20th of Sivan - Old Custom (Continued)

QUESTION: Today is the 20th of Sivan. The Vaad Arba Aratzos (a Jewish legislative body in the 16th-18th centuries) instituted this as a day of fasting and Selichos to commemorate the many tragedies that took place on this date, or around this time. Why is it that this fast is no longer observed?

ANSWER: The Orchas Chaim - Spinka (580:4) explains why the fast is no longer observed. The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 18a) asks why does Zecharya Hanavi (8:19) refer to the four public fast days (10th of Teves, 17th of Tamuz…) as both days of fasting and days of rejoicing? The Gemara answers that in times of turmoil, they must be observed as fasts, in times of tranquility they should be observed with rejoicing, and in times that are neither turmoil nor tranquility, it is up to the will of the people. The Tur (OC 550) writes that it is not up to each individual to make this decision, but all must follow the will of the majority, and since it was accepted to fast on these days, it is binding on everyone. The Orchas Chaim writes that the fast of the 20th of Sivan was not enacted in a stricter manner than the four public fasts. Therefore, this fast is only binding in times of turmoil. At other times, it follows the will of the people, and since most people have stopped observing this fast, it is no longer obligatory.

Sefer Alei Tamar (Megilah page 5) offers another explanation. He writes that there was a tradition that the fast of the 20th of Sivan was established to last only until the year 5600 (1840). He suggests that the reason for this time frame is because we are not permitted to enact new fast days, as noted in the Kinos recited on Tisha B’Av. By limiting the enactment of the fast of the 20th of Sivan until 5600, which is less than two centuries after the Chmielnitzky massacres, the 20th of Sivan is not considered a full-fledged fast day. 

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