Today is Taanit Esther, the Fast of Esther
Today, Monday, March 9, is Taanit Esther.
This is a great opportunity to get closer to the Creator and raise our prayers!
((To all Jews and to all the Righteous among the Nations, today is a great opportunity for us to fast and raise our prayers to the Creator asking for the decree of the terrible Covi-19 virus to be removed))
The thirteenth of Adar is a fast day, known as the "Fast of Esther" (Taanit Esther), in commemoration of the fast carried out by Mordechai, Esther and all the Jewish People.
The enemies of Israel had planned to subjugate and destroy them on the 13th of Adar, but the reverse happened, the Jews imposed themselves on their enemies, the Jews congregated in their cities ... (Esther 9: 1-2)
Whenever the Jews gathered to fight their enemies, they held fasts asking and pleading with Hashem to grant them victory, Moshe Rabbenu also fasted before going to war with Amalek.
The reason for these fasts is to show that man does not prevail because of his physical strength or abilities, but only because he raises his eyes in supplication to the Blessed Creator! and He grants her mercy to triumph in battle.
This was the purpose of the fast observed by Israel in the time of Haman, when they congregated to defend themselves from those who wanted to destroy them, and in their memory a fast was established on this very day, for all generations to come, to always remember that Hashem accepts prayers and penance in times of tribulation, when he grieves and returns to Him with all his heart, just as happened in the time of Mordechai and Esther.
In the Megillah (the Biblical book of Esther), the acceptance of this fast on the 13th of Adar is alluded to, since the verse states:
"And how they accepted their fasts and supplications upon themselves and upon their descendants" (Esther 9:31)
This fast is called "Esther's Fast" because she was the first to require the people to fast, when she told Mordechai:
"Go and gather all the Jews of Shushan. Fast for me, do not eat or drink for 3 days, night and day, also my maids and I will fast in the same way" (Esther 4:16)
It should be noted that today the custom is not the same as that time, today the precept of this fast is from sunrise to sunrise.
(Excerpts from Sefer HaTodá)
The Garden of Breslev 🔥 wishes you a Tzom Kal (easy fast)