Fasting

Question: From what I understand, fasting is for the purpose of self-affliction and repentance. Can a person hold his or her own personal fast, in addition to the mandatory public fast days? If yes, are there special repentance prayers one can say on such...

Although it is not mentioned in the Talmud, the custom to fast after accidentally dropping a Torah scroll or tefillin has indeed been widespread for many hundreds of years. One of the earliest mentions of this practice is a responsa of Rabbi Israel of Bru...

While recognizing the sensitive condition of a pregnant woman, Torah law does not regard observing a single fast as posing a health danger to a normal, healthy, pregnant woman...

The milk supply does not diminish in that time span. Just do note that you have to fast but your baby doesn't, so be sure to continue nursing him/her normally throughout the fast...

Just as a healthy person fulfills a mitzvah by fasting; an ill person does a mitzvah by eating.

It seems obvious enough: after fasting for 25 hours on Yom Kippur, of course we gather for a big “break-the-fast.” But there’s more to it than quieting our grumbling stomachs. Jewish tradition teaches that the meal on Motzei Yom Kippur (the evening after ...

Pills, suppositories and other quasi-medical treatment to ease the Yom Kippur fast.

Before the Yom Kippur fast, we eat a festive meal. Many also eat a festive meal earlier in the day. Why?

There is a persistent myth that children should begin fasting on the three fasts before their bar/bat mitzvah, no earlier and no later.

Going without food for 24 hours is not a major stress for the body. Dehydration, however, is what causes that sense of weakness associated with the fast...