What’s Up With the Minor Fast Days?

The Minor Fast Days "on one foot":

There are several "minor" fast days that are only sunrise to sunset. This source sheet explains each of them.

When Are the Minor Fast Days?

Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Zechariah. Zechariah was a prophet who lived during the time of the Persian Emperor Darius 1 (so 520-518 BCE), when the Jews had already returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. In Chapter 7, Zechariah is asked whether the Jews still need to fast on Tisha B'Av, because they have now returned to Jerusalem. Over the next 2 chapters, Zechariah basically answers that when the Jews treat each other kindly and honestly, then G-d will bring about a day when the fast days related to Jerusalem will now become days of joy.

Note that in the Bible the first month is Nisan, not Tishrei. Thus, "the fast of the fourth month" is The 17th of Tammuz, "the fast of the fifth month" is Tisha B'av, "the fast of the seventh month" is Tzom Gedaliah, and "the fast of the tenth month" is The 10th of Tevet". Either Zechariah doesn't know about The Fast of Esther, or Zechariah doesn't mention it because it's not directly mourning over Jerusalem.

What would be your determining factor as to when these fasts didn't need to happen?

What Are Those Days?

Context: This is from Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, where he reorganizes all the rules in the Talmud, cutting out the discussion and just giving the bottom line. Here he is explaining what the minor fast days are. He gets to the Fast of Esther in the next part.

Why Do We Fast on the 17th of Tammuz?

Context: This is from the Mishnah, Masechet (Tractate) Ta’anit, which is about fasting. Here the reasons are given for why The Seventeenth of Tammuz (and then Tisha B’Av) is a fast day. Although the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem are considered to be the biggest reason, other events are ascribed to this day as well.

Note that the bold words are the ones actually in the Mishnah. This is important here because the non-bolded words are interpretation. Thus, there is dispute over several of these matters as to who was involved.

Why are these things deserving of a (minor) fast day?

Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Ta’anit, which is about fasting. Here the Gemara is trying to explain the events in the Mishnah.

Later rabbis try to use this math to prove that not only did Moses shatter the Ten Commandments on The Seventeenth of Tammuz, he brought down the second set on Yom Kippur (See Rashi on Exodus 31:18), thus making Yom Kippur a day of second chances and reconciliation.

Context: Again from Masechet Ta’anit. It's unclear whether the nullification of the daily sacrifice was ordered by the Romans (during the destruction of the Second Temple) or put in place by the priests due to a lack of sheep during the siege by the Babylonians (during the destruction of the First Temple). (See https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/17th-of-tammuz-shva-assar-b-tamuz)

Context: This is again from Masechet Ta’anit. The question here is: If Jeremiah it pretty clear that the Babylonians breached the walls on the 9th of Tammuz, then why is this attributed to the 17th of Tammuz? The answer is that we’re talking about the Second Temple, not the First Temple.

Context: Again from Masechet Ta’anit. It's not clear who Apostemos is, and therefore it's uncertain as to when this happened. Possibilities include:

1. A Roman soldier, around the year 50 CE (see The Antiquities of the Jews 20:5:4)

2. The executioner who wrapped a Torah around Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon before burning both of them, around the year 135 CE (According to the Jerusalem Talmud Ta'anit 23b:1, the Torah was burned at "Lod"/Lydda, and according to the Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 10b:1 those killed by the Romans are considered to be "the Martyrs of Lod")

3. Antiochus, around the year 165 BCE (see 1 Maccabees 1:54)

(See https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1660-apostomus)

Context: More Masechet Ta’anit. It's unclear again who set up this idol. Possibilities include:

1. King Menasseh of Judah, around the year 675 BCE (see 2 Chronicles 33:7 and 2 Kings 21:7). This is the interpretation assumed by Rashi.

2. Antiochus, around the year 165 BCE (see 1 Maccabees 1:53). This would work with the wording in the Mishnah, which seems to imply that whomever burnt the Torah also put up the idol in the Temple.

