Well, damn.

[chanaleh]

Got home from rehearsal (which, I should add, greenlily ran wonderfully)...
to discover that I am running a fever of almost 100.

Hmm. This would explain why I started feeling so run-down and crummy.
It also bodes poorly for Kol Nidrei &c tomorrow night. But we'll see.

And I still haven't written my apology letter, but now I really don't feel like tackling it. I don't even feel like going out to get milk. Maybe bed would be the better part of valor.

Comments

[noghri.livejournal.com]

*hugs* hope you feel better. If you're sick you shouldn't fast.

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

Something's going around, evidently all up and down the east coast! Hope you feel better asap. It's probably not a sin to drink chicken soup on Yom Kippur if you're sick.

[red-queen.livejournal.com]

Hope you feel better, sweetie -- and don't you DARE fast this year. Don't make me go Jewish Mother on your tuchas. :-}

[imlad.livejournal.com]

Yea, whatever it is - it is roaming around in these here parts. Nothing you can do about that stuff but drink plenty of fluids and eat chicken soup (you got the soup, right?) I ran a fever for the first time in about 8 years a month ago or so. Yikes.

[jessruth.livejournal.com]

hope you feel better soon! and ditto what everyone says about skipping the fast. take care of you!

no fasting for sick chanaleh

[xf.livejournal.com]

Actually, you don't need to fast if you are sick. In fact, it is forbidden.

Re: no fasting for sick chanaleh

[mitchellf.livejournal.com]

Well, not exactly forbidden--there are just laws (yay to the plethora of Jewish laws) that pertain to eating when sick on Yom Kippur.

This is because Yom Kippur is *the ONLY* fast day of the year on which *everyone* is required to fast. While I would suggest talking to a Rabbi before deciding how to go about eating on Yom Kippur, I will give you but one word of advice which comes from my sister-in-law who had to eat one Yom Kippur (she was pregnant with Triplets at the time): It sucks. You have to eat a perscribed amount (depends on the Rabbi--her amount was about 3 graham crackers worth) *every* half hour.
For obvious reasons this cannot be done in the sanctuary of the shul, which makes davening very difficult. This same sister-in-law is now diabetic, but has consulted with a doctor so that she can go off her medication (Glucosamine--which must be taken on a full stomach) for the one day, since eating on Yom Kippur is such a pain in the neck.

My suggestion is, if you do not feel well and a doctor (yes, any Rabbi will need a doctor's say-so on this) says you must eat, talk to a Rabbi and find out how the law will pertain to you in your specific case. Remember: only if a doctor says you must eat will a Rabbi sanction eating for you. If a doctor says you could fast, the obligation to fast will still pertain to you. This is all recounted in the Talmud in Yoma (as well as the Shulchan Aruch and the Mishna Brurah), and says that each ill person who needs to eat must be dealt with separately in accordance to his/her needs, and there can be no "blanket" law to cover all ill people on Yom Kippur (as there is for other fasts). This is also one of the reasons that, if someone faints in shul, a doctor must be present before the Rabbi can insist on giving juice to that person.

The reason for this difference in the laws of eating on this fast is because the fasting for Yom Kippur is not done for the same reasons as the other fasts. The other fasts are all fasts of mourning while Yom Kippur is a fast of purity, *and* is the only fast mandated by G-d in the Torah. We are supposed to fast because G-d commanded it, and, according to one of the commentators, it is because this is the one day during which we are likened to the Angels--and Angels don't eat.

I know this is long and involved, but I hope it helps you in your decision to fast or not on Yom Kippur. Chaneleh, I hope you feel better soon. *hug*

Re: no fasting for sick chanaleh

[xf.livejournal.com]

Everyone is required to fast?

What about children?

What about nursing mothers?

Re: no fasting for sick chanaleh

[mitchellf.livejournal.com]

Children over 9 are required to fast if they are able (according to the Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch)--according to the Mishna Brurah, it is commendable for children over 9 to fast the whole day, and they should be encouraged to do so. Most people today do not hold the opinion of the Mishna Brurah. Children 9 and under are not required to fast, just as they are not required to keep *any* of the laws in general. This is because they are still learning, and are under no obligation to take any laws upon themselves.

Nursing mothers are required to fast unless fasting will be dangerous for the *mother.* It is preferable for those mothers to do a whole lot of pumping before Yom Kippur if they are concerned that they will not be able to adequately nurse the day after the fast. Also, the fasting mother is allowed to nurse on Yom Kippur.
If not fasting would be dangerous for the mother, a rabbi should be consulted to determine how the laws of eating on Yom Kippur pertain to her specific case (based, of course, on what a doctor recommends). However, it should be noted that, in most cases, not eating is not a danger to the health of the mother.
Also, please keep in mind that pumping breast milk is not a modern concept. It was done in the middle ages as well, but not to the same extent that we do it today.
While in the middle ages more concern was given to the baby, today, given the amount of pediatrician-approved formula on the market, there is no longer a fear that the baby will starve.

However, please keep in mind that, if the nursing mother faints while fasting, the same applies to her as does to anyone who faints--a rabbi determines what and how much she can eat.

The only specifically mentioned situation for women eating on Yom Kippur that is mentioned is in the case of the Pregnant woman. It is considered commendable for a pregant woman to fast, however, if she feels faint (note this is NOT if she faints, just if she *feels* faint), she is allowed to eat "ad sh'omrim 'dy'" ("until she says 'enough'"). The rabbis of the Talmud discuss what "enough" is--usually it amounts to an amount of food between the size of an olive and the size of an egg.

Hope this helps. G'mar v'Chatima Tova.

Re: no fasting for sick chanaleh

[xf.livejournal.com]

This helps. What is the appropriate manner to interrupt the High Holiday Services and ask the Rabbi how many Graham Crackers the fainted woman is allowed to eat?

Also, if there is a michatiza up, how do the women get the message to the rabbi?

Re: no fasting for sick chanaleh

[mitchellf.livejournal.com]

Well, there are several ways to go about this:

1) if you know about your situation before services (either evening or morning) you can ask the rabbi before-hand.
2) if the situation comes upon you in the middle of services, it is more prudent to go and find a doctor first--for her/his opinion, and then have the doctor find and speak with the rabbi
3) in the case of someone who faints, often a doctor is summoned first, and then the rabbi is summoned to give the halachic opinion on food consumption.

In any case, if someone faints during Yom Kippur any time is an appropriate time to get a doctor and a rabbi (even during the Amida). In fact, the doctor and the rabbi should be summoned as soon as possible (since, according to the Talmud, one who faints is considered to be a dying person, and the law of "al tachmod al dam rei'echa"--"don't stand on the blood of your brother," or don't allow another to die in your presence if you can save them--pertains to this case).

As for the mechitza, well, in a case of a life and death situation (or any situation where someone could be in danger healthwise) the mechitza should be ignored. Sure, in most Orthodox shuls the men would probably prefer that a man be sent to get the rabbi (and there should be one near the enterance to the men's section who will probably oblige), however, since this matter is one of upmost importance that must be dealt with immediately, a woman is allowed to walk through the men's section if necessary.

Truth is the mechitza is really just for the men anyway. The rabbis of the Talmud discuss the need for it because of the supposed urges that men have to stare at women if they are given the chance. The idea was that, since women were present (and these same rabbis claimed that women wouldn't have the same problem, 'cause apparently women have more self-control then men when it comes to "sexual urges" and avoiding distractions--yay us!), the men would not be able to concentrate on their praying unless they couldn't see the women. Hence the invention of the mechitza. Go figure.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Feel better.

[besamim.livejournal.com]

Get well soon. I would add, go easy on the davvening, even if you're at home and taking fluids. Recite only as much as you feel you can manage, as "The Merciful One looks to the heart." Gmar tov.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

What everyone said. You're not supposed to fast if you're sick. :)

(and, glad you liked the rehearsal...as always, I talked too much and sometimes forgot what time signature I was conducting in, but we got stuff done and it sounded really really good, so, score.)

[navrins]

You talked too much?

I talked too much, and it wasn't even my rehearsal. You were supposed to talk that much.

feel better!

[musicjill.livejournal.com]

perhaps it all worked out that the dress shopping was moved to two weeks hence.

I myself have a cold, so yom kippur won't be the same this year for me either .

take care of yourself!

and l'shana tova!

-jill

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

Poopy. Hope you get well soon!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Oy! That's not good. I hope it passed quickly, and you're all better now.