Siman 597

The Tur wrote in the name of Rav Hai Gaon that it is forbidden to fast on Rosh Hashanah, for behold in Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8) it is written that Ezra and Nehemiah said to all the people on Rosh Hashanah: "Go, eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks, for the day is holy to our Lord"; and it is written: "And all the people went to eat and to drink," etc. And so wrote the Mordechai in the first chapter of Rosh Hashanah, in the name of Rav Nachshon Gaon, that it is forbidden to fast. And there are proofs from the Torah, from the Prophets, from a Baraita, and from the Yerushalmi. From the Torah: for behold it is included with all the festivals, and it is written regarding it (Leviticus 23:21) "a holy convocation"; and we expound in the Sifra and in the Sifrei: Sanctify it with food and drink, and clean clothing. And Rosh Hashanah is called "chag" like all the festivals, as it is written (Psalms 81:4): "at the hidden moon for the day of our festival." And we say: Which is the festival in which the moon is hidden? You must say this is Rosh Hashanah. And from the words of the Prophets, from what is written in Ezra: "Go, eat choice foods," etc. And from the Baraita: as it is taught in the Yerushalmi that on Rosh Hashanah we sound the shofar but do not fast (in the third chapter, halacha 4 of Taanit). And from the Yerushalmi of Rosh Hashanah (first chapter, halacha 4) which says: There is no nation like this nation, etc., they wear white, and eat and drink and rejoice, and know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform a miracle for them, see there. And in Arachin (10b) we say that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called "festivals," and so it is in Sotah (41a), see there. And so the Tur ruled.

This is the wording of our teacher, the Beit Yosef: They eat and drink and rejoice. And they do not fast on Rosh Hashanah, nor on Shabbat Shuvah. However, they shall not eat to their full satiety, nor shall they act lightheadedly, and the fear of Hashem shall be upon their faces. Thus far his words. And the Maharshal did not eat fish on Rosh Hashanah because they were beloved to him, and he wanted to diminish his desire in a specific matter. And they shall not wear important garments on Rosh Hashanah like on every Yom Tov, but rather white ones (Bach and Magen Avraham). But among us, it is not the custom to wear white on Rosh Hashanah, only on Yom Kippur. And also they eat and drink as on other Yamim Tovim. For behold, it is an explicit verse: "Eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks." And only in this matter is Rosh Hashanah changed from other Yamim Tovim: that they greatly lengthen the prayer until after midday (see Taz). And also there are those who do not sleep during the day of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, based on the Yerushalmi: One who sleeps at the start of the year, his fortune sleeps. And we do not know where this Yerushalmi is found. And the Arizal, of blessed memory, was not concerned for this (and said that after the shofar blasts and after midday, the judgments have already been sweetened).

And behold, in the Terumat HaDeshen (siman 278) he wrote that there are opinions that it is permitted to fast on Rosh Hashanah, and there is one who says it is a mitzvah to fast; see there. And although the halacha is not so, as the Geonim and most of our teachers, the Rishonim and the Acharonim, have decided, nevertheless, regarding what we wrote above in siman 570 concerning one who swears to fast on Shabbat or Yom Tov, or vowed to fast—that the oath and the vow do not take effect, see there—nevertheless, one who swears or vows to fast on Rosh Hashanah requires hatarah, since there are opinions that there is no prohibition to fast (and this is the intention of the Rema in section 2).

It is a simple matter that for a dream fast one must fast, for behold, it is permitted even on Shabbat, all the more so on Rosh Hashanah. Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 3: One who fasts once on Rosh Hashanah a dream fast, if it was on the first day—he must fast both days all his life. And if it was on the second day—he shall not fast all his life except on the second day alone. Thus far his words, and the explanation of the matters is because there are places that have a tradition, that anyone who is accustomed to fasting on Rosh Hashanah, and changes his custom and does not fast—he does not complete his year, as he wrote in section 2, see there. And the reason: since from Heaven they showed him that his fast is beloved in Heaven. Therefore, even those who hold that one should not fast on Rosh Hashanah, nevertheless, since once they showed him that he should fast—he must conduct himself so all his life. And he does not need to sit for a fast for his fast, as on Shabbat and Yom Tov, because there are those who hold that it is permitted and a mitzvah to fast. And there is only a practical difference between the first day and the second day, for when they showed him from Heaven that he should fast on the first day, which is the primary one—all the more so that he should fast also on the second day. But when they showed him regarding the second day—he is not to fast on the first, for it is more stringent than the second, and it is the primary one.

And one who is not concerned about this, and is not fearful for his soul – he does not need to fast all his days. The Levush wrote that one who fasts on Rosh Hashanah – he should not bake or cook, but rather should occupy himself all day with prayer, supplications, and Torah; for since he does not fulfill "half for you," he must fulfill "entirely for Hashem." Thus far his words. And automatically, the same law applies to other yamim tovim. There is one who says that the fast itself is called "entirely for Hashem" (Magen Avraham subsection 1). Furthermore: if the fast is a pleasure for him, in that through it the decree will be annulled from him via a fast for a dream, it is also called "half for you" (ibid.). And one who fasts does not say "Aneinu" in Mincha, just as one does not say "Aneinu" on Yom Kippur, for how can he say "the day of our fast"? For these days are not called days of fasting, but rather days of judgment. And one who fasts should not perform Kiddush during the day for the sake of another, since it contains only the blessing of "ha-gafen." And on the night of Rosh Hashanah it is forbidden to fast ever, for a fast for a dream is only for the day, and not for the night. And likewise in a case of doubt whether this is one of the dreams that one fasts for or not – he does not need to fast (ibid. subsection 4). And likewise one who is not concerned with dreams – he should not fast.

There is one who says that one who fasts on Rosh Hashanah—he may not eat even when there is a brit milah, for in any event it is a Yom Tov, and nevertheless he fasts. If so, what would the brit milah add (Sha'arei Teshuvah in the name of Shevut Yaakov)? And these are words of reason. And all the more so regarding a fast for a dream, for even throughout the year, one who fasts a fast for a dream may not eat even at a seudat mitzvah, for a fast for a dream is even on Shabbat.