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{{Short description| Fasting in Judaism}}<!--Stubs-->{{For|information on the tractate with this name|Ta'anit (Talmud)}}
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A '''ta'anit''' or '''taynis''' ([[Biblical Hebrew]] {{lang|he|תַּעֲנִית}} ''taʿaniṯ'' or צוֹם ''ṣom'') is a [[Fasting|fast]] in [[Judaism]] 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.<ref>See [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], 58:1–13</ref> Nevertheless, fasting is conducive to atonement, for it tends to precipitate contrition.<ref>See [[Book of Joel|Joel]], 2:12–18</ref> Therefore, the Bible requires fasting on [[Yom Kippur]].<ref>See [[Leviticus]] 23:27,29,32; [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], 29:7; Tractate ''[[Yoma]]'', 8:1; ibid. Babylonian Talmud, 81a</ref> Because, according to the Hebrew Bible, hardship and calamitous circumstances can occur as a result of sin,<ref>See, for example, {{Bibleref|Leviticus|26:14–41|HE}}</ref> fasting is often undertaken by the community or by individuals to achieve atonement and avert catastrophe.<ref>For example, [[Book of Esther|Esther]] 4:3,16; [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]] 3:7</ref> Most of the Talmud's Tractate [[Ta'anit (Talmud)|''Ta'anit'']] ("Fast[s]") 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]], 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]] explains that fasting can potentially elevate one to the exalted level of the ministering angels.<ref>[[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]] 46</ref> 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]] – the only fast day mentioned in the [[Torah]] (Leviticus 23:26-32)
* [[Tisha B'Av]]

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]], and Tisha B'Av has restrictions somewhat similar to a mourner sitting ''[[Shiva (Judaism)|shiva]]''.

The Halakha status of the two Jewish full fasts is that they are obligatory.<ref name="4fasts-RDBH">{{cite news|last1=Bar-Hayim|first1=David|title=The Four Fasts: Halakha or Minhagh|url=http://www.machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/41-audiohalakha/315-the-four-fasts-halakha-or-minhagh|accessdate=28 September 2017|publisher=Machon Shilo|date=6 July 2009|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019211303/http://www.machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/41-audiohalakha/315-the-four-fasts-halakha-or-minhagh|url-status=live}}</ref>

===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]]
*[[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]] and [[Mincha]] services. After the Torah Reading at the Mincha service, [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] communities read the [[Haftarah|Haftorah]] 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]] 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 [[Hazzan|Chazzan]] as its own blessing during the Shacharit and Mincha services.  Individuals recite it as in addition in the [[Shema Koleinu]] blessing of the [[Amidah]]; in Ashkenazic communities, it is recited by individuals only at Mincha, in [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etzion.org.il/en/laws-fasts-prayers-fast-days|title=The Laws of Fasts - The Prayers of the Fast Days|last=|date=2016-05-25|website=www.etzion.org.il|language=en|access-date=2020-02-12|archive-date=2020-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027095421/https://www.etzion.org.il/en/laws-fasts-prayers-fast-days|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Four fasts===
The major and minor fasts that commemorate events having to do with the destruction of the [[Jerusalem Temple]] are called the ''four fasts''.<ref name="4fasts-RDBH"/><ref name="4fasts-halkha-RDBH">{{cite news|last1=Bar-Hayim|first1=David|title=The Four Fasts and their Halakhic Status Today|url=http://www.machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/41-audiohalakha/394-the-four-fasts-and-their-halakhic-status-today|accessdate=28 September 2017|publisher=Machon Shilo|date=15 July 2010|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019211840/http://www.machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/41-audiohalakha/394-the-four-fasts-and-their-halakhic-status-today|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]] as fasts in memory of the destruction of the [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]]. [[Zechariah 7]] mentions the fasts in the fifth and seventh months,<ref>{{bibleverse|Zechariah|7:5}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{bibleverse|Zechariah|8:19|ESV}}: English Standard Version</ref>

However, after the [[Second Temple]] was built, these fasts ceased to be observed.<ref name="pninei-status">{{Cite web|url=https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/05-07-01/|title=1 – The Current Status of the Minor Fasts &#124; Peninei Halakha|accessdate=Jul 15, 2020|archive-date=December 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201085446/https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/05-07-01/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Talmud]] 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 [[Jewish holidays|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."<ref>Rosh Hashana 18b</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ou.org/holidays/four-fasts-now/ |title=The Four Fasts, Then & Now |author=Rav Mosheh Twersky |date=November 30, 2017 |publisher=Orthodox Union |access-date=April 5, 2021 |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228192702/https://www.ou.org/holidays/four-fasts-now/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Nowadays, the Jewish people are accustomed to observing these fasts, making them obligatory.<ref name="pninei-status"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etzion.org.il/en/laws-fasts-status-four-fasts-today|title=The Laws of Fasts - The Status of the Four Fasts Today|date=May 25, 2016|website=www.etzion.org.il|accessdate=Jul 15, 2020|archive-date=August 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804060226/https://www.etzion.org.il/en/laws-fasts-status-four-fasts-today|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>The [[Rabbeinu Asher|Rosh]] writes that this decision is made on a communal level, and individuals may not deviate. Similarly, the [[Yom Tov Asevilli|Ritva]] writes that the decision whether to fast is made by the [[beit din]]. [[Maimonides]] writes that "all of Israel are accustomed to fast" on these days (Laws of Fasts 5:5). See [https://www.etzion.org.il/en/laws-fasts-status-four-fasts-today discussion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826214422/https://www.etzion.org.il/en/laws-fasts-status-four-fasts-today |date=2018-08-26 }} of these positions. However, R' [[David Bar-Hayim]] reads Maimonides to mean that every Jew may personally choose to observe these fasts or not ([http://machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/35-hagim/1010-the-four-fasts-an-in-depth-review-of-the-sources source] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929091131/http://machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/35-hagim/1010-the-four-fasts-an-in-depth-review-of-the-sources |date=2017-09-29 }}).</ref>

