Rosh Hashana - Breakfast Beverage

QUESTION: In the shul where I daven on Rosh Hashanah, there is no break, and the tefillos continue until after chatzos (midday). Would it be preferable to drink tea or coffee in the morning before davening so that I won’t be fasting past chatzos?

ANSWER: At first glance, this would appear to be commendable since it is permissible to drink coffee or tea before davening. (Some poskim even permit adding a minimal amount of sugar, just enough to make it palatable.) By drinking in the morning, one will not be fasting even if the tefillah extends past chatzos. However, Rav Hutner, zt”l (Sefer Pachad Yitzchok Rosh Hashanah 22, cited by Teshuvos V’hanhagos 2:274), writes that one should not do this. He explains that it is commendable to fast for part of the day on Rosh Hashanah to inspire one to do teshuva. However, once one drinks in the morning, subsequent abstention is no longer considered fasting. There were Rishonim who held that it is permissible, and even a mitzvah, to fast during the daytime, because Rosh Hashanah is a time for teshuva. There were holy people who fasted on Rosh Hashanah. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt"l related that his great-grandfather, the Beis HaLevi, fasted on Rosh Hashanah. Though this is not the generally accepted halacha, this opinion is not completely rejected. Mishnah Berurah (597:2) cites the Levush who writes that according to all opinions, one may extend the prayers on Rosh Hashanah past chatzos (midday), even though this is considered a form of fasting which is forbidden on Shabbos and other Yomim Tovim. In this case, since fasting is done to facilitate teshuva, it is permitted. Teshuvos V’hanhagos points out that once one eats in the morning, since not eating can no longer be considered a fast, extending the davening (with the result of not eating even after one is hungry) would not be justifiable.

Teshuvos V’hanhagos (2:274) concludes that if one will have difficulty getting through the long davening without having the morning tea or a coffee, they should drink before davening. However, if it will not be a hardship, it is better not to do so.

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