Additional Fast for Fasting on Shabbos
Question
Shalom aleichem Rabbi Lauffer. Thank you for answering my last question. If one fasted on Shabbos, and he wants to fast on Sunday because he unlawfully fasted on Shabbos, does he have to be m’kabel the fast on Shabbos itself for the fast on Sunday to count toward his obligation to fast for fasting on Shabbos? If he didn’t accept the additional fast on Shabbos itself, and he fasted on Sunday, would that fast still count for him to be yotzei his obligation to fast for fasting on Shabbos? And if not, in a situation like this year where the day after Sunday and the whole week he is not allowed to fast because of Chanukah, is he patur from the additional fast altogether? Thanks a lot.
Answers
In general, a person needs to accept upon themselves at Mincha on the day before that they are going to Fast the next day. The Mishna Berurah rules that it is permissible to do so on Shabbos (just as is done on Shabbos before fasting “BaHaB”). It is considered to be permissible because there is no actual physical preparation involved in declaring a Fast and, therefore, there is no problem of preparing from Shabbos to the week.
The fact that this week may be impossible to Fast due to Chanukah does not remove the person’s obligation to do so. Rather, they should wait and Fast after Chanukah.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team