Question:
Dear Rabbi,
is this common for women?
If so, is it Thursday? Thursday night? Friday?
It is a hallowed tradition observed by some to fast on Erev Shabbos Parshas Chukas to commemorate the twenty-four wagons filled with volumes of Talmud and other Torah works that were burned in France on that day in the year 1242. Tradition connects this event to the words of the Targum Onkelos that open this parsha – ‘da gezeiras oraysa’ – which may be translated as “this destroys the Torah.” This Friday, while some of us fast, let all of us join together in our communities, in our shuls and batei medrash, in our schools, camps, and vacation places, to awaken Divine mercy by publicly reciting Tehillim 13, 79, 80, 121, 130 and 142, and by expressing our love, care, and appreciation for each other, for those serving in government, for the hostages and their families, for the soldiers of Tzahal who are fighting to protect us, for the Gedolei Yisrael, and for all those supporting and engaging in the Torah study and practice vital to our present and future.
Answer:
Hello,
It is not for women, and those who do fast, it is on Friday.
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