Fasting on Chanukah

Question

Shalom,

I’ve done this once before, about 15 years ago when my children were teens. I had heard that fasting for 40 days was a segulah for one’s children to grow up shomrei Torah Umitzvoth.

That seem to have worked :). Anyway, I’m considering doing that again because of the ‘eis tzarah’ klal yisroel is in right now.

If the 40 days run into Chanukah, do I fast on Chanukah?

Second question, I’m 15 years older now, and I fear doing this will be quite a bit more difficult.

If I drink over the course of the day, a coffee in the morning, some water or an energy drink in the early afternoon when I’m usually flagging during a busy day, even when I’m eating, would that still count as fasting for something like this.

I appreciate any help with this..

Shloime

 

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Firstly, please know that I am inspired by your sense of responsibility to Klal Yisrael.

    It is forbidden to fast on Chanukah. Even when a child has a Yahrzeit for a parent on Chanukah, they should not fast.

    There are actually more than forty days until Chanukah if you include Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, which means that it might be possible to start now for forty days. If, however, you mean to fast for forty days without including Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh in the count, you should refrain from doing so.

    In general, abstaining from food but not from liquid does have spiritual impact, even though it is not considered to be fasting, per se. If you do lean towards taking this on, I would recommend that you very carefully weigh up whether it is something that you feel you can do at this point in your life. For example, if continual fasting might cause you to become less patient and snappish, I do not think that it is correct to fast.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team