The Fast of Esther (', he, תַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵּר) is a fast from

dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

until

dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enou ...

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Boo ...

eve. This fast, unlike other fasts is a custom. Unlike the other fasts in Judaism, it is not mentioned in the Talmud, but only in the Midrash and later sources from the days of the Gaonim therefore it is considered less severe than the other fasts.

Origin and purpose

The fast commemorates one of two events in the

Book of Esther The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Judaism, Jewish ''Tanak ...

: either Esther and the Jewish community of Shushan having fasted for 3 days and 3 nights before she approached the king (), or a fast which is presumed to have occurred on the 13th of Adar, when the Jews fought a battle against their enemies. It is a common misconception that this fast dates to the time of Esther. states "They had established for themselves and their descendants the matters of the fasts and their cry", but this refers instead to the fasts mentioned in . The first mention of the fast of Esther is as a

minhag ''Minhag'' ( he, מנהג "custom", classical pl. מנהגות, modern pl. , ''minhagim'') is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, ''Nusach (Jewish custom), Nusach'' (), refers to the traditional order and fo ...

that is referenced in the

Gaonic ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of ...

period. A 2010 study examines the origin of the fast and the reason for its arising in the Gaonic period.

Laws

The fast is observed on the 13th day of the

Hebrew month The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...

Adar Adar ( he, אֲדָר ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 d ...

. (When the year has two Adar months, it is observed only in the second Adar). If the date of the Fast of Esther falls on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

(Saturday), the fast is instead observed on the preceding Thursday, as this was the case in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2017. This will occur again in 2024. (

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

S.686 s.2) As the fast of Esther is not one of the four public fasts ordained by the

Prophets In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

, the laws concerning its observance are more lenient; pregnant women, nursing mothers, and those who are weak are not required to observe it.The Fast of Esther,

Fasting in the Book of Esther

It is generally accepted in the rabbinic tradition that the original three-day "Fast of Esther" mentioned in chapter 4 of

occurred on the 14th, 15th, and 16th days of

Nisan Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is ...

, these being the eve and first two days of

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

. While

halacha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

normally forbids fasting on Passover, it is believed that Esther reasoned it would be better to fast on one Pesach lest they all be destroyed and thus never be able to observe the holiday in the future. But due to the normal prohibition of fasting on Passover, the "Fast of Esther" instead became attached to the eve of Purim, the 13th of Adar. The 13th of Adar itself is thought to have been a fast day for the warriors while going out to battle, as it is believed to have been customary to fast during the battle in order to gain divine favor.

Date in the Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar dates, from dawn until nightfall, for 2021–2026 are:

References

External links

The month of Adar and the holiday of Purim, minhagim (customs) and halachot (laws)
in

Peninei Halakha Eliezer Melamed ( he, אליעזר מלמד, born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli Orthodox Zionist rabbi and the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, rabbi of the community Har Bracha, and author of the book series ''Peninei Halakha''. Biography Eli ...

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Eliezer Melamed Eliezer Melamed ( he, אליעזר מלמד, born 28 June 1961) is an Israeli Orthodox Zionist rabbi and the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha, rabbi of the community Har Bracha, and author of the book series ''Peninei Halakha''. Biography Eli ...

Jewish Holidays
at

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for ...