The Ambiguous Vibe of Taanis Esther

How should we feel on Taanis Esther? I attempted to use this article to figure out the answer for myself, but ended up more confused than I was when I started. I present to you: my confusion.

Mar 21, 2024

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The Ambiguous Vibe of Taanis Esther

I’ve always found Taanis Esther to have a rather ambiguous vibe. When I first converted to Judaism, I assumed that this fast was like all other Rabbinic fasts. Why would it be any different? This assumption persisted until I learned the difference between Taanis Esther and the other fasts, as Rambam writes in Laws of Fasts Chapter 5:

There are days on which all of Israel fasts because of the calamities that occurred on them, in order to awaken the hearts and to open the paths of teshuvah. This will be a reminder of our evil conduct and the conduct of our ancestors that was like our conduct today, which ultimately caused these calamities for them and for us. Through the remembrance of these matters we will return to do good, as it stated, “they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers” (Vayikra 26:40).

The Rambam then identifies the four fasts in this category: the Third of Tishrei (a.k.a. Tzom Gedalyah), the Tenth of Teves, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Ninth of Av. After specifying what we commemorate on each of these days, he notes that “these four fasts are explicitly mentioned in the prophetic tradition.” Only after this discourse on the four Rabbinic fasts does the Rambam introduce what we have come to call “Taanis Esther”:

In these times, all of Israel is accustomed to fast on the Thirteenth of Adar in commemoration of the fasts that were observed during the days of Haman, as it is stated: “the matters of the fasts and the outcries” (Esther 9:31). If the Thirteenth of Adar falls out on Shabbos, the fast is pushed forward and held on Thursday, which is the eleventh of Adar, but if any of the other fast days falls out on Shabbos, we postpone them until after Shabbos. If [any of these fasts] falls out on Friday, we fast on Friday. And on all these fasts, the trumpets are not sounded, nor do we daven Ne’ilah, but we read “Vay’chal Moshe” at Shacharis and Minchah, and on all of them we eat and drink at night except for Tishah b’Av.

According to the Rambam, there are four differences between the four communal fasts and Taanis Esther:

the four fasts commemorate catastrophes, whereas Taanis Esther commemorates the fasts that were observed during the days of Haman
the four fasts are mentioned explicitly in the words of the prophets, whereas Taanis Esther is not – and isn’t even mentioned in Megilas Esther
presumably, the four fasts are takanos (Rabbinic enactments), whereas Taanis Esther is a minhag (custom); incidentally, this is why Taanis Esther is more lenient than the other fasts, if not according to the Rambam, then according to the mainstream halachic authorities followed by most Ashkenazim
the four fasts are postponed if they fall out on Shabbos, whereas Taanis Esther is observed earlier

My confusion about the vibe of Taanis Esther emerges from the first of these distinctions. It is clear how we should feel on the other four fasts: mournful and repentant, as the Rambam describes in the Laws of Fasts 1:14:

Whoever is fasting, whether he is fasting on his own distress or on his [disturbing] dream, or whether he is fasting with the community on their distress, he should not indulge in pleasures, nor should he act frivolously, nor should he be joyous and gladhearted; rather, he should be concerned and mournful, as it is stated: “Over what should a living man be concerned? [Each] man over his sins” (Eichah 3:39).

This makes sense: the only reason we observe these four fasts is because we partake of the same sins as our ancestors which led to those catastrophes, and which we still suffer from today: “Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we have borne their punishments” (ibid. 5:7). But Taanis Esther does not commemorate a catastrophe. To the contrary, it commemorates the fasting of the Jews in Shushan which helped avert a catastrophe. If anything, it should be associated with the same joy that characterizes Purim itself, since the fasting we commemorate is part of what brought about our redemption. On the other hand, Taanis Esther is a fast day nonetheless, and fast days are vehicles of teshuvah, characterized by the sentiment: “Over what should a living man be concerned? [Each] man over his sins.” Hence, my question: What is the vibe of Taanis Esther?

But it gets more complicated. Whenever I teach the Rambam’s view to high school students, I ask them if they can think of any reasons why our Taanis Esther doesn’t quite seem like it was intended to be a commemoration of the fasts decreed by Esther during the events of Purim. With a bit of help, they eventually identify three problems:

the Jews at the time of Esther fasted for three days, whereas Taanis Esther is only one day
only the Jews of Shushan fasted, whereas Taanis Esther is observed by all Jews (and not, say, only the Jews who observe Shushan Purim in commemoration of the events that happened in Shushan)
Esther’s fast was in Nisan (on the 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th) but Taanis Esther is on the 13^th of Adar

The first two incongruities can be justified on the basis of pragmatic halachic considerations: (a) Taanis Esther isn’t a three-day fast because this would be too oppressive for the vast majority of people, and (b) the custom should be observed by all Jews to better publicize the efficacy of the fasting of the Jews in Shushan, and this message would be greatly diminished if Taanis Esther were only observed by a subpopulation of Jews.

The third incongruity is more difficult to justify. Granted, we can’t fast on the same days as the Jews of Shushan – since we observe Pesach on the 15^th of Nisan – but what sense does it make to commemorate a historical event on a completely different calendar day? We commemorate the Exodus on the 15^th of Nisan because that was the day the Exodus took place. We commemorate the Giving of the Torah fifty days later because that was the day the Torah was given (according to the Oral Tradition). We commemorate Purim on the 14^th and 15^th of Adar because those were the days of our victory. By commemorating the fasts of Esther on the 13^th of Adar, which is the wrong date, we introduce misinformation into the Purim narrative! (And if you don’t think this is a realistic concern, just try asking high school students to accurately recount the timeline of the events in Megilas Esther.)

