Break fast

A break-fast is the meal eaten after Jewish fast days such as Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av. During a Jewish fast, no food or drink is consumed, including bread and water. The major fasts last over 25 hours, from before sundown on the previous night until after sundown on the day of the fast. Four other shorter fasts during the year begin at dawn and end after sunset.

Occurrence

A break-fast follows each of the major Jewish fast days of Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, as well as the four minor fast days of Fast of Gedalia, Fast of Esther, Tenth of Tevet, and Seventeenth of Tammuz.

Description

To break the fast, it is customary to eat a light meal consisting of salads and dairy foods. Heavy food on an empty stomach is usually avoided. Sometimes the fast is broken with tea and cake before eating a full meal. A drink of milk or juice before the post-fast meal helps the body to readjust and diminishes the urge to eat too much or too rapidly.

Customs for the first food eaten after the Yom Kippur fast differ. Iranian Jews often eat a mixture of shredded apples mixed with rose water called "faloodeh seeb." Polish and Russian Jews will have tea and cake. Syrian and Iraqi Jews eat round sesame crackers that look like mini-bagels. Turkish and Greek Jews sip a sweet drink made from melon seeds. Some people start with herring to replace the salt lost during fasting. North African Jews prepare butter cookies known as rhuraieba ("ribo" among Moroccan Jews) for the meal after the Yom Kippur fast.