Should Jews Still Fast? Religious Debate Erupts Over Ancient Mourning Rituals

When exile is behind us and there's Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel, should we still observe the fasts commemorating the destruction of the Temple? Several rabbis have called for reconsidering whether it's necessary to fast on the Tenth of Tevet, the 17th of Tammuz, and the Fast of Gedaliah, one even questioned Tisha B'Av, though they later clarified they weren't issuing binding religious rulings. Dr. Yoav Sorek is already convinced we should stop fasting on the minor fast days: "Of the fasts commemorating the destruction, only Tisha B'Av should be preserved."

Ynet wrote a fascinating article about this subject, featuring Dr. Yoav Sorek, a historian and religious-Zionist thinker who heads the "Israeli Torah - L'Chatchila" movement, declares openly that he doesn't fast on the "minor" fasts commemorating the destruction, the Tenth of Tevet, 17th of Tammuz, and Fast of Gedaliah. He refrains from fasting not because he feels like eating on those days, but because he believes it's the right thing to do today, even according to Jewish law.

"Years ago I reached the conclusion that it's simply forbidden to fast on these days, whether the 3rd of Tishrei, the 10th of Tevet, or the 17th of Tammuz, and the only fast of destruction that should be preserved, and I can understand those who even debate this, is Tisha B'Av," he says.

In conversation with Ynet Judaism, Sorek explains: "The fasts of destruction also relate to preliminary, precursor events. If we've merited the ingathering of exiles, which is huge, and if we've merited sovereignty in our land and victory over our enemies, and returned to our language and national life, and so on, then we've certainly repaired all the intermediate stages of decline. We haven't achieved complete repair, okay, so we can keep Tisha B'Av. But the rest? There are circles that opened and circles that closed."

The Conference That Sparked Controversy

Last week, initiated by the "Union of Western Sages" and "L'Chatchila," a conference was held ahead of the Tenth of Tevet, titled "They want to fast, they don't want to fast." The conference featured rabbis who believe it's appropriate to reconsider the question of fasts in our time, here in the sovereign State of Israel, when the years of exile are behind us and there's Jewish sovereignty in the land. The conference sparked uproar in the religious world, and subsequent publicity led some participating rabbis to clarify they didn't intend to issue religious rulings for the masses.

The starting point for canceling the fasts is a verse in Zechariah (8:19): "Thus says the Lord of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity." In the Talmud (Tractate Rosh Hashanah, page 18b), Rav Hana bar Bizna is quoted saying in the name of Rabbi Shimon Hasida that the fasts of destruction will become days of joy and gladness when there is peace (according to Rashi's interpretation, this means a situation where "the hand of the nations is not strong over Israel," and in such a state it will even be forbidden to fast). Rav Papa notes that when there are royal decrees against the Jewish people, decrees from foreign rule, one must fast, but when there are neither decrees on one hand nor peace on the other, "[if] they want [to fast], they fast, [if] they don't want, they don't fast." In other words, in such an intermediate state, the Jewish public has the option to choose whether to fast or not.

Days of Mourning or Days of Repentance?

The conference was initiated by Rabbi Nir Yaakov Mas, head of the Hesder Yeshiva "Lev Tel Aviv, Shir L'Neriya," and Rabbi Yehuda Shalosh, rabbi of eastern Netanya neighborhoods. "According to Rashi's approach, it's forbidden to fast. According to Maimonides, as I understand it, 'they want, they fast, they don't want, they don't fast.' Here we return to a dispute: who is meant by 'they want,' an individual person, according to individual choice, or the community? That's uncertain," says Rabbi Shalosh. "I believe it means the community. It doesn't have to be the entire nation, but if most rabbis in a particular community decide not to fast, then they don't fast. I haven't managed to bring my community to the point where most rabbis would want that. But the conference sparked very serious discussion throughout the country."