After sitting with this problem for years, I discovered a different explanation for Taanis Esther. The earliest mention of this theory is in the She’iltos of the Geonim (Purim #67, and Tosafos Megilah 2a d”h ela):

Regarding the fast: walled cities, villages, and unwalled cities all fast on the 13^th of Adar, as Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak said: the 13^th is a time of gathering for everyone, as it is stated, “And the rest of the Judeans that were in the king's provinces gathered to stand up for their lives … on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar” (Esther 9:16,18). What is ‘gathering’? A day of fasting. What is “a day of gathering”? That they gather on it and engage in a fast and ask for [divine] mercy.

Unlike the Rambam, this Geonic source maintains that Taanis Esther has nothing to do with the three fasts decreed by Esther for the Jews of Shushan during the month of Nisan. Rather, Taanis Esther commemorates the fast that all the Jews engaged in on the 13^th of Adar to ask for divine mercy on the day we went to war with our enemies.

How do we know that they engaged in such a fast? Because that is how Jews prepare for war. The Torah states “When you go to wage war in your Land against an enemy who oppresses you, you shall sound a teruah on the trumpets and you shall be remembered before Hashem, your God, and you shall be saved from your foes” (Bamidbar 10:9). Ralbag explains that the phrase “you shall be remembered before Hashem” implies that in addition to the sounding of the trumpets, we are required to engage in teshuvah, tefilah, and taanis. He writes:

The Torah is silent here about teshuvah and tefilah because it already mentioned the condition: “you shall be remembered [before Hashem],” meaning, “act in such a manner that you will be remembered,” which is certainly through teshuvah and tefilah, for they are the cause of divine providence extending to them … And you should know that the matter of this “remembrance” also includes fasting, for we have already seen [in the structure of Rosh ha’Shanah and Yom ha’Kippurim] the Torah’s intention that complete teshuvah and atonement should occur after fasting and teruah.

Ralbag notes that although the mitzvah of sounding the trumpets only applies in Israel in the Mikdash, “the teshuvah and the tefilah are not limited to any location.” Presumably, this would also include the fasting, because the trio of teshuvah, tefilah, and taanis is what causes us to be “remembered” before Hashem. It stands to reason, then, that the Jews throughout Achashverosh’s kingdom fasted on the 13^th as preparation for going to war.

According to this theory, our observance of Taanis Esther on the 13^th of Adar as a day of national teshuvah and supplication commemorates the day of national teshuvah and supplication observed by our ancestors during the events of the Megilah. This addresses all three of the incongruities we noted earlier: (1) our fast is only one day, just like the fast of the Jews during the events of Purim, (2) it is observed by world Jewry, just like it was back then, and (3) it takes place on the 13^th of Adar, just like the fast we are commemorating.

Let us return to our original question: What should the vibe of Taanis Esther be? According to the Geonic view, the fasting on the 13^th of Adar was a prelude to the triumph of the 14^th and 15^th. To my mind, Taanis Esther should not partake of the somber, mournful, penitent worry which characterizes the other four fasts. Instead, we should bask in the celebratory feeling of gratitude that comes from our national recollection of an instance in which “we were remembered before Hashem, our God, and were saved from our foes.” Our reenactment (or rehearsal) of this metaphysical military maneuver reminds us that “Hashem wages war on our behalf” (cf. Shemos 14:14), and that if we do our part, “Hashem saves! The King will answer us on the day we call” (Tehilim 20:10).

The truth is that no matter which of the two views you favor, the grateful and joyous feelings evoked by the Rambam’s statement of the theme of Purim in the introduction to the Mishneh Torah are appropriate here:

[We were commanded] in the reading of the Megilah in its proper time in order to recall the praises of Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu and the salvations He did for us – that He was near to our outcry – in order to bless Him and to praise Him, and in order to make known to the coming generations that that which was said in the Torah is true, as it is stated, "For which is a great nation that has a God Who is close to it, as is Hashem, our God, whenever we call to Him?" (Devarim 4:7).

And so I concluded that unlike the other four fasts, Taanis Esther should be a happy day. There is still room for teshuvah, but not in response to a bitter recollection of national tragedy. Instead, we should focus on the special relationship we have with Hashem, recognizing the role of teshuvah and tefilah in that relationship.

Before writing all of this up, I decided to do just a little more research. As a result of that fateful decision, I ended up in a minefield. I happened upon a scholarly essay entitled, The Fast of Esther’s 8^th Cent. C.E. Origins, by Mitchell First, which obliterated all my preconceived notions. He begins his exploration of the origins of Taanis Esther by establishing that the 13^th of Adar used to be a completely different holiday called Yom Nicanor, “established in 161 B.C.E., when Judah Maccabee’s army defeated the Seleucid general Nicanor, who had threatened to destroy the Temple.” He notes that according to Megilas Taanis (a 1^st century C.E. text which chronicles 35 days of celebration observed during the Hasmonean era), it is prohibited to fast on the 13^th of Adar for this reason, because of Yom Nicanor! He then charts the evolution of our Taanis Esther throughout the centuries, raising point after point of new historical and halachic data of which I had been completely ignorant.

Like the Jews of Shushan at the end of Esther Chapter 3, the information in this article has left me “navochah (confused)” (Esther 3:15). I guess we’ll just have to revisit this question next year!

How do YOU relate to Taanis Esther? How do you think we ought to relate to it? What’s your theory about why we’re fasting? Let me know in the comments!

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