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Fast Days: Difference between revisions
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==Tzom Gedalya== | ==Tzom Gedalya== | ||
# Tzom Gedalya is observed on the 3rd of Tishri. <ref> Chazon Ovadia (Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 3) Shulchan Aruch 549:1, Rambam Taaniyot 5:2. </ref> | # Tzom Gedalya is observed on the 3rd of Tishri. <ref> Chazon Ovadia (Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 3) Shulchan Aruch 549:1, Rambam Taaniyot 5:2. </ref> | ||
# Tzom Gedalya commemorates the death of Gedalya Ben Achikam and the extinguishing of the spark of Yisrael causing the exile. <ref> Rambam (Taniyot 5:2), Chazon Ovadia (Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 3, Mishna Berura 549:2 </ref> | # Tzom Gedalya commemorates the death of Gedalya Ben Achikam and the extinguishing of the spark of Yisrael causing the exile. <ref> Rambam (Taniyot 5:2), Chazon Ovadia (Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 3, Mishna Berura 549:2, Kitzur S"A 121:2 </ref> | ||
==Asara BeTevet== | ==Asara BeTevet== | ||
# Asara BeTevet commemorates the tragedy of Nebuchadnezzar's laying siege on the city of Jerusalem. <ref> Rambam (Taniyot 5:2), Chazon Ovadia (Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 4), Mishna Berura 549:2 </ref> | # Asara BeTevet commemorates the tragedy of Nebuchadnezzar's laying siege on the city of Jerusalem. <ref> Rambam (Taniyot 5:2), Chazon Ovadia (Laws of the Four Fasts, Halacha 4), Mishna Berura 549:2, Kitzur S"A 121:3. </ref> | ||
==Shiva Asar BeTamuz== | ==Shiva Asar BeTamuz== | ||
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==Communal fast days== | ==Communal fast days== | ||
===Who Fasts=== | ===Who Fasts=== | ||
# Everybody is obligated to fasts on these public fast days. <ref> S"A 550:1, Yabia Omer 1:33 </ref> | # Everybody is obligated to fasts on these public fast days. <ref> Rambam Hilchot Taanit 1:4, S"A 550:1, Chayei Adam 133:6, Yabia Omer 1:33, Mishna Berura 550:1, Aruch Hashulchan 459:5, Kitzur S"A 121:11. </ref> | ||
# Even rabbis or teachers whose fasting may cause their learning to be of lower quality should fast on these fast days including Taanit Esther. <ref> Yabia Omer 2:28:7 </ref> | # Even rabbis or teachers whose fasting may cause their learning to be of lower quality should fast on these fast days including Taanit Esther. <ref> Yabia Omer 2:28:7 </ref> | ||
# A pregnant woman need not fast on these fasts except for [[Tisha BeAv]]. <ref> Rama 550:1, Yechave Daat 1:35 | # A pregnant woman need not fast on these fasts except for [[Tisha BeAv]]. <ref> Rama 550:1, S"A 554:5, Pri Megadim Eishel Avraham 550:1, Aruch Hashulchan 550:3, Yechave Daat 1:35. The gemara in Pesachim 54b says that pregnant women and nursing women are required to fast on Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, implying that they are not required to fast on the other fast days. Hagahot Maimoniot Taaniot 5:1 says that this is because the other fasts are optional in nature. Yechave Daat 1:35 says that this begins from the end of the first trimester whether she feels the pain or not, unless she is having pains earlier in which case her exemption would start earlier. Mishna Berura 550:3 and Aruch Hashulchan 550:3 say that it starts 40 days into pregnancy unless she has an unusual amount of pain. </ref> | ||
# A nursing woman is exempt from fasting on the fasts except for [[Tisha BeAv]]. Some say this includes a women who has finished nursing as long as she is within 2 years of the birth, and some say this only includes somebody who is actually nursing the baby. <ref> In Yechave Daat 1:35 concludes that if the woman feels sick she may eat, but if she feels like she can fast, she should fast. </ref> | # A nursing woman is exempt from fasting on the fasts except for [[Tisha BeAv]]. Some say this includes a women who has finished nursing as long as she is within 2 years of the birth, and some say this only includes somebody who is actually nursing the baby. <ref> In Yechave Daat 1:35, Rav Ovadia Yosef concludes that if the woman feels sick she may eat, but if she feels like she can fast, she should try to fast. Or litzion 3:25:7 disagrees and says in that case she would only be exempt within thirty days of giving birth. This is also the ruling of Eishel Avraham Butchatch 550:1 </ref> | ||
# One who is sick, even if there is no danger of dying is exempt from fasting and shouldn't fast. <ref> Mishna Berura 550:4, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 531. </ref> | # One who is sick, even if there is no danger of dying is exempt from fasting and shouldn't fast. <ref> Mishna Berura 550:4, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 531. </ref> | ||
# Old, sick people who suffer a lot from fasting are exempt from these fasts, including [[Tisha BeAv]]. