May, 2018
This past Shabbos there was a special misheberach that was, for centuries, recited in shuls all over the world. Perhaps there are some that still recite it, but it has become rarer and rarer with each passing year.
This is the special misheberach for those in the community who fast the taanisim of baha’b, which began this Monday and ends this coming Monday.
I once heard a story about a rosh yeshiva who was approached by a talmid with a question. “Rosh Yeshiva; why is it that we no longer fast baha’b?”
It was a sincere question, but the rosh yeshiva was incredulous in his response.
“We don’t?!” he responded with (perhaps feigned) shock.
When the story was told to me it was with the intimation that this adam gadol was genuinely surprised at this, ostensibly, new information.
I always thought this story to be somewhat apocryphal, or misunderstood, for reasons soon to become clear.
But I really should back up a bit. Some readers may not even have heard of baha’b, or, taanis baha’b.
Twice in Shulchan Aruch is recorded a custom mentioned by Tosfos and other early rishonim. An ancient minhag, it requires that after the yomim tovim of both Sukkos and Pesach we fast a Monday, Thursday and a Monday in a row. The term baha’b stands for beis, hei, beis –or yemei sheni, chamishi, sheni.
Self-decreed fasts are generally held on Mondays and Thursdays, as these days are yimei ratzon. For this same reason, these are the two days chosen for krias hatorah, and a special tachanun. This is because, among other reasons, Moshe rabeinu went up to receive the Second luchos on a Thursday and returned on a Monday (Midrash Tanchuma, vayera).
But if so, why not start these fasts on Thursday, making them the fasts of ‘haba’h’, as this was the chronological order of Moshe’s aliyah and yeridah?
This is due to a fascinating halacha found in a mishneh (Taanis 15b). Chazal teach that we never start a series of fasts on a Thursday, as the shopping to break the fast combined with the shopping for the quickly approaching Shabbos may lead to high price increases and gauging.
Baha’b is an often overlooked subject, yet one that most rabbanim and gabbeim confront this time of year. We will briefly here discuss why we do this, when we do this, and for which yomim tovim we don’t do this.
The Shulchan Aruch concludes the laws of Pesach with siman 491,dedicated to the laws of havdala after Pesach and any given yom tov. Siman 493 then begins to discuss the various mourning practices we keep during the omer period. However, in between these two is siman 492, where we find codified this practice of baha’b.
“There are some who have the practice of fasting Monday, Thursday and Monday after Pesach and Sukkos –however, they wait until after the months of Nissan and Tishrei have ended, and then the fasts commence” The Rama adds that this is the minhag among ashkanazim.
This last point is echoed by the Shulchan Aruch himself later by the Laws of Fasts (siman 566:2): “When a community/group decrees upon itself a fast…like with baha’b after Pesach and Sukkos which is the minhag in Ashkanaz the shliach tzibbur recites the special anneinu beracha and they lein ‘Vayichal’…”
The reason why I believed our opening story to be apocryphal is due to the halacha just referenced. Would not this rosh yeshivah have gauged from the mere fact that he did not hear vayichal leined that there is no longer a critical mass of people who are fasting? Perhaps instead this rosh yeshiva was simply showing, in his imitable way, that this that we no longer observe these fasts is a question unto itself.
The achronim explain that the reason we need to wait until the next months to begin these fasts is because during the Month of Nissan it is forbidden to fast, and Tishrei as well, being that it contains so many moados, it would not be proper to establish a new fast therein.
Further, we wait until after the first Shabbos of the new month (Iyaar and Marcheshvon respectively) before we begin. This way –among other reasons-we can make the special misheberach for fasters in the new month.
But why do we have these fasts to begin with? And why do we, largely, no longer keep them?
As for the latter question, we already see from earlier generations that many did not keep these fasts. The Taz (566, brought in Mishneh Berurah #10) comments that the fast of the 20th of Sivan (created after the horrors of tach v’tat) was observed by more people than was baha’b. Today, when we are even weaker, and indeed poskim are generally more lenient even on regular taanisim, it became even less prevalent.
More complicated is the reason behind bahab’s establishment in the first place.
There are several reasons offered:
- The Magen Avraham offers the most well-known understanding; due to the simcha and drinking on yomim tovim there is a fear that aveiros may have been committed. This would explain why on Shavous, which is but one or two days and not leaving much time to frivolity, there is not a custom to fast. (Although, many sefarim do mention an ancient minhag of observing baha’b after Shavous) The Dirshu also explains that for the reason of the Magen Avaram it is understood why Chanukah does not have these fasts following it –as there is no obligation of a special simcha on Chanukah
- Tosfos explains that the reason for these fasts as being due to the mingling that may occur before or after the rav’s drashos. This too would explain why Shavous -a short yom tov –and Chanukah-where there are no special drashos-do not have these fasts
Many other reasons are offered, from simply a way to daven for good crop weather to kabbalistic reasons.
In addition, during the long yomim tovim, when family and friends are reunited, and the stress is at a peak, the situation is primed for hurt feelings and misspoken and mistaken words. For this alone, a series of fasts and introspection may be worthy.
But perhaps the most fascinating explanation to these fasts, and one that immediately explains why they are reserved just for Pesach and Shavous, is the explanation offered by the Elyeh Rabba and others. We fast baha’b because of the fear of needing teshuvah following days of chol hamoed.
As we discussed in this year’s Sukkos column, the halachos chol hamoed are complicated even should one study them, and even its study is often overlooked.
Of course, only Pesach and Sukkos have days of chol hamoed.
Although we largely no longer observe these fasts, many still recite selichos on these days. Most critically, the lessons behind their takana certainly remain, and we can still utilize these days to allow retrospect, improvement and teshuvah.
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