Tisha b’av and dry fasting

amother

Thu, Jul 15 2021, 10:15 am

I know that there are two types of fasting: a water fast, where you drink water but don’t eat, and a dry fast, where you don’t drink either. But I just read this:

Quote:

A dry fast means you don't drink nor eat anything. There are 2 kinds of dry fasting: Soft dry fasting - you don't eat nor drink anything but it's okay to touch water.

Hard dry fasting - no water will touch you at all. So you don't eat nor drink anything AND you don't let water touch your skin so you don't take a shower or bath or even beush your teeth, no laundry, dishes... etc.

Did any of you know this? It makes sense that if you wash your hands, water will enter your body through the skin. That adds some insight to tisha b’av restrictions I think.

zaq

Thu, Jul 15 2021, 12:41 pm

Water does not enter the body through the skin. You'd be in big trouble if it did, as

a. the body is saline, and absorbing plain water would upset the electrolytic balance something awful. Don't believe me? Try doing a nasal rinse (neti pot) with plain water instead of saline. Let me know how you enjoy it.

b. the inside of the body is essentially sterile aside from the bacteria that are supposed to be there, such as the intestinal flora that help break down food. If you absorbed water through your skin, you'd also be absorbing the microorganisms in it, which would put you at risk of major infections.

Your skin is designed to protect your insides from the outside world, and it is waterproof. The dead outer layer, called the stratum corneum, will absorb some water if immersed for a period of time--considerably longer than the time it takes to rinse your hands with water or even scrubadub for the recommended 20 seconds. The water that the stratum corneum absorbs does not penetrate beyond that layer, is not available to participate in any metabolic functions, and evaporates quickly unless you seal it in it by smearing your skin with some kind of greasy unguent.

notshanarishona

Thu, Jul 15 2021, 7:43 pm

Are you reading this in a Jewish source?
The only concept I have heard of this is when my doctor said I couldn’t fast one Yom Kippur, the rav asked her if I needed to eat food or if caloric drinks were enough. There is such a concept of if you have to do shiurim to do only drinking.