עברית
Women
Are Women Required to Fast on Minor Fasts? (Except for Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur)
Question
I am 16, and we have a custom that girls are not required to fast on these fasts.
Today (Ta'anit Esther), I was told that this custom is a mistake and that girls must fast on all fast days.
Is this true (that one is not obligated to fast)? If so, can you provide a source for this?
If not, what should I do? I have already eaten..
Answer
Hello,
Every woman who has reached the age of bat mitzvah is required to fast (of course, this does not apply to pregnant, nursing, or postpartum women and the sick, who have different rules, and one should ask about each fast individually).
However, there are communities that have instructed, based on their rabbis’ teachings, to be lenient for all women of childbearing age (including girls) not to fast on Gedaliah’s fast, the 10th of Tevet, Ta'anit Esther, and the 17th of Tammuz due to the weakening of the generations.
You can find the sources for this in the book Piskei Teshuvot, Vol. 6 (2021 edition, siman 570, end of section A and note 8). It states there that those who typically follow a lenient practice should be very careful not to eat openly so as not to show disrespect, Heaven forbid, on the fasting day. It is also advisable that they do not eat fine foods but only regular, basic food (according to Shulchan Aruch, siman 563, section 5).
It should be emphasized that only someone with a clear tradition and custom in her family to be lenient in this matter can act accordingly; however, someone without a clear tradition and custom to be lenient must fast as usual.
Best regards,
Hillel Meirs
