Siman 686, Se'if 2 · The Basis of the Halachah: A Fast That Is Not an Obligation

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 686, se'if 2

"We fast on the thirteenth of Adar, and if Purim falls on Sunday, we move the fast up to Thursday."

(Shulchan Aruch)

The Basis of the Halachah: A Fast That Is Not an Obligation

"This fast is not an obligation, and therefore one may be lenient with it when there is a need, such as for pregnant women, nursing women, or someone who is ill without danger to life, and even someone who merely has eye pain: if they are suffering a great deal they should not fast, and they make it up afterwards. But other healthy people should not separate themselves from the community."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 3)

• The source of the fast: Ta'anis Esther is not spelled out anywhere in the words of Chazal, and there is no indication of it in their words. It was established in the era of the Geonim, who learned from the verse "they gathered to stand for their lives" that presumably those who gathered also fasted.
• The halachic consequence: Since the fast was not established by Chazal, it "is not an obligation," and therefore one may be lenient with it when there is a need.

The Exemption for Pregnant and Nursing Women

"'Suffering': this refers back to those with eye pain, but a pregnant woman is exempt even if she is not suffering. So writes the Yeshuos Yaakov, while the Eliyah Rabbah is stringent in this. However, regarding a woman who has given birth, within thirty days he too is lenient."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 4)

• The precision in the Shulchan Aruch's wording: The condition "if they are suffering a great deal" was said about those with eye pain, whose leniency depends on their suffering. Regarding a pregnant or nursing woman, the halachah is stated flatly, with no condition of how she feels, and according to this approach even if she feels fine she need not fast.
• A dispute among the poskim: The Yeshuos Yaakov exempts a pregnant woman even if she is not suffering, while the Eliyah Rabbah is stringent in this.
• A woman who has given birth: Even the Eliyah Rabbah is lenient with a woman within thirty days of giving birth, since in the words of Chazal her status is treated severely: for seven days she is like a choleh with danger to life, and for thirty days like a choleh without danger to life.
• The ruling of contemporary poskim: For most fasts, and Ta'anis Esther among them, most poskim lean toward leniency for a pregnant or nursing woman, relying on the principle that weakness has descended upon the generations.
• A leniency that stays in place: Even though medicine today has eased the condition of a woman after childbirth, and she is gotten out of bed soon after giving birth, the leniency established by Chazal for a woman who has given birth remains exactly as it was, and we do not become stringent because times have changed.
• Formula substitutes: Even though substitutes exist today, they are not equal to a mother's milk, and problems have even been found in the products of various companies. Therefore we are lenient for a nursing woman in our times as well.

Making Up the Fast (s.k. 5)

"'And they make it up afterwards': it stands to reason that this halachah applies only to one with eye pain, since his eyes are hurting him, and once his pain is removed he makes up his fast. This is not so regarding a pregnant or nursing woman, who are exempt even when not suffering."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 5)

• One with eye pain: Regarding him there is the claim of "one should not separate himself from the community," and by the basic halachah he is included among those who fast. His dispensation stems from his present condition, so once the pain is gone he makes up the fast on another day.
• A pregnant or nursing woman: They are exempt by the basic halachah, not because of suffering, because their very condition demands it: a pregnant woman who fasts may miscarry, and a nursing woman may become unable to continue nursing. Therefore they need not make up the fast, since they were never included among those obligated in it.
• The view of the Bach: According to the Bach, a pregnant or nursing woman is not exempt by the basic halachah; rather, we are lenient with them because of the difficulty and the concern. According to this, when their condition is good they should make up the fast on another day.

Eye Pain: Why the Leniency

• The source of the severity: The Gemara in Avodah Zarah says that the eye is connected to the heart ("the sinews of the eye are dependent on the heart"), and there is an opinion among Chazal that because of this one may even be mechallel Shabbos for an eye ailment, since it carries the status of an illness with danger to life.

(In passing, the allusion was cited from "and you shall not stray after your hearts and after your eyes" as a hint to the connection between the eye and the heart.)

The Reason for the Fast and Why It Is Made Up

• The difficulty: Seemingly, with a fast, "once its time has passed its offering is void," and if the essence of the fast is the day itself, why should one make it up on another day?
• One explanation: There was a concern that people would excuse themselves from the fast with claims of minor illness that are not true, the way a child does not want to go to school and suddenly his stomach hurts. Therefore we tell him: that is no excuse; if you do not feel well today, then fast tomorrow when you feel fine.
• A further explanation: The fast itself has deep content to it, and is not merely the marking of a day. Therefore someone who did not fast because of a medical reason that has since passed must fast and make it up.

