Question:
My roommate (a woman) fasted on Taanis Esther. She told me that at some point she ate a banana and drank a coffee because she “really wasn’t feeling good”, and then went on to ‘keep fasting’ for the rest of the fast. I’ve never heard of this concept, I knew that once a fast is broken, it’s broken. Of course I believe one who doesn’t feel well (on ‘minor’ fasts) should break their fast and eat, but is it considered as if she kept fasting after eating?
She compared it to Shabbos, that even if someone does one melacha that doesn’t mean he can keep breaking Shabbos.
Any clarity on this would be appreciated.
Answer:
She is right. The Shulchan Aruch says it in O:CH 568-1, if someone ate in the middle of a fast, he should still fast the rest of the day. The Mishna Berura (3) even says that on a taanis tzibbur he can still say aneinu, because it is a fast day for klal yisroel.
