Taanit 12a — the Talmud in English

Rav Hisda said: ![](pamud.bmp "

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that which you said

what we said] that

one fasts for hours, and he

specifically in a case

that

he indeed did not accept upon himself a fast for the entire day from the day before, but only for part of the day. But in the end, he reconsidered and

tasted nothing

the entire day,

until evening.

But if he began fasting until midday, and afterward ate, and did not complete the day in a fast—this is not affliction, and certainly is not considered a fast. In such a case, if he ate before midday, there is nothing in this, and he did not violate his acceptance.

Abaye said to him:

If he accepted upon himself to fast only until midday, and in the end fasted the entire day,

this

is obviously

a superior fast

for it is certainly an excellent fast , and there is no need to teach us this!

Rather, certainly a fast for hours means that he fasts until midday.

Rather, Abaye says: what must be innovated is that a fast for hours is considered a fast even though he actually fasted the entire day,

it is not necessary

the matter is not needed] except in a case

where

at the outset he did not intend at all to fast that day, but he was occupied, and did not eat until midday. And when midday arrived,

he reconsidered and made a decision

he reconsidered in his mind] and said: since I fasted until midday, I will already fast the entire day. And the innovation is that although at the outset he did not intend at all to fast, nevertheless this is considered a fast .

And

further

Rav Hisda said: every fast that did not

fast until

the sun set upon him ,

, that is, he did not fast until the end of the day, but ate earlier—

is not called a fast.

It was objected

from the Mishna below, where we learned:

the men of the watch,

the priests who serve in the Temple,

fast

with the community—

but do not complete

their fast, because they are occupied with the service and cannot complete the fast and fast the entire day.

It follows that one who fasts but upon whom the sun did not set—his fast is considered a fast!

The Gemara rejects the objection: in truth, if he did not fast until the end of the day, this is not considered a fast. And concerning that which we learned

there

there, that the men of the watch would fast but not complete it—

it was merely to afflict themselves

they did this only to afflict themselves with the community], and not so that it would be considered a fast for them.

And since their fast is not considered a fast, they do not recite the prayer “Answer us,” and they may interrupt their fast whenever they wish.

Come and hear: for Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Tzadok said: I am among the descendants of Sanaah

son of Benjamin

of the tribe of Benjamin].

And the tenth of Av was a festival for them [for that family, the family of Sanaah]. Because of an incident that occurred [brought below, 26a], the Sages established this day for them to volunteer and bring wood for generations, and to kindle with it the arrangement of wood upon the altar, even though there was already other wood in the Temple for the arrangement.

This is not so with regard to other people who volunteer and bring wood for the arrangement . For if there is already other wood, they kindle first with that, and not with the new wood that the volunteers have now brought.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Tzadok continued and recounted:

And once the Ninth of Av fell on Shabbat.

And

since one does not fast on Shabbat,

we postponed it

we postponed it, the fast of the Ninth of Av]

until after Shabbat,

to Sunday, which was the tenth of Av.

And we fasted on it,

on Sunday, the fast of the Ninth of Av—

but we did not complete it

we did not complete the fast until evening] ,

because

the day of the tenth of Av

is our festival .

It follows that a fast that they did not complete, but fasted only several hours, is considered a fast!

The Gemara rejects this:

there too

even there, in that incident, what they fasted

was merely to afflict themselves

only in order to afflict themselves with the community . But in truth this fast is not considered a complete fast.

Come and hear, for Rabbi Yohanan said

sometimes Rabbi Yohanan would say:

I shall be

I shall be

in a fast until I come home!

And when he arrived at his home, although this was not at the end of the day but after several hours, he would eat. It follows that Rabbi Yohanan called a fast that he did not complete “a fast”!

The Gemara rejects this:

there

there, what he accepted upon himself as a fast, he did not accept as an obligatory fast, but in order

to remove himself from the house of the Nasi—that is what he did

he did this to extricate himself from the people of the Nasi’s household. For they would invite him and pressure him to eat with them, and he did not wish to. Therefore he would tell them that he was fasting and was forbidden to eat.

But in truth he did not intend at all to accept a fast upon himself, and if he wished, he would eat immediately , and there is nothing in his vow.

Shmuel said: every fast

that he did not accept upon himself from the day before—

is not called a fast

it is not considered a fast] .

The Gemara asks:

and if he sat, what

and if he fasted even though he had not accepted it upon himself from the day before, is there any importance or virtue in this, or not ?

Rabba bar Shila said:

This person, who fasted without accepting the fast upon himself,

is like a bellows filled with air

he is like a bellows full of wind. He filled himself with air for no reason and did not eat, for there is no benefit in this.

The Gemara now discusses the matter of accepting a fast.

When does he accept it

when must he accept the fast upon himself from the day before?

