Do you throw bread when you do tashlich?

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amother

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 2:36 pm

Curious about people’s different minhagim.

amother

Periwinkle

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 2:38 pm

Only the kids do Smile

rmbg

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 2:40 pm

Curious how this is permitted? The Halacha is you may not feed a pet that doesn’t belong to you on shabbos/yom tov.

ExtraCredit

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 2:43 pm

If we go on Yom tov we don’t. If we go during the week, the kids do throw in bread.

Chayalle

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 3:06 pm

We don't because we do Tashlich on R"H.

But growing up, my parents had the minhag to specifically go during Aseres Yemei Teshuva, not R"H. So we used to "feed the ducks" while my parents did Tashlich.

I live in Lakewood, and there are signs all over at the lake asking people not to feed the ducks, so I wouldn't do so at any time. I was once at the lake, and an elderly couple there told me that the lake used to be blue and clean, and now it's brown and horrible because people throw so much bread in, more than the ducks can handle. And of course, they ignore the signs. And I've seen packages of bread and pita swimming in the lake...it's awful. So if you live in Lakewood and you feed the ducks, just know it's a huge chillul Hashem.

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 3:10 pm

No, my family has no showy public minhagim. I don't recall where I read this, but it said that throwing crumbs for tashlich is forbidden, plain and simple, and people do it out of ignorance. It may have been because of feeding the fish but I think it was also something about being misleading or resembling avodah zarah. I didn't pay close attention to the article because we don't do this anyway, but it's always a good feeling to have respectable proof that you're doing things right.

zaq

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 3:28 pm

From https://www.myjewishlearning.c.....likh/

"The custom developed around the 13th century and became widespread despite objections from rabbis who feared superstitious people would believe that tashlich, rather than the concerted effort of teshuvah, had the power to change their lives. Religious leaders were particularly opposed to the practice of tossing bread crumbs, representing sins, into the water, and even shaking one’s garments to loosen any evil clinging to them was discouraged.

Superstitious rites most likely did influence ceremony. Primitive people believed that the best way to win favor from evil spirits living in waterways was to give them gifts."

miami85

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 5:01 pm

We are supposed to "turn out our pockets" but not throw crumbs, it is a misinterpretation. When I was growing up we usually did tashlich not on yom tov so we probably took crumbs/ bread b/c we "can't do that on shabbos" but I guess it was looked at as an activity WITH tashlich not part of tashlich itself.

ChanieMommy

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 5:08 pm

No, we don't.

we go to tashlich on rosh hashana... but we don't take bread... nor feed the swans or ducks or seagulls...

This story about Lakewood is very interesting. However, I don't think it's plausible that a lake should turn from wonderful blue to horrible brown because of stale bread thrown in... there have to be other factors... like mud (perhaps it was never blue?) or industrial pollution, etc...

pause

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 5:09 pm

No.

amother

Azure

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 5:12 pm

Same as seafoam, was always told we didn't do it, growing up though I don't remember the reason given. So it's interesting to read the reasons that people posted upthread.
Anyway it is really doubtful there were any fish in the slimy creek that we always went to. Maybe rats, though Laugh

and who would want to encourage them?

FranticFrummie

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 5:29 pm

If ever there was a time to throw bread, it would be at biur chametz!

Bread is extremely unhealthy for birds. It expands in their stomachs and can cause a lot of pain. It also prevents them from eating their natural, much more nutritious food.

When ducks and other water birds eat the food that Hashem provides, they help control water snails, mosquito larvae, and decaying plant matter. They also eat seeds and disperse them into new areas.

Worse, it alters their behavior. Migratory birds get confused when they start to see a steady supply of food when it's not in season. They can become imprinted on humans, and that disrupts flocking behavior.

Geese can become VERY aggressive if they think you have food that you're not forking over to them. I've seen geese go after little kids who have sandwiches or ice cream cones. It's scary, and they bite HARD! Surprised

Swans are even more hard core. You really don't want to mess with them. They are highly territorial birds, and can chase you for quite a long way. Nature is not a Disney movie.

kenz

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 6:01 pm

My family does. We throw a little bit to be yotzei, certainly not whole bags. My husband’s family doesn’t say Tashlich at all. I still do with no objection from him.

amother

Cyan

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 6:02 pm

No because there is no Halacha that states that it should be done. In addition it’s baal tashchis.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 6:03 pm

kenz wrote:

My family does. We throw a little bit to be yotzei, certainly not whole bags. My husband’s family doesn’t say Tashlich at all. I still do with no objection from him.

Yotzei to what? It's not halacha.

If it's your minhag, what is the source and background for this?

imanonymous

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 6:05 pm

Delete

Last edited by imanonymous on Thu, May 06 2021, 7:36 pm; edited 1 time in total

kenz

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 6:06 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Yotzei to what? It's not halacha.

If it's your minhag, what is the source and background for this?

My family always did it. My father remembers his parents taking him. They are not around anymore to go back any further. It’s what every kid learns in school, it’s not like we’re the only ones who do it.
ETA we do it erev Yom Kippur.

naturalmom5

Tue, Sep 22 2020, 7:40 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Swans are even more hard core. You really don't want to mess with them. They are highly territorial birds, and can chase you for quite a long way. Nature is not a Disney movie.

Look at what happened to lake on Suzanne drive
Talk about an ecosystem nightmare
1985 one of the most beautiful places on earth
Today its a horrific hideous abyss

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