Mishneh Torah, Fasts 5

Sugya Map

• The Problem: The ontological status of the "Four Fasts" (Tzomot) – are they vestiges of historical tragedy or active, transformative requirements of Teshuvah?
• Primary Sources: Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Ta’anit 5:1–20; Rosh HaShanah 18b; Ta’anit 29a–30b; Zechariah 8:19.
• Nafka Minot:
  • Obligation: Does the fast bind de-oraita (via prophetic institution) or minhag?
  • Teleology: Is the fast a mourning rite or a pedagogical tool for repentance?
  • Messianic Flux: How can a fast "transform" into a holiday?

Text Snapshot

"יש שם ימים שכל ישראל מתענים בהם מפני הצרות שאירעו בהם כדי לעורר הלבבות ולפתוח דרכי התשובה... שיהיה זה זיכרון למעשינו הרעים ומעשה אבותינו שהיה כמעשינו עתה עד שגרם להם ולנו אותן הצרות" (Hilchot Ta'anit 5:1).

Leshon Nuance: Rambam shifts the focus from the event (the destruction) to the subject (the actor). By stating she-hayah ke-ma’aseinu ("which was like our current actions"), Rambam establishes a continuous causal chain. The tragedy is not an artifact of 586 BCE or 70 CE; it is a contemporary occurrence sustained by current conduct. The fast acts as an existential bridge between the historical event and the present-day actor.

Readings

1. The Rambam’s Pedagogical Functionalism

Rambam (5:1) posits that the fast is an instrument of Teshuvah. The fast is not a "punishment" for the destruction, but a psychological reset. The Maggid Mishneh (ad loc) notes that Rambam follows the view that these fasts became obligatory post-facto by the consent of the Jewish people. The chiddush here is that the obligation is essentially a self-imposed communal vow (neder or minhag that became halacha). The fast is a "reminder" (zikaron), functioning like a diagnostic check on the soul's health.

2. The Ohr Sameach’s Legalist Formalism

The Ohr Sameach (on 5:11) offers a rigorous analysis of whether the laws of Tish'ah B'Av (like wearing Tefillin) are subject to the same category of mourning as Evel. He grapples with the Yerushalmi’s assertion that the pre-fast state is like an Onen (mourner whose relative is not yet buried). The Ohr Sameach argues that the status of the day is a sui generis legal category—an "enacted" mourning that mimics the laws of Evel without being identical to them. His chiddush is that the "mourning" of the destruction is a structured, externalized ritual, unlike the emotional, private mourning of a death. It is a national, rather than a personal, legal state.

Friction

The Kushya: If these fasts are merely tools for repentance, why the rigid focus on historical dates (17 Tammuz, 9 Av) and the prohibition of Talmud study? If the goal is "opening the paths of repentance," why restrict the very study that provides the map to that repentance?

The Terutz: The Meiri and Rambam imply that there is a "spirit of the day" (mazal or et ratzon for tragedy, Ta'anit 29a) that necessitates a total withdrawal from the intellectual pursuit of "pleasure." Torah study is inherently pleasurable (mishameach lev), as per Psalms 19:9. On a day where the "glory of Israel" is cast down (Eichah 2:1), the soul must mirror the state of the Mikdash. To study Torah is to engage in the highest form of connection; on the day of the rupture of that connection, one must sit in the "dust" of the exile. The restriction is not a punishment but a necessary alignment of the student’s internal state with the historical reality of the Shechinah’s withdrawal.

Intertext

• Zechariah 8:19: The prophecy that these days will turn to Sason V'Simcha. This parallels the Midrash (Yoma 86a) that Teshuvah transforms sins into merits. The fast is the "alchemy" of the exile; by confronting the negative, one forces its transformation into a higher good.
• SA Orach Chayim 549/550: The codification of these fasts as mandatory. The Mishnah Berurah clarifies that the "custom" of the Jewish people has the force of law here, essentially creating a "permanent minor Yom Kippur."

Psak/Practice

In modern practice, the Rambam’s heuristic is the most vital: the fast is a zikaron for our current conduct. The meta-psak is that a fast without Teshuvah is a "fast of the hypocrites." The Mishnah Berurah (549:1) emphasizes that the physical deprivation is secondary to the Teshuvah motive. Practically, this means that even if a person is exempt from the physical fasting (due to health), they are not exempt from the Teshuvah of the day. The "fast" is a state of being, not merely a caloric deficit.

Takeaway

The commemorative fasts are not historical reenactments but present-tense existential assessments. We fast not because the Temple was destroyed, but because we continue to act in ways that keep it in ruins.