A ta'anit or taynis (
Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew ( or ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite languages, Canaanitic branch of the Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Isra ...
''taʿaniṯ'' or צוֹם ''ṣom'') is a
fast in
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water.
Purposes
A Jewish fast may have one or more purposes, including:
* Atonement for sins: Fasting is not considered the primary means of acquiring atonement; rather, sincere regret for and rectification of wrongdoing is key. Nevertheless, fasting is conducive to atonement, for it tends to precipitate contrition. Therefore, the Bible requires fasting on
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October.
For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...
. Because, according to the Hebrew Bible, hardship and calamitous circumstances can occur as a result of sin, fasting is often undertaken by the community or by individuals to achieve atonement and avert catastrophe. Most of the Talmud's Tractate
''Ta'anit'' ("Fast
) is dedicated to the protocol involved in declaring and observing fast days.
* Commemorative mourning: Most communal fast days that are set permanently in the Jewish calendar serve this purpose. These fasts include:
Tisha B'Av
Tisha B'Av ( ; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism. A commemoration of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusal ...
, the
Seventeenth of Tammuz, the
Tenth of Tevet, and the
Fast of Gedalia. The purpose of a fast of mourning is the demonstration that those fasting are impacted by and distraught over earlier loss. This serves to heighten appreciation of that which was lost.
* Supplication, such as the
Fast of Esther
* Commemorative gratitude: Since food and drink are corporeal needs, abstinence from them serves to provide a unique opportunity for focus on the spiritual. Indeed, the
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...
explains that fasting can potentially elevate one to the exalted level of the ministering angels. This dedication is considered appropriate gratitude to God for providing salvation. Additionally, by refraining from such basic physical indulgence, one can more greatly appreciate the dependence of humanity on God, leading to appreciation of God's beneficence in sustaining His creations.
Jewish fast days
Full fast
A Jewish full fast lasts from sunset to darkness the following night. There are two Jewish full fast days:
*
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October.
For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...
– the only fast day mentioned in the
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
(Leviticus 23:26-32)
*
Tisha B'Av
Tisha B'Av ( ; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism. A commemoration of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusal ...
The two full fast days carry four restrictions in addition to eating and drinking – one may not wash one's body, wear leather shoes, use colognes, oils or perfumes, or have sexual relations. Yom Kippur also has all the restrictions of
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
, and Tisha B'Av has restrictions somewhat similar to a mourner sitting ''
shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
''.
The Halakha status of the two Jewish full fasts is that they are obligatory.
Minor fasts
Minor fasts are observed from dawn to nightfall, without additional restrictions. There are four public minor fasts:
*
Fast of Gedalia (Tzom Gedalia)
*
Tenth of Tevet (Asara B'Tevet)
*
Fast of Esther (Ta'anit Esther)
*
Seventeenth of Tammuz (Shiva Asar B'Tammuz)
There are additional fasts that are practiced in some communities or by individuals, but are not universally observed like the ones listed above. Since these are dependent on local custom, it is impossible to give a comprehensive list. Nevertheless, some of the most commonly observed ones include:
*
Fast of Behav
The Fast of Behav (תענית בה"ב) refers to a tradition of Ashkenazic Jews to fast on the Monday, Thursday, and then following Monday after the holidays of Sukkot and Pesach. While today very few people fast, many Ashkenazic communities r ...
*
Yom Kippur Katan
*
Shovevim
Liturgy
During the four minor fasts a number of changes is made to the liturgy:
* The Torah portion for Fast Days (Exodus 32:11-14, 34:1-10), commonly called ''VaYechal'' after the first word of the portion, is read during the
Shacharit
''Shacharit'' ( ''šaḥăriṯ''), or ''Shacharis'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning '' tefillah'' (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers.
Different traditions identify different primary components of ''Shacharit''. E ...
and
Mincha
Mincha (, ; sometimes spelled Minchah, Minhah, Mincho or Minchuh) is the afternoon prayer service in Judaism.
Etymology
The name ''Mincha'', meaning "gift" or "offering", is derived from the meal offering that accompanied each sacrifice offered ...
services. After the Torah Reading at the Mincha service,
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
communities read the
Haftorah
The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Prophets") of the ...
for Fast Days (Isaiah 55:6-56:8), which is commonly called Dirshu after its first word.
* During the Shacharit service,
Selichot are recited.
* In most communities which follow the Eastern Ashkenazic rite,
Avinu Malkeinu
Avinu Malkeinu (; "Our Father, Our King") is a Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They als ...
is recited during the Shacharit and Mincha services except at occasions when
Tachanun is omitted. It is not recited on fast days in the Western Ashkenazic rite or by Sephardim, and a few Eastern Ashkenazic communities still follow the older practice of reciting it only during the
Ten Days of Repentance.
