea Omer 1:33
  19. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 42:61
  20. ↑ Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 42:61
  21. ↑ Piskei Teshuvot 550:8 in name of Pri Megadim A”A 551:42 and Kaf HaChaim 550:209
  22. ↑ Rav Chaim Palagi in Ruach Chaim 566:4 is strict, and so rules Or Letzion, Piskei Teshuvot 550:8. However, Yalkut Yosef and Tzitz Eliezer are lenient.
  23. ↑ Sh”t Yechava Daat 2:67
  24. ↑ Mishna Brurah 566:12
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