Study Taanit folio 12A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
The halakha is that which you said, that one may fast for a few hours, provided that one took a fast of a few hours upon himself, and that he fasted and did not taste anything until the evening. Abaye said to Rav Ḥisda: This ruling is obvious, since it is a full-fledged fast, as one ultimately fa
And Rav Ḥisda said: Any fast upon which the sun does not set, i.e., when one eats in the middle of the day, it is not called a fast at all. The Talmud raises an objection: The members of the priestly watch, the priests and Levites who are serving in the Temple that week, fast on a communal fast, l
The Talmud cites another proof: Come and hear, as R' Elazar, son of R' Tzadok, said: I am a descendant of Senaah, son of the tribe of Benjamin, and once the 9th of Av occurred on Shabbat, and we postponed the fast until after Shabbat, as Shabbat supersedes the fast of the 9th of Av. And we fasted o
The Talmud again attempts to disprove the opinion of Rav Ḥisda, this time by citing a custom of R' Yoḥanan: Come and hear, as R' Yoḥanan occasionally said: I shall be in observance of a fast until I come to my house. This indicates that one can take a fast upon himself even for just a few hours. Th
Shmuel said: Any fast that one did not take upon himself while it was still day is not called a fast. The Talmud asks: And if one happened to sit in observance of a fast that day, what is that considered? Rabba bar Sheila said: He is likened to a bellows that is full of air. His behavior does not