(See https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/353-abomination-ofdesolation)

Context: This is from the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, meaning “The Abridged Shulchan Aruch”. Similar to how Maimonides abridged the Talmud, Shlomo Ganzfried made the Shulchan Aruch more useful to his contemporaries circa 1850. Of the four sections of the Shulchan Aruch, Ganzfried focused on Orach Chayim (which is about ritual observance) and Yoreh De’ah (which is about things like kashrut, mourning, and tzedakah). He did not focus on Evan HaEzer (about getting married) or Choshen HaMishpat (about financial disputes), as those things (hopefully) don’t recur throughout a person’s life.

A meal that is considered a mitzvah would be a feast after a circumcision or baby naming, or a Bar(t)-Mitzvah.

Why wouldn’t people eat meat during “The Three Weeks”?

Context: More Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.

Why would kids not get haircuts during The Three Weeks?

Why Do We Fast on Tzom Gedaliah?

Tzom Gedaliah is on the 3rd of Tishrei. We start with a joke:

A Rabbi visits one of his congregants on Tzom Gedaliah and finds him sitting down to a meal. Surprised, the Rabbi asked him why he was ignoring the requirement to fast on this date.

I have three reasons for not observing Tzom Gedaliah, the man replied:

First of all, if Gedaliah hadn't been killed on this particular date, he'd be dead by now anyway.

Secondly, if I had been killed, I'm sure Gedaliah wouldn't fast for me.

And finally, if I don't even bother to fast on Yom Kippur I'm certainly not going to fast on Tzom Gedaliah!

(Found in Telushkin, Rabbi Joseph. Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews; also in https://elie-expo.blogspot.com/2005/10/fasting-for-gedaliah.html)

Context: This is a classic Jewish joke.

What does it say about Jews?

Context: This is from the Biblical Book of 2nd Kings, which tells the story of Solomon through the Babylonian Exile. At this point, the Babylonian king Nebuchanezzer has destroyed the First Temple and taken away most of the Jews to Babylonia. Gedaliah was appointed to be the Jewish governor of Judea, but he was assassinated by Ishmael, probably because Ishmael opposed working with the Babylonians to achieve Jewish goals (such as some degree of Jewish autonomy). Thereafter the Babylonians imposed total control.

Note: Jeremiah 40:7-41:3 has the same story, but with more intrigue.

Why would this be a fast day, and how is it relevant to our lives today?

Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Rosh Hashanah, which is about Rosh Hashanah (as you might presume). This text is from a gemara commenting on a mishnah that says that the new moon was announced throughout the Land of Israel and the Diaspora so that people would know when to observe the holidays (like Rosh Hashanah) and fast days. The Gemara picks up on the matter of fast days. It unpacks the verse from Zechariah that we saw, discussing why the fast days will become days of joy and then going through each of the fast days.

In a post-Temple world, why is the death of the righteous similar to the loss of the Temple?

Why Do We Fast on The Tenth of Tevet?

Context: This is from the Biblical Book of 2nd Kings, again. The previous king of Judah had stopped paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE, so the Babylonians deported King Yehoyachin and other nobles to Babylonia (including Ezekiel), and they appointed his uncle Tzidkiyahu to be the king of Judah. In 586 BCE Tzidkiyahu rebelled against Babylonia, so on the Tenth of Tevet Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem. This eventually led to the destruction of the Temple on Tisha B'Av.

This date is also recorded in Ezekiel 24:1-2.

Why would the beginning of the end be a cause of a minor fast?

​​​​​​​Why Do We Fast on the Fast of Esther?

Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Esther. Haman has decreed that all the Jews will be killed on the 13th of Adar and Mordechai has just persuaded Esther that she should speak to the king, even though entering his presence without an invitation could get even the queen killed.

Little known fact - all this happens on the 13th of Nissan (Esther 3:12). Why might the Fast of Esther be on the 13th of Adar instead of on the 14th of Nissan when Esther actually fasted?

Context: This is also from the Biblical Book of Esther. By this point, the Jews have been saved from their enemies and Mordechai has been appointed to replace Haman. Esther and Mordechai issue a decree that the Jews should celebrate Purim each year. They also issued a second decree that the day of fasting and lamentation be observed on the 13th of Adar, when the Jews were expecting to be murdered.

Why bother remembering the day we were almost killed? Why bother remembering Esther's (and the rest of the community's) fast?