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 532 </ref> | # Old, sick people who suffer a lot from fasting are exempt from these fasts, including [[Tisha BeAv]]. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 532 </ref> | ||
# One need not train his children to fast, even at the age of 12 for boys or eleven for girls | # One need not train his children to fast, even at the age of 12 for boys or eleven for girls. <ref> Mishna Berura 550:5 and Biur Halacha "hakol" Yalkut Yosef Dinei Chinuch Katan page 239 and Moadim page 530, Eliya Rabbah 550:7, Chanoch Lanaar 21:footnote 9, Halichot Shlomo Moadim 2:page 398:3. Mishna Berura 550:5 based on Magen Avraham 550:2 and Chayei Adam 133:6 say that when children do not fast they should only eat the amount of food they need but Halichot Shlomo Moadim 2:page 398:footnote 10 says that this is not the custom. </ref> Although many boys have the custom to fast three fasts before they become bar-mitzvah, but this custom has no source. <ref> Halichot Shlomo Moadim 2:page 399:footnote 11. </ref> | ||
# A groom within the seven days of his wedding, the father of a baby boy, a sandak, a mohel must fast on these four fasts unless the fast was postponed because it originally fell out on shabbat, in which case they are all exempt from all these fasts and should eat after mid-day. <ref> Yabia Omer 1:34:11, 5:40. Rav Ovadia Yosef writes in Yabia Omer 27:10 that this is true even of tzom gedalia, even though some rishonim say the tragedy occurred on Rosh Hashana it is not considered a postponed fast unless it actually fell out on Shabbat. </ref> | # A groom within the seven days of his wedding, the father of a baby boy, a sandak, a mohel must fast on these four fasts unless the fast was postponed because it originally fell out on shabbat, in which case they are all exempt from all these fasts and should eat after mid-day. <ref> Yabia Omer 1:34:11, 5:40. Rav Ovadia Yosef writes in Yabia Omer 27:10 that this is true even of tzom gedalia, even though some rishonim say the tragedy occurred on Rosh Hashana it is not considered a postponed fast unless it actually fell out on Shabbat. </ref> | ||
# Anybody who doesn't fast because they are exempt does not need a hatarat nedarim, but if it isn't too hard to do one, then praiseworthy is somebody who does. <ref> Yabia Omer 2:30: 5-8 </ref> | # Anybody who doesn't fast because they are exempt does not need a hatarat nedarim, but if it isn't too hard to do one, then praiseworthy is somebody who does. <ref> Yabia Omer 2:30: 5-8 </ref> | ||
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# The individual inserts this paragraph in the beracha of shomea tefilla, and finishes as usual, and the chazzan during chazarat hashatz says it as a beracha on its own between the berachot of goel and rofe. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 536-537 based on S"A 566:1 </ref> | # The individual inserts this paragraph in the beracha of shomea tefilla, and finishes as usual, and the chazzan during chazarat hashatz says it as a beracha on its own between the berachot of goel and rofe. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 536-537 based on S"A 566:1 </ref> | ||
# If one forgot to recite aneinu, and already said baruch atta Hashem to conclude the beracha of shomea tefilla, he shouldn't say lamdeini chukecha there or insert it right after the beracha, but instead should say it after elokai nitzor and say it without any beracha. <ref> Yabia Omer 1:22 </ref> | # If one forgot to recite aneinu, and already said baruch atta Hashem to conclude the beracha of shomea tefilla, he shouldn't say lamdeini chukecha there or insert it right after the beracha, but instead should say it after elokai nitzor and say it without any beracha. <ref> Yabia Omer 1:22 </ref> | ||
# If someone is reciting his silent shmoneh esrei along with the chazzan's chazzarat hashatz, he should say aneinu in shomea tefilla, and not with the chazzan saying it between goel and rofe. