MITZVOS-----fasting

Is it true that women only have to fast on Tisha Bav and Yom Kippur and the rest are optional?


No, it’s not true. If a woman is pregnant or nursing, and the fast is difficult, she does not have to fast. Or if she has a child under 2 years old, even if she is not nursing, there are many opinions that she does not have to fast if fasting is difficult. (The above does not apply to Yom kippur or Tisha Bav.)
Otherwise, women have the same status as men, fasting-wise.


I need some help understanding the concept of fasting. I learned that we fast to make us sad and depressed. That fasting makes us think of all our problems. Well I think it's kind of backwards. When someone is depressed they don't eat. Depression and the
contemplation of ones problems leads to fasting.

However when someone doesn't eat it doesn't make him depressed it makes him hungry.
When I fast I don't think of all the problems we have I just think that I'm hungry. Every fast day I just sleep all day till it's over.

Fasting seems sort of useless



The main purpose of a fast day is for us to do Teshuva – all fast days were created because of aveiros that were committed. Chazal say “Any generation that did not see the Bais Hamikdash built, it is as if they destroyed it”, which means that even if the Bais Hamikdash was rebuilt, Hashem would have destroyed it in our generation anyway. We do not fast for what happened in the past. We fast for what we are doing now.

Fasting is supposed to assist you in doing Teshuva. It is a reminder that there are more important things to focus on than ourselves. Rav Yisroel Salanter ZTL expressed it well. He said,

“The difference between Tisha Bav and Yom Kippur is, on Tisha Bav, thinking about the destruction, who can eat?? On Yom Kippur, thinking about the holiness of the day, who needs to eat??

The fast is supposed to be an inevitable by-product of our mind-set for the day. Teshuva, not fasting is the main purpose of the day. Fasting is just part of that.

That’s why the Mishna Brura says that if a person fasts on a fast day without doing Teshuva, he missed the point of the fast.

Fasting also is a Kaparah, atonement, like a korban: the flesh that we “burn up” on a Taanis is like the meat of a Korbon. It’s kind of like sacrificing just a little part of yourself.

One important note, though: the fact that the Mishna Brurah says that fasting without Teshuva misses the point, does not mean that if you are not going to do Teshuva, you may as well eat. You can’t do that, because there is still a prohibition of eating. On a fast, you have 3 options:

1) Fast and do Teshuva -- the right option.

2) Fast without doing Teshuva – you miss the point.

3) Do not fast or do Teshuva – you miss the point AND get an aveirah for eating.