Context: More of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. Of the six fast days (4 minor ones that are sunrise to sunset, and 2 major ones that are sunset to sunset), only Yom Kippur can take place on Shabbat. For all the others, we don't mourn or fast on Shabbat, so the fast gets moved. For most of the fasts, they get moved to Sunday.

If Purim is on a Sunday, and the Fast of Esther can't be on Shabbat, why move the fast to Thursday instead of moving the fast to Sunday and Purim to Monday?

What Do We Do On These Days?

Context: This is from the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, the "abridged Shulchan Aruch" written by Shlomo Ganzfried around 1850. On all the minor fast days (including the Fast of Esther) one is permitted food during the night, bathing, leather shoes, and marital relations, but on the major fast days (Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur) one is forbidden these.

Why might leather shoes be forbidden on the major fast days but not on the minor ones?

Context: The Peninei Halakhah are a modern overview of Jewish law, organized by topic. It was put together by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed around 2005 in Israel.

Why would pregnant and nursing women (and by extension anybody who needs to eat or drink for medical reasons) be exempted from participating in fasting?

Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Ta'anit, which is about fasting. This comes from a section where the rabbis are trying to figure out what one ought to do on Tisha B'Av and why.

Why might it be that one who mourns for Jerusalem will merit to see her future joy?

With appreciation to: David M. Rosenberg, Rena Ableman, Moshe Rudin, Sefaria Education, Scott Bolton, Yisroel Frankforter, Deracheha, and Rabbi Ephraim Pelcovits.

Appendix A: The Fast Day Torah Reading

With thoughts by Rabbi Scott Bolton

Understanding the choice of the Torah reading for a fast day provides insight as to what the Rabbis wanted to stir into our Jewish personalities and say about our world. Moses getting the new tablets of the law represents the Jewish People - and every Peole for that matter - "getting another chance" and having "the chance to write a new chapter" of history! The Rabbis in reminding us of the sin of the Golden Calf and what to avoid are encouraging us to build up moral society based on Divine law.

Being reminded about the sin of the Golden Calf does not sit well with some. Why remind us about that mistake we made in the desert? Could we not have read about Pharoah's soldiers pursuing the Jewish People - enslaved and persecuted - into the desert even after they were let go? This classic sin-punishment theology turns the blame on the Jewish People for their troubles. As it relates to either the siege of Jerusalem or the Holocaust this is not a sustainable theological position.

As with all sacred literature in the Jewish tradition, we are invited and challenged to read texts that seem to say in a straightforward manner that our sins lead to God's punishing us. What do we do with passages and books of the bible like sections of Lamentations that represent God as having visited destruction on the Temple or Jewish People because of their iniquity?

Without presenting a deep study of any of those passages here, my general read of those texts that are classically seen as defining sin-punishment theology is that they remind us of causation and more than God's role in history - our own! The sacred literature that presents God as a God of Vengeance reminds us that there are spirals and power shifts. One minute someone may be in power and the next he or she or that People of the Earth may fall.

We all have a role to play - everyone does - in creating a holy world down here on Earth. The texts that point to our missing the mark and how we must pay for our wrongdoings are the religious goads we need to awaken our willingness towards self-accounting and character refinement. A commitment to study and ritual and the review of those sacred passages challenge us to create a shared language of morality and goodness that steers us away from our violent tendencies and desires for power and control. The focus on stopping idol worship and the performance of empty rituals is to remind us that the treatment of the other, the stranger, the orphan, the widow, any hungry soul and our brothers and sisters is ultimately in our hands and, ironically, NOT in God's. Thusly, Moses had to participate in the making of the second tablets of the law by which the Jewish People would live by. He had to create, write and carve.

Now, it is true that our sacred literature represents God as either destroyer or deliverer. Yet our prayers on a fast day beg of Avinu Malkeinu, Our Father, Our King, to help us do teshuvah, to provide for us, to redeem us, to bless our lives with divine tzedakah so we may act in that image. We beseech God, "Answer us!" Yet, we are not running away from our responsibilities and obligations. As we call out to the Holy One we are reminded again and again that the plains of history are ours to travel. Even a theology that holds God will ultimately come and save our People or bring an age of redemption to Earth can name God as Source of Hope for days of truth, honesty, and an era of peace among nations. We indeed ask God to bless the work of our hands in the Psalms, on the micro and macro levels!

