The Fast of the Firstborn before Pesach

[muman613]

It is a custom for the firstborn to fast the day before Pesach. It is possible to avoid this fast if you are involved in a mitzvah which involves feasting {such as the completion of a Siyyum {a Mesechot of Talmud}}...

What and when is the Fast of the Firstborn?
by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg
On the day before1 Passover all firstborn2 males are required to fast. This fast commemorates G-d's kindness towards the Israelite firstborn; when G-d slew all the Egyptian firstborn males He spared their Jewish counterparts.

Many abide by the custom that the father of a firstborn male who is under the age of Bar Mitzvah fasts in lieu of his son.

This fast is more lenient than other fasts. Therefore, this fast may be broken if the faster participates in a Seudat Mitzvah (feast celebrating a mitzvah). Therefore it is customary for all synagogues to organize a Siyum on this day. After the Shacharit services all the firstborn (and anyone else who is interested in enjoying some refreshments...) listen to the completion of a tractate of Talmud, break their fast, and are free to eat for the rest of the day.

Footnotes

1. If the first day of Passover is Sunday, the fast is moved to Thursday. It is forbidden to fast on Shabbat, and (in honor of Shabbat) we don't set up substitue fasts on Friday.
2. Firstborn to either mother or father. A male who has an older sister is not considered a firstborn. A child who was delivered via caesarian section is still considered a firstborn with regards to this fast.

http://www.kby.org/english/torat-yavneh/view.asp?id=3957

The Fast of the Firstborn
By: Gary Guttenberg
Baltimore, MD

The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 480:1) says that on Erev Pesach a "bechor" (first born male) should fast. The Mishna Berurah (480:1) says that the reason for this is, "in remembrance of the miracle that they (the firstborns) were saved from death during Makat Bechorot. Many questions are raised about this halacha:

1) The miracle of the bechorim being saved occurred on the actual night of the Seder, not on the 14th. Why, then, do we fast on the 14th?2) The decree against the Egyptian bechorim did not differentiate between firstborn from the mother or father, or whether the bechor was male or female? Why, then, does the Rama (ibid.) rule that only the firstborn males fast?3) Why is the fast not put upon the oldest in the household in cases where there is not a bechor, like the decree of the firstborns?4) The biggest wonder is, if the fasting is a means of atonement or an expession of appreciation for the bechorim who were destined to be killed in the plague, then in theory only the offspring of those bechorim should fast. What does it make a difference if someone is a bechor nowadays? Should they have to fast for something that was done to other bechorim, long ago?

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l classifies the fast of the bechorim differently. Until the sin of the golden calf the service in the Beit Hamikdash was reserved for the bechorim. So much so, that at Matan Torah the bechorim were the ones who brought the sacrifices. (See Rashi and Onkelos to Shemot 24:5.) Only after the sin of the golden calf, which was more than a month after Matan Torah, did the Levites go around killing those involved in worshipping the calf. It was then that the service of the Beit Hamikdash was transferred from the bechorim to the Kohanim. This is what the pasuk in Devarim (33:8) means, "Your Tumim and Urim befit the righteous one, whom You tested at Massah and whom You challenged at the waters of Merivah."

The remembrance that we do on Pesach starts with the miracle that Hashem passed over the houses of the Jews and killed the Egyptians on the night of the Seder. Through this the bechorim became "holy" as the pasuk in Bamidbar (3:13) says, " For every firstborn is Mine: On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified every firstborn in Israel for Myself."

Every Erev Pesach, the bechorim go through great pain and sense of loss. There is no other day that the Jews bring as many sacrifices as they did on Erev Pesach, as the Gemara says in Pesachim (64a). This is specifically why the firstborn male of the father fasts. They were supposed to be the ones doing the service on that day, because, originally, they were the ones that became holy and were selected to do the service. However, due to the sin of the golden calf, they were left outside to watch as the Kohanim did the service that was intended for them.

http://www.atorahminute.com/2011-03-30

Defining who is a firstborn for the purposes of the fast
Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe
Wednesday, March 30, 2011/Adar B 24, 5771

Ta'anith Bekhoroth (the fast of the firstborn) is in memory of the miracle that took place when the Children of Israel were unharmed during the final plague in Egypt in which the firstborn of the Egyptians died. The rules for who is considered to be a Bekhor (firstborn) are different for this fast than those for a Pidyon Habben (redemption of firstborn).

Someone who was born after a definite miscarriage also needs to fast. However, if he was born after a previous full term pregnancy, even if the the child of that previous pregnancy died within thirty days of his birth, he does not fast.

The obligation to fast falls on all firstborn males, whether of the father or the mother. The firstborn of a Kohen or Lewi is also required to fast, irrespective of whether they are the firstborn of the father or mother.

(See Shulhan 'Aruch 470:1. Mishnah Berurah ibid, 1-2. Kaf Hahayyim ibid, Oth 1,2,3,6,8)

I am unable to attend a Siyyum this year. Although if I really wanted to {wake up very early for me} I could attend one. But I think I will be able to fast th

[muman613]

Despite the fact I am taking all of tomorrow off from work in order to do last minute preparations for the Pesach  Chag I am unable to attend a Siyum in order to absolve my obligation as a firstborn Jewish male to fast in the custom of the Fast of the Firstborn.


http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1678/jewish/The-Fast-of-the-First-Born.htm

The Fast of the First Born
By Eliyahu Kitov

It is an ancient and widespread custom for the firstborn to fast on the day before Passover. This commemorates the miracle which spared the firstborn Jewish sons from the plague which struck down the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.

By right, this fast should be held on the anniversary of the day on which the miracle occurred: on the night of the fifteenth of Nissan. However, since the fifteenth is already Passover, and we do not fast on Festival days the fast is pushed back to the fourteenth.

There is an additional reason why we fast specifically on the fourteenth. The firstborn of the Jews were saved in Egypt because they humbled themselves before G-d, admitting and declaring that all greatness, power, and sovereignty are His alone.

This stood in contradistinction to the Egyptians who, filled with foolish pride and egotism, declared: "I am, and besides me there is none other."

Thus, the fast on the fourteenth of Nissan commemorates the fact that the firstborn of Israel humbled themselves on that day and accepted the yoke of G-d's sovereignty. Abstention from food and drink is a sign of a heart subdued before G-d.

There are different customs that are associated with this fast. Some maintain that every firstborn, male and female, whether the firstborn is that of the mother or of the father, must fast.

If there are no children, then the oldest member of the household must fast. They base this on the fact that there was no Egyptian household that was spared from the plague, every household in Egypt was struck whether there was a firstborn son or not. We commemorate, therefore, that all of the Jewish households were miraculously spared.

Others maintain that the obligation to fast applies only to firstborn males.

If the fourteenth of Nissan falls on a Shabbat, the fast is observed on the previous Thursday [the twelfth of Nissan], for if a fast is suspended because of Shabbat, it is not held on a Friday. However if the fourteenth of Nissan falls on a Friday, the fast is held on that day. There are some who are lenient, however, and maintain that in this case one does not fast.

There are those who hold that the firstborn sons who are fasting should not fast for the entire day, in order not to enter the Festival suffering, and thus should eat a small amount before the Festival begins.

This fast is treated leniently. Thus, if there is a festive meal held that is connected with a mitzvah, for example, the celebration of a circumcision or of a siyum (the completion of a tractate of the Talmud) the firstborn son participates in the meal rather than fasting.

It is therefore customary to arrange for a siyum to take place in the synagogue after morning prayers on the fourteenth of Nissan. The firstborn sons who are present participate in this festive meal and, having broken their fast, may continue to eat for the rest of the day.