Feeling guilty I broke my fast

amother

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 1:48 pm

I had a splitting headache, and I’m taking care of my 3 kids
Rav said I can take Advil but I didn’t ask him if I could eat
Felt very weak

Ema of 5

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 1:50 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I had a splitting headache, and I’m taking care of my 3 kids
Rav said I can take Advil but I didn’t ask him if I could eat
Felt very weak

Make sure you are drinking enough water. If you want to call him back you can, otherwise I don’t think there are restrictions once you have broken your fast.
Refua shlaima!!!

Girl@Heart

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:00 pm

Your primary job right now is the well being of your children. If you can do this while fasting great. If you can’t (I consider a splitting headache an obstacle that can not be overcome while caring for multiple young children ) then you don’t fast anymore.

imaima

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:03 pm

I don't even ask a rav in such cases.
You cannot take a painkiller on an empty stomach so ..

SG18

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:05 pm

If you felt like it was necessary, it was necessary
- Love, a mom who didn't fast this past Yom Kippur while pregnant, because she was sick, and felt guilty all day

chanchy123

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:07 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I had a splitting headache, and I’m taking care of my 3 kids
Rav said I can take Advil but I didn’t ask him if I could eat
Felt very weak

According to my halachic knowledge it is permitted to break your fast if you feel unwell enough that you have to lay down. A splitting headache is reason enough.
For the first time in years (at least a decade if not more) I completed a minor fast without a splitting headache it feeling weak or dizzy - I was just cranky and on-edge because I was hungry.
I usually start fasting and stop once I have a bad headache or feel woozy - unless I’m already at the end and just hold it out and suffer.

amother

Canary

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:12 pm

No reason to feel guilty. This is the kind of question that doesn't require a shaila because it's straight up in the kitzur shulchan aruch/Mishna berura.

You're sick, need medication to get thru the day, and have little children to take care of. Any of those three alone would have made you pattur from the fast.

amother

Zinnia

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:15 pm

I normally never have a problem fasting, but I've spent the past week in bed with pneumonia... I didn't even start fasting.

amother

Mocha

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:43 pm

Everyone reading this should keep in mind that there is a major difference between breaking your fast when not feeling well on a minor fast day and on a major fast day.
On Yom kippur and tisha bav, you can not break your fast (even if you don't feel well) without a psak from a rov.

amother

Mustard

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:46 pm

By the way - the Jewish pharmacies sell suppositories that are half caffeine and half Tylenol, and they work wonders.

chanatron1000

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 3:46 pm

imaima wrote:

I don't even ask a rav in such cases.
You cannot take a painkiller on an empty stomach so ..

It depends on the painkiller. Tylenol is fine, but NSAIDs like Advil are not.

Ema of 5

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 4:57 pm

chanatron1000 wrote:

It depends on the painkiller. Tylenol is fine, but NSAIDs like Advil are not.

I can’t take anything on an empty stomach, not even Tylenol

amother

Snow

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 6:54 pm

I am breastfeeding my 1 year old and not fasting. Was I meant to feel guilty?
As a single girl, I only broke my fast once, otherwise I fasted every single fast day.

amother

Canary

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 6:57 pm

amother [ Snow ] wrote:

I am breastfeeding my 1 year old and not fasting. Was I meant to feel guilty?
As a single girl, I only broke my fast once, otherwise I fasted every single fast day.

No, you're fully exempt from fasting because you're nursing a one year old. Even if you weren't nursing, according to many mainstream poskim, you'd be fully expect until your baby was two.(excluding Yom kippur, and usually Tisha bav)

PinkFridge

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 6:59 pm

amother [ Snow ] wrote:

I am breastfeeding my 1 year old and not fasting. Was I meant to feel guilty?
As a single girl, I only broke my fast once, otherwise I fasted every single fast day.

I remember asking a chashuv rav about fasting when pregnant and he laughed and said his wife only fasted twice a year for 15 years because she was either pregnant or nursing. There's no shaila. And anyone who has asked a shaila, for the big 2 or others, should not feel guilty. It's understandable to feel wistful on those 2 days but there can even be some simcha shel mitzvah in following the psak: that's the mitzvah today.

amother

Thistle

Tue, Dec 14 2021, 7:04 pm

Shayfela, you are a mommy of 3 little ones. You tried to fast but you didn't feel well. Your mitzva is to take care of your little ones. You will get schar for trying. Please don't be so hard on yourself!