The Laws of the Four Fasts
Contents
The laws of the fasts of Tzom Gedaliah, the Tenth of Tevet, and the Seventeenth of Tammuz are the same. However, Ta’anit Esther, which is a fast of joy, has several differences, and these were explained above in the laws of Purim. Likewise, when a fast is postponed [for example, when the Seventeenth of Tammuz falls on Shabbat], there are certain leniencies regarding the sick, as will be explained below.
Those obligated
1.
Everyone is obligated in the fast, and it is forbidden to breach the established boundary.
[1]
Minors
2.
Minors until the age of bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah are exempt from fasting and are not obligated even in fasting for part of the day.
[2]
A sick person
3.
A sick person, even if there is no danger to life, is exempt from the fast and eats and drinks as usual, without measured amounts, for in a case of illness the Sages did not decree; he is forbidden to be stringent with himself.
[3]
Who is considered sick
4.
The definition of a sick person is like that of one who is permitted to take medicine on Shabbat: either one who has taken to bed, or one whose whole body is ill, meaning that he is in a condition in which he cannot function.
[4]
On a postponed fast
5.
In a year when the fast is postponed, even one who merely has aches or discomfort is not obligated to fast, even though he can function as usual.
[5]
Pregnant and nursing women
6.
Pregnant and nursing women do not fast. A pregnant woman is defined as such from the time she knows she is pregnant [by means of a pregnancy test or the like], even within forty days of conception. A nursing woman is defined as such as long as she is actually nursing, even partially; but if she is not actually nursing at all, even if she is within twenty-four months of giving birth, she must fast.
[6]
A woman after childbirth
7.
A woman within thirty days of childbirth does not fast, and regarding these thirty days one may be lenient to count them as complete twenty-four-hour periods.
[7]
A woman after miscarriage
8.
A woman who miscarried, if she miscarried after forty days from the beginning of her pregnancy, has the status of a woman after childbirth and does not fast within thirty days of the birth or miscarriage.
[8]
Ensuring that one will be able to fast
9.
One must see to it that he will be able to fast. Therefore, one who knows that if he does not exert himself during the fast he will not fall into the category of a sick person must do so [- rest] in order to be able to fast.
Eating meat, wine, and delicacies
10.
Even those who are permitted to eat should not eat meat, drink wine, or eat delicacies, except for minors who do not understand mourning, for whom it is permitted.
[9]
Conduct on the Night Before the Fast
The time the fast begins
11.
The fast begins at dawn and continues until nightfall.
[10]
The time of dawn
12.
There are several opinions regarding the time of dawn, two of which are primary: 1) seventy-two [seasonal] minutes before sunrise; 2) ninety minutes [one and a half seasonal hours] before sunrise. In practice, one may eat until the second time of dawn.
Eating at night
13.
It will be explained below that eating on the night before the fast is permitted. However, a spiritually scrupulous person stops eating while it is still day, as on the fast of Tisha B’Av. In practice, however, this is not the custom, and even spiritually scrupulous people are lenient in this matter.
[11]
Sleeping a regular sleep
14.
Although it has been explained that the fast begins at dawn, if one slept a regular sleep, the sleep is considered acceptance of the fast, and it is forbidden to eat after arising from sleep, even if one awoke in the middle of the night. However, a temporary doze is not considered acceptance of the fast, and if one awoke before dawn after a temporary sleep, he may eat.
[12]
A condition
15.
If, before going to sleep, he stipulated that he would be able to eat after waking, he may eat until dawn. However, according to the Zohar, even on any night after one rises from sleep in the middle of the night [after midnight], one should not eat. But one for whom the fast would be difficult if he did not eat, or who would not be able to study well, may eat according to the basic law until dawn; drinking is permitted even according to the Zohar.
[13]
One whose practice is to rise and eat
16.
If his practice is to sleep at the beginning of the night and then rise and eat, the sleep is not considered acceptance of the fast, and he may eat after waking from his sleep.
[14]
Falling asleep during a meal
17.
If he dozed off and slept, even a regular sleep, in the middle of his meal, he may continue eating [and one who is stringent for himself in this matter shall be called holy].
[15]
Drinking
18.
Regarding drinking after sleep on the night of the fast, one may drink even if he did not stipulate before sleeping; however, ideally one should stipulate before sleeping [and for Sephardim who follow the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch, it is forbidden to drink if he did not stipulate].
[16]
The duration of the permission when one stipulated
19.
When a person rises in the middle of the night in a manner in which he is permitted to eat, he may eat and drink without limitation until dawn.
Half an hour before dawn
20.
On an ordinary day, the law is that during the half hour before dawn it is forbidden to begin eating more than a kebeitzah of bread or mezonot [but fruits, vegetables, and various snacks may be eaten without limitation], and it is forbidden to begin drinking an intoxicating beverage in an amount greater than a kebeitzah [but other beverages may be drunk without limitation until dawn]. When dawn arrives, one must stop.
[17]
It must be considered whether this law also applies on a fast day—that one may not begin eating more than a kebeitzah of bread or mezonot during the half hour before dawn—because there is room to say that only on an ordinary day did they decree lest one continue his meal and thereby neglect the recitation of Shema; but on a fast, since he is forbidden to continue eating because of the fast, there is no concern that he will continue.
Indeed, the plain meaning of the Gemara
[18]
and of the Tur and Shulchan Aruch
[19]
is that one eats and drinks until the column of dawn rises, and no limitations are mentioned by the halachic authorities. This implies that on a fast one may eat and drink until dawn without limitation [when he did not sleep at night, or if he stipulated before sleeping; though according to what is explained in the Zohar, after one has slept it is forbidden, as explained above].