=== 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.{{ref|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/fasting-and-fast-days|title= Fasting and Fast Days|website=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=August 12, 2024}}
* [[Fast of the Firstborn]], Ta'anit Bechorot, observed on the day preceding [[Passover]].
* [[Yom Kippur Katan]] (literally, the little Yom Kippur) – held on the day before [[Rosh Hodesh]] in most months.
* [[Fast of Behav]] –  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.<ref name="TYW-BaHaB">{{cite web|last1=Hoffman|first1=R' Yair|title=BaHaB|url=http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/229412/halachic-analysis-the-practice-of-bahab.html|website=The Yeshiva World|date=4 May 2014|accessdate=28 September 2017|archive-date=29 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929045414/http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/229412/halachic-analysis-the-practice-of-bahab.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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){{fact|date=August 2024}}, 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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://matzav.com/the-forgotten-fast-day-20-sivan/|title=The Forgotten Fast Day – 20 Sivan &#124; Matzav.com|accessdate=Jul 15, 2020|archive-date=July 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715202544/https://matzav.com/the-forgotten-fast-day-20-sivan/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Fast of Samuel: Held on 28th Iyar. Not widely observed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/48918497.html|title=Parshat Bamidbar: The Twenty Eighth of Iyar|first=Rabbi Ari|last=Kahn|website=aishcom|date=24 June 2009 |accessdate=Jul 15, 2020|archive-date=July 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717154118/https://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/48918497.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Fast of Moses on [[Seventh of Adar]].<ref name="OU-7thAdar">{{cite web|title=The Seventh of Adar|date=13 February 2014|url=https://www.ou.org/holidays/months/seventh-adar/|publisher=Orthodox Union|accessdate=28 September 2017|archive-date=29 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929045117/https://www.ou.org/holidays/months/seventh-adar/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ph.yhb.org.il/11-05-09/|title=ט – צום ביום החתונה – פניני הלכה|date=4 November 2017 |accessdate=Jul 15, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806135700/https://ph.yhb.org.il/11-05-09/|url-status=live}}</ref> (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]], eating their first meal during their [[yichud]] seclusion at the end of the ceremony.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://outorah.org/p/39266/|title=Fasting on One's Wedding Day - Dalet Amot of Halacha|date=Dec 11, 2017|website=OU Torah|accessdate=Jul 15, 2020|archive-date=July 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716034603/https://outorah.org/p/39266/|url-status=live}}</ref> This custom is not recorded in the Talmud,<ref>[https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/481616/jewish/Fasting-on-the-Jewish-Wedding-Day.htm Fasting on the Jewish Wedding Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827005302/https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/481616/jewish/Fasting-on-the-Jewish-Wedding-Day.htm |date=2018-08-27 }}. Note however that the [[Jerusalem Talmud]] (Bikurim 3:3) mentions that on a wedding day one's sins are absolved. [[Moses ben Isaac ha-Levi Minz|Maharam Minz]] (n.109) uses this idea as a justification for fasting: ונהגו [ה]חתן ו[ה]כלה להתענות ביום הנישואין עד אחר הברכה, י"א הטעם דהוא יום סליחה דידוע שנמחלו עונותיהם וי"כ דידהו כדדרשינן על הא דכתיב (בראשית כח) ויקח את מחלת. Later sources explicitly parallel the wedding day to [[Yom Kippur]] in terms of both forgiveness and fasting.</ref> and first appears in [[Eleazar of Worms|Sefer HaRokeach]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hidabroot.org/question/27854|title=האם כלה ביום חופתה צריכה לצום?|website=www.hidabroot.org|date=25 February 2014 |accessdate=Jul 15, 2020|archive-date=August 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827005348/https://www.hidabroot.org/question/27854|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 [[Minhag|custom]] of eating light dairy foods in moderation.

== Other abstentions from food ==

From the [[Gemara]] there is a prohibition against eating before [[Shacharit]], the morning prayers, except for those who are ill or unable to concentrate.<ref>{{cite video |url=https://www.naaleh.com/torah_library/?post_id=2790 |title=Eating Before Davening |author=Rabbi Ari Jacobson |publisher=Naaleh Torah Online |accessdate=2021-04-05 |via="[https://naalehupdate.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/eating-before-davening/ Eating Before Davening]", ''Naaleh Updates'', December 30, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://oukosher.org/halacha-yomis/one-permitted-eat-breakfast-davening-shacharis/ |title=Is one permitted to eat breakfast before davening Shacharis? |work=The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis |publisher=Orthodox Union |accessdate=2021-04-05 |archive-date=2021-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414204846/https://oukosher.org/halacha-yomis/one-permitted-eat-breakfast-davening-shacharis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Eating Before Davening |author=Rabbi Doniel Neustadt |url=https://torah.org/torah-portion/weekly-halacha-5761-noach/ |work=Weekly-Halacha |date=25 June 2017 |publisher=Rabbi Neustadt, Dr. Jeffrey Gross and Project Genesis |via=Torah.org |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026200121/https://torah.org/torah-portion/weekly-halacha-5761-noach/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Sauma]] in Mandaeism

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://ph.yhb.org.il/en/ Peninei Halakha by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed]

{{Jewish and Israeli holidays}}
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[[Category:Jewish fast days| ]]