Shiva Asar B’Tammuz - Medication

QUESTION: If someone needs to swallow a pill on a fast day and cannot do so without drinking some water, does he make a beracha on the water?

ANSWER: Shevet HaLevi (10:83) writes that a beracha is not said. He explains that regarding water the halacha is that one only recites a beracha on water if one does so because they are thirsty (see Shulchan Aruch OC 204:7). If one is not thirsty but drinks water to help clear his throat, or similarly to swallow a pill, a beracha is not said. Even though on Tisha B’Av, one is certainly thirsty, still since the reason he is drinking the water is only to be able to swallow the pill, and his intention is not to quench his thirst, a beracha is not said.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.