Ta'anit chalom
A fast after a deeply disturbing dream.
A ta'anit chalom is a fast after a dream that was deeply disturbing. According to the Talmud such a fast may even be kept on the Sabbath, so seriously was it taken, although another fast must then follow later because the joy of the Sabbath was interrupted.
Few people keep a ta'anit chalom today, and rabbis usually advise it only in cases of great unrest. The custom shows how the tradition dealt with fear: not by talking it away, but by giving it a form.
Related terms
- Talmud The great rabbinic work of law, interpretation and discussion, after the Hebrew Bible the most important Jewish text.
- Hatavat chalom The Jewish custom of turning a bad dream for the good, together with three people.
- Kaddish The Jewish prayer mourners say in memory of the deceased.
- Yahrzeit The yearly anniversary of a death, marked with a candle and the Kaddish.
- Teshuvah Return or repentance: acknowledging what you did wrong and taking up the good again.
- Mikveh The Jewish ritual bath, for purification and transitions.
- Ayin hara The evil eye: the harmful gaze of envy, against which Jewish folk tradition seeks protection.