*
Aneinu is by the
Chazzan
A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...
as its own blessing during the Shacharit and Mincha services. Individuals recite it as in addition in the
Shema Koleinu blessing of the
Amidah
The ''Amidah'' (, ''Tefilat HaAmidah'', 'The Standing Prayer'), also called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' ( 'eighteen'), is the central prayer of Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the ''Amidah'' during each of the three services prayed on week ...
; in Ashkenazic communities, it is recited by individuals only at Mincha, in
Sephardic
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
communities it is recited also during the Shacharit service, and in some Yemenite communities it is recited even in the Maariv service on the night before the fast, even though the fast has not yet begun.
Four fasts
The major and minor fasts that commemorate events having to do with the destruction of the
Jerusalem Temple
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accor ...
are called the ''four fasts''.
They are:
* Ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av, full fast)
* Fast of Gedalia (Tzom Gedalia, minor fast)
* Tenth of Tevet (Asara B'Tevet, minor fast)
* Seventeenth of Tammuz (Shiva Asar B'Tammuz, minor fast)
The minor fasts are mentioned in the
Book of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is a Jewish text attributed to Zechariah, a Hebrew prophet of the late 6th century BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the text is included as part of the Twelve Minor Prophets, itself a part of the second division of that work. In ...
as fasts in memory of the destruction of the
First Temple.
Zechariah 7 mentions the fasts in the fifth and seventh months, and
Zechariah 8 mentions four dates: "the fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth".
However, after the
Second Temple
The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...
was built, these fasts ceased to be observed.
The
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
establishes general rules for observance of the fasts in later periods: if the Temple stands the fasts are not observed and instead have the status of
Yom Tov and observed as holidays; if the Jewish people are being persecuted the fasts are observed; if neither of those is the case, then "should they desire, they fast, should they desire not to, they do not fast." Nowadays, the Jewish people are accustomed to observing these fasts, making them obligatory.
Customary fasts
Customary fasts are only practiced by specific communities, or by especially pious individuals, or by certain classes of individuals. Most of these fasts, like the minor fasts, last from dawn to dusk.
*
Fast of the Firstborn, Ta'anit Bechorot, observed on the day preceding
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt.
According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...
.
*
Yom Kippur Katan (literally, the little Yom Kippur) – held on the day before
Rosh Hodesh in most months.
*
Fast of Behav
The Fast of Behav (תענית בה"ב) refers to a tradition of Ashkenazic Jews to fast on the Monday, Thursday, and then following Monday after the holidays of Sukkot and Pesach. While today very few people fast, many Ashkenazic communities r ...
– This is a custom to fast on the first Monday, Thursday and then the following Monday of the Jewish months of Cheshvan and Iyar—shortly following the Sukkot and Passover holidays.
*
Shovavim Tat, 6 or 8 weeks of repentance when the first 6 or 8 liturgical readings from Exodus are read. Some fast every day (except Shabbat), some once or twice a week, either Monday and Thursday, Thursday only, or Friday only.
* Fast commemorating the
Khmelnytsky massacres, held on
Twentieth of Sivan.
* Fast of Samuel: Held on 28th Iyar. Not widely observed.
* Fast of Moses on
Seventh of Adar.
* A custom exists for a bride and groom to fast on the day of their wedding. It is observed by Ashkenazi and some Sephardi Jews. (This applies both to those who are marrying for the first time and to those who are remarrying.) They fast from daybreak until after the
chuppah
A ''chuppah'' (, ) is a canopy under which a Judaism, Jewish couple stand during their Jewish wedding, wedding ceremony. It consists of a cloth or sheet, sometimes a tallit, stretched or supported over four poles, or sometimes manually held u ...
, eating their first meal during their
yichud seclusion at the end of the ceremony. This custom is not recorded in the Talmud, and first appears in
Sefer HaRokeach.
Customarily, special prayers called selichot are added in the morning prayer services on many of these days.
Breaking the fast
A
break fast is a meal that takes places following a fast. After Yom Kippur, it is viewed as a festive meal. To avoid indigestion, some choose to avoid heavy foods such as meat, observe a
custom of eating light dairy foods in moderation.
Other abstentions from food
From the
Gemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...
there is a prohibition against eating before
Shacharit
''Shacharit'' ( ''šaḥăriṯ''), or ''Shacharis'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning '' tefillah'' (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers.
Different traditions identify different primary components of ''Shacharit''. E ...
, the morning prayers, except for those who are ill or unable to concentrate.
See also
*
Sauma in Mandaeism
References
External links
Peninei Halakha by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
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