The fast is a day to align the physical with the spiritual. To be aware of our bodies and mindsets and ultimate responsibilities is what a fast day is for. We can be more than just sheep to the slaughter or butchers. What shall our parts be in the history we are making? What lessons shall we learn from the experiences of our ancestors? How shall we remember all those among Am Yisrael who were murdered for being Jews? Can we hear their blood crying out for all humanity as Kayin's does: "you were supposed to be my keeper!" How and when will the fast days turn to days of joy and gladness?

It is up to us to fast and "calculate our future." Math about our future redemption used to provide some religionists with hope. To me, fasting makes space and provides time for an accounting of the soul, to contemplate and to re-calculate the equations necessary to usher in a time of honesty, integrity, joy and peace.

Psalm 60 ends with the realization with "With God we shall triumph!" Enemies will be laid low. And then we will have proven that the help of man is NOT worthless if we are to help redeem all captives, save all who are tortured and stop the sieges on societies committed to goodness, honest, integrity and peace.

Appendix B: Thoughts on the Seventeenth of Tammuz

By: David Schwartz

Thus said the Lord of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month…. (Zachariah 8:19)

When I worked at Camp Ramah, one of the noteworthy days of Session Aleph was the 17th of Tammuz. The 17th of Tammuz is a minor fast day (sunrise to sunset) commemorating the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem that led to the destruction of the Temple three weeks later on Tisha B’Av.

Why were the Temples destroyed? The short answer has to do with imperialism. Babylonia wanted to take over the Kingdom of Judah, so it burnt the First Temple in 586 BCE. Rome didn’t want Judea rebelling against it, so it burnt the Second Temple in 70 CE. Yet that is not the only explanation provided for these calamities.

The problem with blaming an external enemy is that you lose your sense of agency. It leads to a mindset of “The enemy has a bigger army? We’d better give up right away.” The Rabbis knew that the Babylonians and the Romans were responsible for destroying the Temples. However, they chose to explain it differently. In the Talmud, they say, “The First Temple was destroyed because of murder, adultery, and idolatry, while the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred. This shows that baseless hatred is equal to the other three.” (Yoma 9b:8).

How do these four things lead to the destruction of the Temple? Each of them weakens the social ties that hold society together. When a society is no longer united, it is easier for an external enemy to defeat it. This is analogous to a body not getting enough sleep and thus being easier prey for a germ to wreak havoc.

This year, as we approach the 17th of Tammuz, let us resolve to listen better to those we disagree with so that we can build a stronger society together.

Appendix C: General Background on How the Fast Days Developed

During the Babylonian Exile, in Babylonia the people had become accustomed to rest from work on the Sabbath, and on such holidays as Passover, Sukkot, and Shavuot. In Judea they had refrained from working on these days because their religion forbade them. In Babylonia, many of them supposed that they no longer needed to observe their religion. Nevertheless, most of them continued to rest on such occasions. They probably argued that they were doing this in memory of the old days when their nation was free and independent. Besides the feasts and the days of rest, they also began to observe days of fasting. All of them mourned on the anniversary of the day when the walls of Jerusalem began to crumble under the attacks of the Babylonians, and on the day when the city fell. For these reasons, the 10th of Tevet, the 17th of Tammuz, and the 9th of Av were observed as fast days. Such days of rejoicing and of mourning were almost enough to keep the Jews separate from the Babylonians, and to unit them in common memories.

The Jews lived in groups. It was therefore natural for those living near one another to meet on the days when they decided not to do any work in their fields or in their shops. On Sabbaths, feast days, and fast days they would gather together and recall the glories of the past. They could not perform the sacrifices which the priests used to offer up on such occasions, but they could sing the songs which accompanied the sacrifices, and which the scribes had succeeded in collecting. It was most likely on such occasions that the prophets addressed the people and told them not to give up hope, and taught them how much worthier the God of Israel was than the gods whom the Babylonians worshipped. A prophet or scribe who was present read to the assembly a portion of the Torah or the written work of a prophet who had lived long before and who had urged the Judeans or the Israelites to be a godly people. These meetings thus provided the real means for the preservation of the Jews.

- A History of the Jews, by Solomon Grayzel, p. 32-33