Halachot and Customs
Why is a condition needed before a fast?
Question
Why, on a fast such as the 17th of Tammuz, when the fast begins at 4-5 in the morning, is it necessary to make a condition that if I went to sleep for a regular sleep and wake up at 3 in order to drink or eat something, I need to make a condition? What is the reason?
Answer
To the questioner,
As I understand it, the reason is that it is the way of people that when they go to sleep, they no longer eat during that night until the next day; and since the next day is a fast day, it turns out that in essence a person intends to begin fasting already from the time he goes to sleep. And if that was truly the person’s intention, and he has already accepted the fast upon himself, then it will again be forbidden for him to eat if he wakes up in the middle of the night. Therefore, when he explicitly stipulated before going to sleep that he still wants to eat before dawn (and even if he thought this in his mind), his condition is effective in causing that he has not yet accepted the fast, unlike most people who begin fasting already when they go to sleep, and he is permitted to eat.
With blessings,
Rabbi Nachum