The Nature of the Fast According to the Rambam

• We do not fast over history: The Rambam explains that we do not fast over something that happened and is over; rather, these days are days of soul-searching. The fast is part of teshuvah, and it comes to teach that the Holy One punishes a person or a nation that does not conduct itself properly, to the point of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash because of the deeds of Klal Yisrael.
• The difficulty with Ta'anis Esther: On the thirteenth of Adar the Jews won the war; there was no punishment and no calamity. If so, what place is there for a fast?
• A comparison to Ta'anis Bechoros: There too nothing happened to the firstborn of Israel, but it could have happened, as it says, "I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt," and according to tradition it was in the merit of their fast that they were saved. From here we see that even a fast on a day of victory is a fast over a day that was prone to calamity, and the fast extracted them from that calamity.
• The difference between the fasts: On the four fasts the calamity already occurred, and even there the fast is for teshuvah and for remembering the possibility that it could recur. On Ta'anis Esther the fast extracts us from a calamity that could have come.
• The significance of time in Judaism: Time itself has a role, which is why the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash and the Second occurred on the very same day, and on the other hand "when Adar enters we increase in joy." The days of Purim are days of joy, but they stand on the borderline, and it is proper conduct and the teshuvah of the fast that tip the scale.

Other Healthy People (s.k. 6)

• One traveling on the road: Even though the fast is hard for him, he should not separate himself from the community. A healthy person who can hold out should fast.
• The one who reads the Megillah: The fast is harder on him, since he is fasting and also reading the Megillah before the community.
• Drinking water before the Megillah: Some poskim permit the Megillah reader to drink water before the reading, after nightfall, even though people are still keeping the fast. Not everyone follows this, but there are those who permit it because they recognize that it is not easy.

The Fast Moved Up to Thursday and a Bris Milah

"If Purim falls on Sunday, so that we fast on the preceding Thursday, and a bris milah falls out on that day, one may eat at the bris."

(Shulchan Aruch)

• The reason for the leniency: Since the fast has been moved up and is not in its proper time but rather displaced, they were lenient to allow eating at the seudas milah.
• "Tomorrow, on erev Shabbos": We do not fast on Friday as a rule; rather, one who missed the fast makes it up then.

"One who was traveling and forgot that Thursday was a fast day and ate, and at night came home and heard that people are fasting today, should fast tomorrow, on erev Shabbos."

(Shulchan Aruch)

Who May Eat at the Bris (s.k. 7)

"'One may eat at the bris': this means all the people invited to the seudah, and even more than ten, and even in the morning it is permitted to eat. However, they all must fast the following day."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 7)

• The scope of the dispensation: The dispensation is not limited to a minyan but extends to everyone invited to the seudah, even more than ten, and even in the morning, and there is no need to fast the hours until the time of the bris. All this is because the fast was moved up and is not in its proper time.
• The obligation to make it up: All those who eat at the bris must fast the next day, on Friday.

The View of the Taz and the Eliyah Rabbah: The Fast Is Not Displaced

• The core of their reasoning: The establishment of the fast is specifically for Thursday. The ones who established the fast, the Geonim, determined from the outset that when Purim falls on Sunday the fast would be on Thursday, and this is not a fast that was pushed off for lack of any alternative.
• The practical difference: According to this, everyone is forbidden to eat on Thursday, and they should hold the seudah at night.
• The parallel to Tzom Gedaliah: According to the Ibn Ezra and others, Gedaliah was killed on Rosh Hashanah, so seemingly the fast on the third of Tishrei is a displaced fast. The poskim say it is not displaced, since they knew it was impossible to fast on Rosh Hashanah and set it from the outset for the third of Tishrei. The same applies to Ta'anis Esther: they saw that Purim could fall on Sunday and set the fast in advance for Thursday.
• The ba'alei habris themselves: Even according to this view, the ba'alei habris may eat on Thursday after the milah, since it is their yom tov, and it is best that they hold the seudah in the morning. They are exempt by the basic halachah and not because of hardship, and therefore they need not make up the fast the next day.
• A parallel in Tishah B'Av: And so it is in Siman 559, se'if 9, that on a Tishah B'Av that is displaced and has a bris milah, the ba'alei habris may eat, and they need not make up the fast.
• The ruling in practice: The Pri Megadim wrote that in a place where the custom follows the Rema, they should follow it, and likewise the Mor U'Ketziah and the Yeshuos Yaakov agreed with the Rema that the dispensation applies not only to the ba'alei habris but also to everyone invited to the bris. It emerges that most poskim actually rule leniently in this.

