Tonight and tomorrow

[magid]

It's the hottest day of the year (so far, and I'm really hoping it's the record; it's been hovering close to 100 F, and the humidity brings the effective temperatures well over 100), and tonight is Tisha B'Av, one of the two major (dusk to dusk) fasts of the Jewish calendar, commemorating all the bad things that have happened on this day through history (starting with destruction of the Temples, moving on through pogroms and the expulsion from Spain, and so on). It's a day of mourning. So from 8:03 tonight to 8:27 tomorrow, no food, no water, no bathing (also no anointing, no leather shoes, and no sex). Mentally, I always have a hard time with this fast; it's a lot easier to deal with the themes of Yom Kippur (repentance and forgiveness). Physically, it's always harder, too, being in the summer rather than the fall (I so wish it had ended up in the winter....). And this year there's the weather, too. Plus work currently involves a bunch of talking - not ideal.

If I start feeling really unwell, I'll consider drinking... but I'd like not to have to. I can stay late in the office tomorrow (though I don't really need the extra hours now), though not today (farm share pick up has already started, and there's a Boston Organics delivery languishing on my front steps). I'm dreading going out...

Comments

[coorr.livejournal.com]

Be careful with the water thing. Dehydration can really sneak up on you. You should probably be pre-hydrating some what aggressively.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I have been drinking tons today and yesterday. Weirdly, today I kept being thirsty, even so.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

Please, be careful. I wouldn't want one more tragedy to fall on this day.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I will.

The weather's already cooling off (down to 90! woo-hoo!), and I'm going to drink a bit more before the fast starts.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Regarding drinking water -- remember that we are suppose to live by the Torah, and not die by it. If you start feeling faint, you're obligated to drink water on a fast day.

Easy fast.

[magid.livejournal.com]

*nodnod*
Especially since it's a rabbinic fast.

So far, now that I'm in air conditioning (with no intention to leave before late in the day...), I'm feeling ok. Not wonderful, but then, no fast day feels wonderful.

Hope you're staying cool...

[(Anonymous)]

from 8:03 tonight to 8:27 tomorrow

8:03 = sunset
8:27 = ?

[fairdice.livejournal.com]

The fast starts and sunset and ends at "tset hacochavim" -- once up a time, when three stars are visible, but these days there is a clock time. (Like Yom Kippur, it's a day-long fast, but you wouldn't want to end it a minute early and mess up, so some padding is now built in.) But I thought it was ~38 minutes after sunset. Maybe this is a typo for 8:37?

The Jewish day school I went to had a reputation for closing early when there was even the slightest possibility of snow -- in their defense, they did have kids who commuted from an hour away, so it made some sense to be cautious. We used to joke that they closed at "tset hasheleg" -- when you can see three snowflakes.

[(Anonymous)]

8:27 does not correspond to an hour after sunset when sunset is at 8:03. The sky is still light at 8:27. This is why I am confused.

For Shabbat and Yom Tov, some hold by an hour after sunset, while others by an hour (or an hour and a couple of minutes) after candlelighting, which is forty-two minutes after sunset. Maybe the forty-two minutes is to what you refer when you mention thirty-eight minutes? 8:27 is too soon to be either of these. Some hold by an hour and a half after candlelighting, but that wouldn't be appropriate for a fast day, because it extends the fast. Of course, we don't light candles for Tisha B'Av.

I'm wondering whether the 8:27 is because Tisha B'Av is not in fact a twenty-five hour fast, but only until . . . twilight? dusk?

I like the sheleg story.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I took the times from the Harvard Hillel email. Shabbat ended at 8:42 this week, so 8:27 isn't far off from that time... maybe it's 42 minutes after candlelighting would have been that day?

I admit to having my brain glaze over whenever there's discussions of times, which is why I rely on the minyan emails.