The Prohibition of Eating on the Fast
Tasting
21.
Even tasting is forbidden, even if one will spit it out afterward.
[20]
For Sephardim who follow the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch, tasting is permitted on condition that one spits it out. The Shulchan Aruch
[21]
cites two opinions as to whether the permitted tasting is only a small amount until one reaches the measure of a revi’it over the whole day, or whether even tasting a revi’it is permitted [even several times during the day, each tasting being a revi’it]; but tasting more than a revi’it is forbidden, and the halachah follows this opinion.
[22]
Rinsing the mouth
22.
Rinsing the mouth is permitted only if there is distress if one does not rinse it; then one must bend his head and mouth so that he does not swallow.
[23]
Brushing teeth
23.
Since after brushing one rinses the mouth, and rinsing the mouth is permitted only in a situation of distress, one should not brush teeth on a fast except in a situation of distress
[24]
[or for the sake of human dignity]. Swallowing saliva is permitted.
[25]
Medicines
24.
A healthy person or one who has discomfort and takes medicines: if they have no taste, he may take them without water; and if he cannot swallow them without water, or if the medicine is sweetened, he should make them bitter with salt or several tea bags [chamomile] without sugar [whereas a sick person, even if not dangerously ill, who is exempt from the fast, takes them as usual].
[26]
One who forgot and ate
25.
If one forgot and ate, even if he ate a kezayit or drank liquids in the amount of a cheekful, he is obligated to continue fasting, and he need not fast on another day; however, he should study the laws of fasting as atonement for his transgression.
[27]
Saying Aneinu for one who forgot and ate
26.
If one forgot and ate: if he ate less than a kezayit or drank less than a cheekful, he says Aneinu as usual. But if he ate more than a kezayit [and some say more than the measure of a kotevet] or drank more than a cheekful, since the law is that he must continue fasting, he says Aneinu, but should say “on this fast day” instead of “the day of our fast.”
[28]
Regarding a sick person
27.
A sick person who is permitted to eat does not say Aneinu, and likewise a minor who is not fasting does not say Aneinu.
[29]
Smoking cigarettes
28.
Smoking an electronic cigarette is forbidden. Smoking regular cigarettes was permitted discreetly for one for whom it is extremely difficult [however, one must be careful regarding cigarettes throughout the entire year as well].
[30]
Washing and anointing
29.
Washing and anointing are permitted on the fast.
[31]
Washing the entire body
30.
The washing that we said is permitted is either washing one’s face, hands, and feet with hot water, or one’s entire body with cold water; but with respect to washing the entire body with hot water, the custom is to be stringent.
[32]
A spiritually scrupulous person regarding washing and anointing
31.
A spiritually scrupulous person should be stringent regarding washing, not to wash at all on the fast, even with cold water, and should likewise be stringent regarding anointing.
[33]
Wearing shoes
32.
Regarding wearing shoes, when walking in the street even a spiritually scrupulous person should not be stringent in this matter, because it is a public matter and constitutes haughtiness and appears like mockery and ridicule. But at home, a spiritually scrupulous person should be stringent not to walk in leather shoes, as on Tisha B’Av.
[34]
Marital relations
33.
It is proper for a spiritually scrupulous person to be stringent regarding marital relations also on the night before the fast, unless it is the night of immersion.
[35]
[1] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 550, Se’if 1).
[2] Shulchan Aruch (ibid., Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 5).
[3] Shulchan Aruch (ibid., Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 4).
[4] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 328).
[5] Biur Halachah (Siman 559, Se’if 9).
[6] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 550, Se’if 1).
[7] Shulchan Aruch (ibid., and Siman 617, Se’if 4, and Siman 330, Se’if 4).
[8] Biur Halachah (Siman 617, Se’if 4).
[9] Mishnah Berurah (Siman 550, se’if katan 5).
[10] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 562, Se’if).
[11] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 550, Se’if 2) and Mishnah Berurah (se’if katan 6).
[12] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 564).
[13] Shulchan Aruch (ibid.) and Mishnah Berurah (Siman 89, se’if katan 28).
[14] Sha’ar HaTziyun (Siman 564, se’if katan 3).
[15] Mishnah Berurah (Siman 564, se’if katan 3).
[16] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 564).
[17] As explained in Shulchan Aruch (Siman 89, Se’if 5) and Mishnah Berurah (ibid., se’if katan 27).
[18] Ta’anit (12a).
[19] Siman 564.
[20] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 567, Se’if 1).
[21] Ibid. (Se’if 2).
[22] Mishnah Berurah (ibid., se’if katan 8) and Sha’ar HaTziyun (se’if katan 6).
[23] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 567, Se’if 3), Mishnah Berurah (se’if katan 11).
[24] Mishnah Berurah (Siman 567, se’if katan 11).
[25] Mishnah Berurah (Siman 567, se’if katan 13).
[26] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 612, Se’if 6).
[27] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 568, Se’if 1).
[28] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 568, Se’if 1), Mishnah Berurah (se’if katan 3), and Shulchan Aruch (Siman 565, Se’if 1).
[29] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 565, Se’if 1) and Biur Halachah (ibid.).
[30] Mishnah Berurah (Siman 555, se’if katan 8).
[31] Shulchan Aruch (Siman 550, Se’if 2).
[32] Sha’ar HaTziyun (Siman 550, se’if katan 8).
[33] Mishnah Berurah (Siman 550, se’if katan 6).
[34] Ibid.
[35] Mishnah Berurah (Siman 550, se’if katan 6).