Ynet adds:

In a shocking interview with the Kipa website, Rabbi Nir Yaakov Mas didn't deny that among his yeshiva students there are those who hold festive meals on fast days, including Tisha B'Av. "I don't participate in such a meal because public action is considered a [halachic] ruling, and I don't protest against it either," he said. When asked whether he himself eats on the fasts, he replied: "I don't share what I do because that's considered a ruling. In study I take their approach, and I accept those who think otherwise. I'm not issuing halachic rulings or giving instruction. I'm only teaching, and whoever studied and understood this way, let them act on their own judgment." He estimated that "approximately a third of the students understood that it's forbidden to fast and act accordingly."

Rabbi Mas, who served as a reservist fighter during the war, later published a clarification stating he didn't intend to rule on Jewish law for the public. "In the study hall we labor over the Torah in depth, from the biblical verses to the latest legal authorities. From studying the topic over the past decade, a clear theoretical conclusion emerged, according to which, by the standards of Jewish law, there is a prohibition against fasting in our time on the four fasts. Despite the theoretical conclusion, I emphasized again and again that I am not ruling this way in practice, not for the masses and not even for the yeshiva community," he stated.

Why Distinguish Between Minor Fasts and Tisha B'Av?

Sorek explains: "Ultimately, even if we've merited redemption on many levels, it's not complete, and even if it were complete, we can't erase everything we went through during long generations of exile. It seems strange to me not to leave any reminder of what happened. Here I'm forced, and I understand I'm not alone, to disagree somewhat with the prophet Zechariah, who said all the fasts would turn 'into joy and gladness.'

"First of all, the Talmud already distinguishes and says Tisha B'Av is different because many troubles occurred on it. Tisha B'Av comes to mark the destruction of the Temple, the burning of the Sanctuary, not the siege, not the decline, not the loss of sovereignty, but the ultimate symbol of destruction, which is the Temple's destruction. Tisha B'Av touches directly on the Temple, and we haven't rebuilt the Temple. It's very logical to wait regarding Tisha B'Av. A second point, and I think it's no less important, is that if you follow the Tisha B'Av lamentations, you'll see there's a conception that it's a day of national mourning, and they pile onto it all the troubles the Jewish people experienced over the generations, like the Spanish expulsion, burning of the Talmud, and even the Holocaust."

Still a Minority View

Rabbi Dr. Ido Pachter, head of the "L'Ma'aseh - Creating Israeli Halacha" Institute, was among the conference participants. "The prophets already instructed again and again that God is not interested in fasting for its own sake. In other words, fasting is not a religious obligation, but an expression of the national and spiritual condition of the Jewish people," he analyzes. "This is the background for shortening the minor fasts by half (starting in the morning), for the Talmudic determination that 'they want to fast, they don't want to fast,' and generally for the many leniencies regarding these fasts. Today, in practice, it appears the Jewish people have chosen not to fast. There are many religious people who don't fast, and even in ultra-Orthodox society it's accepted that women of childbearing age don't fast."

The voices calling to reexamine the issue of the minor destruction fasts are still a minority in the Orthodox world, even within Religious Zionism. Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon, for example, rabbi of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and a senior halachic authority in the religious-Zionist community, believes we should continue fasting on these days, per Ynet.

"The Talmud in Tractate Rosh Hashanah explains that if there is peace, the fasts will become occasions for joy and gladness. We're not at that stage yet, unfortunately. If there's no royal decree and no peace, it depends on the public's will: 'they want to fast, they don't want to fast.' It's clear that today we must fast," says Rabbi Rimon. "The Ramban and other early authorities wrote that today we've accepted it as an obligation, even on fasts when there's no peace and no royal decree. Beyond that, what does 'there is peace' mean? Later in that passage, the Talmud discusses the cancellation of Megillat Taanit, and it appears there that only when there's a Temple are there no fasts, and this is what the Ramban and others wrote. Therefore, we must continue the fasts as usual, even in our reality, until the Temple is rebuilt. Let's use the fast to understand the meaning of the destruction, and to pray for the people of Israel, for all those harmed by the war, for unity among the people, and for the Temple to be rebuilt speedily in our days."

Will the minor fasts commemorating the destruction, like the Tenth of Tevet which falls today (Tuesday), be canceled by the rabbinic establishment? As of now it seems unlikely, but the recently sparked debate brings this question to the agenda, and at minimum provides traditionalists with food for thought.