Fast of The Firstborn - Qualifications For Fasting

Qualifications For Fasting

There is disagreement among the early halakhic authorities (authoritative scholars of Jewish law) as to who qualifies as a firstborn (Bechor) for purposes of the Fast of the Firstborn. All authorities agree, however, to the conditions of halakhic adulthood (generally speaking, this is 12 years for a female and 13 years for a male) and sanity, preconditions for all positive mitzvot, to obligate one to fast. (Other rare conditions, such as deaf-muteness, also exempt one from positive mitzvot).

According to the Bayit Chadash, the Sefer Agudah, and arguably the Maharil, both men and women are obligated to fast. This is based upon the Midrash, which states that both men and women among the firstborn Egyptians perished in the plague (Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, 7; Exodus Rabbah, 18:3). Following a precedent common in Jewish commemorative rituals, the above authorities ruled that all those who were miraculously saved should participate in commemoration (see also Pesachim 108b). Since both men and women died from the plague, all firstborn Jewish men and women alive at that time are considered to have been miraculously saved. The Rema and the Vilna Gaon rule that women are exempt from the fast. As the Book of Exodus (13:12-15) mentions the biblical commandment of Redemption of the Firstborn as commemorative of the salvation of Jewish firstborns in Egypt, and as this command only applies to firstborn males, the Rema and the Vilna Gaon rule similarly that only males are obligated to fast. Common practice is that only males fast.

While a firstborn to both parents, or a firstborn to only the mother, must fast according to all authorities, there is a dispute among the early halakhic authorities regarding the status of a firstborn to only the father. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 470:1) codifies that a firstborn to only the father is obligated to fast, while most printings of the Arba'ah Turim (ibid.) indicate that such a person would be exempt. Common practice follows the Shulchan Aruch.

Typically, if the oldest in the family died, the next oldest is not required to fast. However, if the oldest child had died within 30 days of birth, the next oldest is required to fast. (The Dagul Mervavah maintains that this only applies if the oldest child had been born prematurely or was not born viable).

Many authorities, including the Rema, note the custom that the father of a firstborn should fast on his child's behalf until the child reaches halakhic adulthood. The Rema rules that if the father is a firstborn himself, the mother should fast on behalf of the child. The Mateh Moshe and Maharil dispute this and rule in such a scenario that the mother need not fast. The Magen Avraham rules that it is appropriate to follow the lenient opinion if fasting causes the mother excessive discomfort or if she is pregnant or nursing, but he adds that a mother who begins following the former opinion must maintain that custom and fast in subsequent years.

The Sh'vut Ya'akov (1:17) rules that the above-cited custom of the father fasting for the child goes into effect as soon as the child is born, except where the child is born after chatzot ha'laila (halakhic midnight, which generally corresponds to solar midnight) on the 14th of Nisan of that year. (Since the child had not yet been born by the equivalent time that the Plague of the Firstborn had occurred in Egypt, the father need not fast for his child until the following year) The Korban N'tan'el (Pesachim 10:19:80) disagrees. He writes that the custom only goes into effect from the time the child is 30 days old. This relates, again, to the command to redeem the firstborn, which does not go into effect until the child is 30 days old.

There is some dispute among the poskim (halakhic authorities) regarding whether a firstborn born through caesarean section is required to observe this fast, given that he is not obligated in the Redemption of the Firstborn. The Chok Ya'akov (470:2) rules that such a firstborn must fast, while the Kaf HaChayyim (470:3) rules that he need not fast. To circumvent this dispute, as well as dispute regarding a firstborn non-Jew who converts to Judaism, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (Seder Ha'aruch, Vol. 3, p. 44) suggests that such firstborns participate in a seudat mitzvah (see here and here below).