What the fast is really about

Hi,

"There are days when all Jews fast because of the troubles that have beset them on those days. The goal is to awaken the hearts, to open the paths of repentance...

"As we remember these things, we will return to do what is right, as it is written, 'And they shall admit their sins and the sins of their ancestors...'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Fasts 5:1)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

Why we fast this Sunday

Hello,

The fast day of the 17th of Tammuz, observed on Sunday July 8 this year, commemorates five tragedies:

1. Moses descended from meeting Gd and receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, saw the Jews celebrating with the Golden Calf, and broke the two tablets Gd had given him.

2. The daily Tamid offering, which had been brought regularly in the Jerusalem Beit haMikdash [Temple] from the time the Jews built the Mishkan for over one thousand years, was halted during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem before the Beit haMikdash was destroyed.

3. The Romans invaded Jerusalem, prior to destroying the second Beit haMikdash. (The Babylonians invaded Jerusalem to destroy the first Temple on the 9th of Tammuz.)

4. A Greek or Roman official named Apostimos held a public burning of the Torah.

5. Idols were set up in the Temple itself; it is not clear what year this happened.

(Mishneh Berurah 549:2)

Be well,
Mordechai

This Sunday's fast

Hi,

Sunday July 8th is the fast of "the 17th day of the month of Tammuz", and it begins a three-week national Jewish mourning period.

On this day one neither eats nor drinks, but - unlike the fasts of Tishah b'Av and Yom Kippur - one may wear leather shoes and wash normally.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 550:2)

Technically, Shabbat is the 17th of Tammuz. Because we don't fast for sad events on Shabbat, the fast is pushed to Sunday.

For more on the fast, click here; for more on the Three Weeks of mourning, click here.

Be well,
Mordechai

Using a damp cup for boiling water on Shabbat

Hello,

One who uses a cup for boiling water, and then wishes to re-fill it, may find that there a few drops of cooled water remain along the walls of the cup.

One may re-fill the cup with boiling water, for two reasons:
1. The drops of water have already been heated, and so many authorities rule that the re-heating is not halachically significant;
2. One has no particular wish to heat up these drops of water.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 19)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Lemon and Onion

Hi,

Although one may place spices into a kli sheni [for a definition, please see previous emails] on Shabbat, one may not put lemons or onions into a kli sheni; these might not be in the category of "spices".

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Kli Shlishi

Hi,

[As always, we note our disclaimer that the emails cite only the halachic authorities attributed therein, and other authorities will disagree.]

The vessel in which something is cooked on a heating element is called a kli rishon. If food is taken from a kli rishon and placed into another vessel, the second vessel is called a kli sheni. If food is taken from a kli sheni and placed into a third vessel, that vessel is called a kli shlishi.

Nothing cooks in a kli shlishi, and so one may put tea leaves into hot water in a kli shlishi.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74:Bishul 15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Adding water to keep food from burning, on Shabbat

Hi,

One may add water to fully cooked food which is burning, on Shabbat, if:

a) The food is not actually on a heating element, and
b) The water has been heated to above yad soledet bo, and has not cooled much below that.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:74: Bishul 13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai