In advance of Tisha B’Av, the most somber day of the Jewish year, we consider the well-known position of the Conservative/Masorti movement declaring it permissible to end one’s fast on that day following the minḥah (afternoon) service. By ” minḥah” is meant minḥah g’dolah, the earliest time the service may be prayed. (The time for minḥah g’dolah in Jerusalem this year on Tisha B’Av – August 1, 2017 – begins at 1:19 pm.) The position is set forth in a t’shuvah of the Vaad Halakhah, or Law Committee, of the Israel branch of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA).  The opinion, which expresses the Committee’s majority view, was authored by Rabbi Tuvia Friedman; Rabbi David Golinkin dissents, arguing that the full-day fast be maintained. (See here, in Volume One of the Vaad’s t’shuvot, for English summaries.) While the majority bases its argument upon a number of different considerations, we want to look here at the central part of its halakhic argument, found in section 4 of the responsum, “The Talmud and Its Commentators on Tisha B’Av.” Continue reading Tisha B’Av: A Partial Fast? →