Who Are the Ba'alei Habris

• Those counted among them: The father of the child, the mother, the sandak and the mohel. Regarding the mohel, the matter requires consideration.
• The status of the mother: The mother is a woman who has just given birth, and on her own account she is exempt from the fast regardless of the seudas milah, unless this is a delayed bris that is not close to the birth.

Se'if 3: Three Fast Days in Commemoration of Ta'anis Esther

"There are those who fast three days in commemoration of the fast of Esther."

(Shulchan Aruch, se'if 3)

• The source of the custom: The Be'er HaGolah notes that it comes from the Tur in the name of Maseches Sofrim, one of the minor, external tractates.
• Why not in Nissan: Those fast days of Mordechai and Esther were in Nissan, and they did not want to establish a fast in Nissan because in it our fathers were redeemed and the Mishkan was erected. The exception is Ta'anis Bechoros, which is in the month of Nissan.
• When the fasts are held: The Shulchan Aruch does not specify when they fast, and the Mishnah Berurah explains:

"That is, Monday, Thursday and Monday after Purim."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 8)

• Why they are not consecutive: Public fasts are set for Mondays and Thursdays. In Esther's days they fasted three consecutive days, night and day, and one cannot impose such a decree on the community. Therefore they set Monday, Thursday and Monday.

When Adar Enters We Increase in Joy

• Why it is not brought in the Shulchan Aruch: The halachah of "when Av enters we decrease in joy" is brought in the Rambam and in the Shulchan Aruch, whereas "when Adar enters we increase in joy" is not brought, and it is the Mishnah Berurah who cites it in its place.
• The simple explanation: For Av, the Mishnah gives practical examples of decreasing joy: one does not put up a building of joy and one does not plant a planting of joy, that is, restrictions one can point to. For Adar, no practical example is given at all.
• The one thing that is said: Someone who has a legal case with a non-Jew should try to schedule it in the month of Adar, since he has a chance of succeeding then. But this is not a practical directive incumbent on every person, since not everyone has a case with a non-Jew; it is advice for someone who is in a position to push off his court date.
• Increasing joy as a spiritual matter: Since the Gemara gives no example, increasing joy is a spiritual matter that each person carries out according to his own understanding and level, and therefore it was not brought by the poskim as a practical halachah. Even the Mishnah Berurah adds no details about it beyond the continuation of the Gemara.
• Adar Rishon and Adar Sheni: Some say the halachah includes Adar Rishon as well, and others infer from Rashi, who wrote that the miracle occurred in the Adar adjacent to Nissan, that it refers to Adar Sheni. Even so, some say one can increase somewhat in joy in Adar Rishon too, but the essence of the halachah is in Adar Sheni.

In passing · Allusions in Megillas Esther

• The source of these remarks: They were cited in the name of the Klausenberger Rebbe, from his works Shu"t Divrei Yatziv and the series Shefa Chaim. They were quoted as heard from others and not from the sefer itself.
• The large letters: In the Megillah there are two enlarged letters: the tav in "and Esther the queen, daughter of Avichayil, wrote," and the ches in "white, fine cotton and blue wool." Together, tav-ches, an allusion to the decrees and pogroms of [the year] 408.
• The small letters: In the list of the ten sons of Haman there are small letters: the tav of Parshandasa, the shin of Parmashta and the zayin of Vayzasa, and in them an allusion to the year 5707.
• What happened in 5707: The hanging of those condemned at the Nuremberg trials, and as was related, the hanging took place on Hoshana Rabbah, which is always the same day of the week on which Purim of the previous year fell. This was stated without checking the original source.
• The conclusion of these remarks: The allusions come to resolve the matter of a fast on days of joy: even though they are good days, days of calamity are also hinted at within them. From here we see that this day is prone to calamity as well, and the fast and the teshuvah extract us from it.