- - Q. See question above. Are the rest of the people present in the shul also included in the traditional fasting?
A. As we mentioned, There is a late post-Talmudic custom for a person who drops a sefer Torah to fast, usually only one day, although, some believe that this should be even a forty-day fast.
As mentioned. above, this is a widespread notion, and even people lax in other areas of Halachah, seem to be careful with. Yet there is no source in either the Babylonian or Jerusalem Talmud, the Rambam, Tur or Shulchan Aruch for fasting when a Torah falls, let alone as some maintain, fasting for forty days.
However, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg devoted twenty-five pages (Tzitz Eliezer 5:1) to exploring the development of this tradition, citing sources and providing reasons and parameters for this practice.
In regards to the Sefer Torah itself that fell, Har Tzvi (1: 40) maintains that he does not have to fast, as long as it did not fall completely, including even if the eitz chaim (wodden handles) did not touch the ground.
He suggests that some tzedaka should be donated by the one that was present there.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.”
Important Numbers
