Selected Halachos of the Fast of Asarah B’Teves for a Friday

Reprinted and adapted for Cleveland with permission from Halacha Hotline of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway Community under the leadership of Harav Binyomin Forst, shlita.

This upcoming Friday, December 22, is Asarah B’Teves. In this article we will discuss some of the halachos pertaining to the fast of Asarah B’Teves.

1. The fast begins at alos hashachar (halachic daybreak)[2] and ends at tzeis hakochavim (halachic nightfall). Most calendars consider alos hashachar a fixed 72 minutes before sunrise, which is the common custom in this country. In the Cleveland area (44118 zipcode), this calculation of alos hashachar on December 22 is at approximately 6:37 AM. However, preferably, one should not eat after 6:20 AM.[3] Tzeis hakochavim is at approximately 5:47 PM[4] (but see note).[5] This year, since the fast falls on Friday, one may not break one’s fast until one after recites or hears kiddush. Note: if one finishes davening (praying) early on Friday night, one may still not break one’s fast (with kiddush) until after tzeis hakochavim.[6]
2. Although the fast does not begin until alos hashachar, once one sleeps a sheinas keva (regular/substantial sleep)[7] on the preceding night (Thursday night), the fast is considered to have begun unless one made a t’nai (stipulation) before going to sleep (see note)[8] that one does not wish the fast to begin until morning.[9] Thus, one who wishes to wake up before alos hashachar to eat before the fast begins must make a t’nai before going to sleep on Thursday night. (See note).[10]
3. Even if one made a t’nai, one may not begin to eat a bread meal or otherwise significant meal within one half-hour before alos hashachar.[11]
4. All healthy men and women, as well as boys and girls over the age of bar- and bas-mitzvah, are obligated to fast.[12] One may not eat or drink even minute amounts.[13] Nevertheless, if one ate less than a k’zayis[14] or one drank less than m’lo lugmav,[15] one has not broken one’s fast and may still say Aneinu[16] in Sh’moneh Esrei (with the standard text)[17] and receive an aliyah[18] (see below, #11–14). One who ate more than a k’zayis or drank more than m’lo lugmav when not permitted by halacha (see below) is considered to have broken one’s fast, but may still not eat or drink during the rest of the fast.[19]
5. Children under the age of bar- and bas-mitzvah should not fast – even part of the day (see note).[20] However, once children are old enough to understand the concept of a ta’anis tzibbur, their parents should train them – due to the mitzvah of chinuch[21] – to not indulge in the eating of sweets and the like.[22]
6. One who is ill (see note),[23] and pregnant or nursing women who do not feel well, need not fast.[24] A nursing woman who feels fine but is concerned that her milk supply will be affected negatively by her fasting should not fast (see note).[25] A postpartum woman who is not nursing need not fast during the first thirty days following childbirth.[26] If she had a cesarean section and still feels weak after thirty days have passed, she need not fast, since she is considered ill.
7. Those over bar- and bas-mitzvah who are not fasting due to health reasons may eat and drink regularly, but should not indulge in the eating of sweets and the like.[27]
8. One who must take a pill during the fast should swallow it without water. See note.[28]
9. The special prohibitions of Yom Kippur (bathing, anointing oneself, and wearing shoes) do not apply to Asarah B’Teves.[29] Nevertheless, it is meritorious to not bathe (or shower) one’s body in hot water on Asarah B’Teves (but see note),[30] unless it falls on Erev Shabbos – as it does this year. There is no reason whatsoever to refrain from washing one’s hands, face, and feet with hot water, or from bathing in lukewarm water (even when it falls during the week).[31]
10. One should not brush one’s teeth or rinse out one’s mouth on the fast.[32] If one is inordinately particular and is very disturbed by the foul taste in one’s mouth upon awaking, one may brush or rinse out one’s mouth if one is careful to tilt down one’s head to ensure that one does not swallow any water.[33]
11. In Sh’moneh Esrei of Minchah (see note 16) we insert the prayer of Aneinu in the b’rachah of Shema Koleinu.[34] If one forgot to say Aneinu and already said the words Baruch Attah Hashem at the end of the b’rachah, one should not endeavor to correct oneself there. Rather, one should insert Aneinu at the end of Elokai-Netzor, before the Yih’yu L’ratzon that immediately precedes Oseh Shalom at the end of Sh’moneh Esrei.[35]
12. One who is not fasting for whatever reason may not say Aneinu in Sh’moneh Esrei, even if one had been fasting earlier in the day (see note).[36] If one is still fasting, one may say Aneinu in Sh’moneh Esrei, even if one intends to subsequently break one’s fast for whatever reason.[37]
13. One who is not fasting for whatever reason may not receive an aliyah[38] on the fast day – at Shacharis or at Minchah.[39] However, if he is called to receive an aliyah during Shacharis and the fast is on Monday or a Thursday (see note),[40] he should take the aliyah; but if he is called to receive an aliyah during Minchah, or during Shacharis when the fast is on a different day of the week, he should decline the aliyah.[41]
14. The rulings presented in the preceding paragraph apply also to one who is still fasting but intends – for whatever reason – to break his fast before it ends,[42] with one leniency: If he is called to receive an aliyah and he is embarrassed to admit that he plans to break his fast, he need not decline the aliyah (even at Minchah, and even at Shacharis on days other than Monday and Thursday), since he is still fasting at that time.[43]

For footnotes, view this PDF version.