Soldiers in Gaza exempted from Tisha B’Av fast

Israeli soldiers fighting on the front are exempt from fasting on Tisha B’Av, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate rules.

Starting Monday night, observant Jews will fast for 25 hours to mourn the destruction of both the first and the second temples in Jerusalem and other calamities that befell the Jewish people throughout the ages.

Tisha B’Av is considered one of the strictest fast days in the Jewish calendar, on which it is also forbidden to wear leather shoes. wash and anoint oneself.

But according to the religious ruling, signed by both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis, David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef, respectively, “IDF soldiers who are standing on the frontline and give their lives for the sake of the people of Israel and the Land of Israel” do not have to observe any of the laws of mourning pertaining to the day.

— Raphael Ahren