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 537, Biur Halacha 565:1 </ref> | # If someone is reciting his silent shmoneh esrei along with the chazzan's chazzarat hashatz, he should say aneinu in shomea tefilla, and not with the chazzan saying it between goel and rofe. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 537, Yabia Omer 2:34:6,Biur Halacha 565:1 </ref> | ||
# For these four fasts, the beracha of aneinu is recited during chazarat hashatz as a beracha on its own as long as there are six or more fasting. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 539, Yechave Daat 1:79. He adds that for Taanit Esther it is preferable to get 10 people fasting but if not, the beracha should still be recited. </ref> These 6 all have to be people who haven't prayed yet. <ref> Yalkut Yosef page 542 </ref> | |||
===Reading the Torah=== | ===Reading the Torah=== | ||
# On all rabbinic public fast days, we read Shemot 32:11-14 and 34:1-10, both in the morning and the afternoon, except Tisha B'Av morning. <ref> S"A 566:1 </ref> | # On all rabbinic public fast days, we read Shemot 32:11-14 and 34:1-10, both in the morning and the afternoon, except Tisha B'Av morning. <ref> S"A 566:1, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 545. </ref> | ||
# According to Ashkenazim, on the fasts other than Tisha B'av the haftara of Isaiah 55:6-56:8 is read during mincha but not shacharit. <ref> Rama 566:1 </ref> | # According to Ashkenazim, on the fasts other than Tisha B'av the haftara of Isaiah 55:6-56:8 is read during mincha but not shacharit. <ref> Rama 566:1. Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 545 as well as Yechave Daat 5:40 say that this is not the custom of the sephardim except on tisha b'av where even sephardim have a haftara for shacharit and mincha. </ref> If a sephardi is asked to go up he should try and refuse, unless he has already been called by name, in which case he should go up and say the berachot. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 546 </ref> | ||
# Ashkenazim have a custom is certain verses are read aloud by the congregation. The individual who is called up for that aliyah should not read the verses aloud with the congregation but instead should wait until the reader says them aloud and read along with him. <ref> Mishnah Berurah 566:3. </ref> | # Ashkenazim have a custom is certain verses are read aloud by the congregation. The individual who is called up for that aliyah should not read the verses aloud with the congregation but instead should wait until the reader says them aloud and read along with him. <ref> Mishnah Berurah 566:3. </ref> | ||
# On a weekday other than a monday and thursday, somebody who is not fasting may not receive an aliya to the torah. <ref> Mishna Berura 566:19 </ref> On a monday or thursday, since there is torah reading anyway, some poskim permit it. <ref> Magen Avraham 566:8 one who is not fasting may receive an aliyah because the torah would have been read even if not for the fast, while the Maamar Mordechai 566:5 disagrees since the content of the Torah reading is for that of a fast day and not for the week's parsha. Mishna Berurah 566:19 says if one was already called up everyone agrees that he may go up. </ref> | # On a weekday other than a monday and thursday, somebody who is not fasting may not receive an aliya to the torah. <ref> Mishna Berura 566:19 </ref> On a monday or thursday, since there is torah reading anyway, some poskim permit it. <ref> Magen Avraham 566:8 one who is not fasting may receive an aliyah because the torah would have been read even if not for the fast, while the Maamar Mordechai 566:5 disagrees since the content of the Torah reading is for that of a fast day and not for the week's parsha. Mishna Berurah 566:19 says if one was already called up everyone agrees that he may go up. Yalkut Yosef page 549 says that even if you were called up by name, you should explain to them that you are not fasting, and even adds that this applies where you are currently fasting but do not plan on finishing the fast. </ref> | ||
===Other Halachas of fast days=== | ===Other Halachas of fast days=== | ||
