The Nine Days - Seuda Hamafsekes

QUESTION: If someone is ill and will not be fasting on Tisha B’Av, does he still have a mitzvah to eat the “seuda ha’mafsekes” (final meal before the fast) on erev Tisha B’Av?

ANSWER: The Shevet Halevi (10:83) writes that it would seem to him that even someone who will not be fasting is obligated to eat the seuda ha’mafsekes. He explains that aside from fasting, there are other observances of mourning on Tisha B’Av, such as refraining from washing, not wearing shoes, and sitting on the floor. Being ill does not absolve one of the obligation to mourn the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash; it only permits him to eat. Rav Bentzion Abba Shaul zt”l (Ohr L’Tzion 3:28:2 – Ha’aros) adds that since the seuda ha’mafsekes is eaten in a manner of mourning to commemorate the destruction and even one who is ill is able to observe its halachos (e.g., bread and egg dipped in ash, eaten alone, sitting on the floor, not eating two cooked foods etc.), it is a separate obligation (independent of fasting) and therefore he must participate.

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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.