Rav said:

He must accept the fast

at

the time of

the afternoon prayer

at the time appropriate for the afternoon prayer] . That is, from nine and a half hours onward this is the time of the “minor afternoon prayer.”

But he need not accept the fast specifically during the prayer itself; rather, even when he is standing in the marketplace and occupied with his affairs, he interrupts for a moment and says: “I am fasting tomorrow.”

And Shmuel said:

He must accept the fast upon himself specifically

during

the

afternoon prayer .

At what point during the prayer does he accept the fast upon himself?

And at what point in the prayer does he accept the fast upon himself?

When he says words of appeasement and supplication at the end of the prayer , he adds and says: “I am fasting tomorrow” .

Rav Yosef said: according to Shmuel’s view

according to Shmuel’s words, who said that one must accept the fast during the afternoon prayer],

it is reasonable

it is reasonable.

For it is written

in Megillat Ta’anit,

after various dates were mentioned on which good events occurred for Israel, and therefore one may not fast on them: “These are the days on which one may not fast”:

only

every person who brings upon himself [fasts] from before shall be bound.”

Every person who brought fasts upon himself in advance of these festival days, such as one who accepted upon himself ten or twenty days of fasting, and within those days those festival days arrived on which one may not fast—“shall be bound.”

And now it is necessary to explain what is meant by “shall be bound.”

Is it not

does this not mean that

he shall bind himself with his prayer?

That is, the word “shall be bound” means “shall prohibit,” that he should prohibit himself through prayer by accepting the fast during the afternoon prayer, and then the fast overrides those festival days?

It is evident that only accepting the fast during prayer is effective. And if he did not accept the fast in this manner, he has accomplished nothing! The Gemara rejects this:

No.

The meaning of the word “ייסר” is from the expression “יאסר,” meaning that he

prohibits himself.

That is, if he accepted the fast upon himself before those festive days, he is prohibited from eating, and his fast overrides those festive days.

They disagree about it [

they disagree about this matter]—

Rabbi Hiyya and Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi.

One says [

one says] that in Megillat Ta’anit one must read

And one says that there one must read

что там следует читать

The Gemara asks:

Granted, according to the one who says “ייסר,”

this is

as we said [

as we said]—that he must prohibit something to himself during the Minhah prayer, and only then does the fast take effect for him.

But according to the one who says “יאסר”—

what does this mean [

what is meant by this, and what does he hold]?

The Gemara explains:

As it is taught in Megillat Ta’anit: “Any person who accepts it upon himself beforehand is prohibited.”

How so?

An individual who accepted upon himself

to fast on

Mondays and Thursdays throughout the entire year, and festive days recorded in Megillat Ta’anit occurred on them,

the law is as follows:

If his vow preceded our decree,

that is, he made his vow before the Sages decreed and instituted those festive days on which one may not fast —

it shall override [

it shall nullify]

his vow our decree,

and he continues his fasts even on those festive days.

But if our decree preceded his vow,

that is, he made his vow after the Sages had already decreed and instituted those festive days, then the law is that although he made his vow before those festive days arrived—

our decree shall override his vow,

and he does not fast on those festive days .

The Sages taught:

A person who accepted upon himself a fast for the following day —

until when may he eat and drink

during the night preceding the fast?—

Until dawn,

the words of Rabbi.

Rabbi Eliezer bar Shimon says: Until cockcrow [

until the rooster calls] the first time .

Abaye said: They taught

that he may eat during the night preceding his fast until dawn, or until cockcrow [each according to his position], only

in

the case

where he did not conclude his meal

until close to that time.

But

if he

concluded his meal

before then, according to everyone he

may not eat

any more .

Rava raised an objection

from a baraita, in which we learned:

He ate

his meal and recited Birkat HaMazon,

and stood

from his table—

he may

resume

eating

afterward. This teaches us that even though he concluded his meal, he may resume eating as long as day has not dawned!

The Gemara answers:

There [

there] it is speaking

when he did not remove

the table from before him . In such a case, he did not divert his attention from continuing to eat, and therefore if he resumed his meal, it is considered a continuation of the same meal; and we have said that he may continue eating until the beginning of the day.

There are those who say [

there are those who state] the dispute between Rava and Abaye differently:

Rava said: They taught

that he may eat until dawn only

when he had not slept

yet during that night.

But

if he

slept,

this is considered an interruption, and he

may not eat again.

Abaye raised an objection

from a baraita. For this is what we learned there:

He slept

during the night of the fast day and then awoke

and rose

later that night—

he may eat [

he may continue eating]. This teaches us that even if he slept during that night, he may continue eating until morning!

The Gemara rejects the objection:

There

it is not referring to a case in which he actually slept, but

to dozing.

But if he actually slept, he may not eat afterward.

The Gemara asks:

What are the circumstances of dozing [

under what circumstances is he considered to be dozing rather than actually sleeping]?