# On all of these rabbinic fasts besides for tisha b'av one is permitted to wash, anoint, wear leather, and have relations. <ref> S"A 550:2, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 530. This is unlike the Ramban in Torat HaAdam (Chavel edition, page 244) who says that all of these fast days last from sunset the night before, and all the activities that are forbidden on tisha b'av are forbidden on these as well. The Shla Taanit 43b says the only reason not everybody accepted this is because it is something that is too hard for all of the congregation to hold, but on a personal level each person should make an effort to refrain from this. Mishna Berura 550:6 quotes this as well but notes that one should continue to wear leather shoes so as not to publicize it too much. </ref> | # On all of these rabbinic fasts besides for tisha b'av one is permitted to wash, anoint, wear leather, and have relations. <ref> S"A 550:2, Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 530. This is unlike the Ramban in Torat HaAdam (Chavel edition, page 244) who says that all of these fast days last from sunset the night before, and all the activities that are forbidden on tisha b'av are forbidden on these as well. The Shla Taanit 43b says the only reason not everybody accepted this is because it is something that is too hard for all of the congregation to hold, but on a personal level each person should make an effort to refrain from this. Mishna Berura 550:6 quotes this as well but notes that one should continue to wear leather shoes so as not to publicize it too much. </ref> | ||
# On the Shabbat prior to Asara Bitevet and Shiva Asar bitammuz, we announce the day of the fast prior to saying mussaf. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 530 </ref> | # On the Shabbat prior to Asara Bitevet and Shiva Asar bitammuz, we announce the day of the fast prior to saying mussaf. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 530 </ref> | ||
# A restaurant or store owner should preferably refrain from giving out food unless it is known that it is for sick people or for after the fast, and even if there are other places where people can access food. <ref> Yechave Daat 3:67 </ref> | # A restaurant or store owner should preferably refrain from giving out food unless it is known that it is for sick people or for after the fast, and even if there are other places where people can access food. <ref> Yechave Daat 3:67. Beer Moshe 8:95 permits leaving a canteen or soda machine open in a camp for those who aren't fasting, and Shevet Hakehati 4:155:1 permits leaving a store open for those not fasting. </ref> | ||
'''Medicine''' | '''Medicine''' | ||
# Prescribed medications may be taken, and if one has difficulty swallowing the pills they may use a minimal amount of water, the amount needed to swallow them. <ref> Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach quoted in Nishmas Avraham 5: page 46, Nitai Gavriel page 30 </ref> | # Prescribed medications may be taken, and if one has difficulty swallowing the pills they may use a minimal amount of water, the amount needed to swallow them. <ref> Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach quoted in Nishmas Avraham 5: page 46, Nitai Gavriel page 30 </ref> | ||
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'''Doing Teshuva''' | '''Doing Teshuva''' | ||
# The primary purpose of the Fast days is to inspire a person to do Teshuva and remember his sins and the sins of our fathers which caused the tragedy which is being commemorated to occur. Thus, a person should should make time on a fast day to think about one's actions and do Teshuva. Those people who take walks and do other activities which are a waste of time when they are fasting have missed a major point of the fast. Nonetheless, one may not exempt oneself with only doing Teshuva because fasting on these days is a Mitzvah MeDivrei HaNevim. <Ref>Mishna Brurah 549:1</ref> | # The primary purpose of the Fast days is to inspire a person to do Teshuva and remember his sins and the sins of our fathers which caused the tragedy which is being commemorated to occur. Thus, a person should should make time on a fast day to think about one's actions and do Teshuva. Those people who take walks and do other activities which are a waste of time when they are fasting have missed a major point of the fast. Nonetheless, one may not exempt oneself with only doing Teshuva because fasting on these days is a Mitzvah MeDivrei HaNevim. <Ref>Mishna Brurah 549:1</ref> | ||
'''Birkat Kohanim''' | |||
# A kohen who is not fasting, should not go up for birkat kohanim during mincha. <ref> Yalkut Yosef Moadim page 551 </ref> | |||
# If mincha went past sunset, birkat kohanim may still be recited within thirteen and a half minutes but not after that. <ref> Yechave Daat 6:40 </ref> | |||
==Individual fast days== | ==Individual fast days== | ||
