Who Is a Mourner

A mourner is defined in halacha as someone mourning during the 12-month mourning period for parents or the 30-day mourning period for the other five relatives (spouse, brother, sister, son, daughter). After 30 days, one is no longer a mourner for anyone but one's parents.

Mourners' Restrictions

If the mourner goes about business as usual, it may show he or she doesn't care about the close relative who died. The mourner should ideally not want to do these things. The mourner honors the dead person by refraining from pampering him/herself and refraining from going about his or her life as usual.

Public Meals

A mourner may not attend a public meal for any purpose. For example, if the mourner attends a lecture or Torah class at which food is being served, he or she may not eat the food. This only applies to sit-down meals; snacking is permitted.

Siyum/Brit/Bar Mitzva

After 30 days after a parent's burial, a mourner may:

• Attend a siyum or bar mitzva and eat there.
• Attend a brit but not eat there.

Note If there is music (live or recorded), the mourner must leave.

Weddings

A mourner may not eat at a wedding and may not even be in the wedding hall after the ceremony took. The mourner may also not hear the music at a wedding.

Exceptions

• If the mourner is the parent of someone getting married, the mourner can fully participate in the wedding.
• If the mourner is the bride or groom, he or she must normally wait to get married until after shloshim/30 days.

Note If it is after shiva, but still during shloshim, consult a rabbi.

Kiddush and Shabbat or Festival Meals

A mourner may not publicly (noticeably) mourn on Shabbat or festivals so he or she may attend Shabbat or festival meals and kiddushes if he or she would be expected to attend. If the mourner always or routinely invites some person or a lot of different people on Shabbat or festivals, it is still permitted. If the mourner does not routinely invite some person or a lot of different people to a Shabbat or festival meal, then he or she may not, for his or her own enjoyment, invite guests for meals. However, the mourner is permitted to do so for other purposes (for the benefit of the invited person or people), such as kiruv or hachnasat orchim. There is no limit to how many guests the mourner may host.

The mourner may attend or host a sheva brachot in his/her home.

A mourner should not be invited to meals, even for Shabbat or festivals; but if he/she was invited, he/she may go.

Holidays

A mourner does eat at a Purim or Jewish festival seuda, since there is no mourning on Purim nor on any festival (except Chanuka).

Jewish Festivals: Medicines: When To Take
Medicine generally may not be used on the d'oraita Jewish festival days.

Jewish Festivals: Medicine for Chronic Diseases
You may take medicine on Jewish festivals (whether d'oraita or d'rabanan) for:

• Chronic diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, or
• Any disease that affects your entire body.

Jewish Festivals: Medicine for Non-Chronic Diseases
You may take medicine on Jewish festivals for non-chronic illnesses, if skipping one day will prevent cure.  You may not take medicine for non-chronic illnesses if skipping a day will just delay your being cured (unless the disease affects your entire body--in which case, you may take the medicine).

Jewish Festivals: Medicines: When To Take: D'Oraita Festival Days
Here are the d'oraita Jewish festivals:

• First day of Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot
• Seventh day of Passover
• Shmini Atzeret (8^th day of Sukkot)
• Yom Kippur
• Both days of Rosh Hashana (even though the second day is d'rabanan).

On these days, as well as on d'rabanan Jewish festivals, you:

• MUST take medicine whenever there is any question of a life-threatening disease or condition.
• MAY take medicine for a condition that affects the entire body (illness, weakness, etc.). Consult a rabbi if possible.
  ExceptionYou may not smear substances on skin UNLESS the illness is life-threatening, in which case even smearing is permitted.
• MAY use some medicines if only part of your body is affected by a non-life-threatening disease--consult a rabbi.

Jewish Festivals: Medicines: When To Take: D'Rabanan Festival Days
You make take medicines for any reason on d'rabanan Jewish festivals--even medicines not allowed on the first day of Jewish festivals--except:

• Medicines that you smear on skin.
• If the Jewish festival falls on Shabbat (which can only be second day of Shavuot).

To fulfill the two requirements for Jewish festival evening kiddush:

1. Make Kiddush
   Say, or hear, the three Jewish festival evening kiddush blessings/segments:
   1. Borei pri ha'gafen (if on wine or grape juice—preferred option), OR
      Ha'motzi (on two challot if you have no wine or grape juice, since no chamar medina is allowed for Jewish festival evening kiddush; see Jewish Festivals: Kiddush: Challot for Kiddush) AND
   2. Asher bachar banu mi kol am.... mekadeish Yisrael v'hazmanim, AND
   3. She'hecheyanu on all Jewish festival nights, except the last two nights of Passover.  So say she'hecheyanu on:
      • Both nights of Rosh Hashana (in or outside of Eretz Yisrael),
      • First two nights of Passover (1 night in Eretz Yisrael),
      • Both nights of Shavuot (1 night in Eretz Yisrael),
      • First two nights of Sukkot (1 night in Eretz Yisrael), and
      • Nights of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (same day in Eretz Yisrael).
      Note There is never any requirement on an indvidual to drink kiddush wine (except at the Passover seder), but the kiddush wine must be drunk by one or more persons.
      Note A woman who had said she'hecheyanu when she lit the Jewish festival candles does NOT say she'hecheyanu again if she makes kiddush for herself, even when making kiddush at the Passover seder.
      Note There is no need to eat a new fruit after saying she'hecheyanu on the second night of  Shavuot, Passover, or Sukkot. This is not comparable to Rosh Hashana, since the second festival night was instituted due to uncertainty of the actual date of the holiday, while Rosh Hashana is considered to be one single, long day.
2. Establish a halachic “meal” (kovei'a se'uda).
   For how to establish a halachic meal, see Introduction to Jewish Festival “Eating a Meal” Requirements.

Introduction to Fast Days
The purpose of Jewish fast days is to make us reflect on our behavior and improve it by:

• Eliminating negative actions and thoughts, and
• Taking more care in our observance of the commandments.

God told the Jewish people on many occasions that He did not want their pointless sacrifices or fast days but rather wanted the Jews to improve their behavior. If people fast but still have reprehensible behavior, the people have missed the point and purpose of bringing sacrifices and having fast days.
All fast days may be circumvented for health reasons. Consult a rabbi.
Fast days come in several varieties:

• Major fast days: Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av (Tish'a B'Av). 
• Minor fast days: There are four minor fast days; see below.
• Fast for First-Born
• Individual Fasts

The Major Fasts
Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av begin before sunset and are both slightly longer than 24 hours. Yom Kippur is a festive day while, on the Ninth of Av, Jews mourn for the destruction of both Jerusalem Temples (the first was destroyed by Babylonians; the second, by the Romans). On both fasts, it is forbidden to:

• Eat or drink.
• Wear leather shoes (but you may wear any other clothing made of leather).
• Bathe (or even to wash anything more than fingers; you may not use a deodorant--not even a spray type--since it is similar to washing).
• Have marital relations.
• Use cosmetics or body scents.

The Minor Fasts
The four minor fasts begin 72 minutes before local sunrise. They technically end at dark but functionally end after ma'ariv (and for the Fast of Esther, after hearing the megila). Unlike most times in the Jewish calendar, this 72 minutes is normal time and NOT based on the current length of the day (sha'a zmanit):

• Fast of Esther (Ta'anit Esther): Day preceding Purim (or sometimes earlier).
• Fast of Gedalia (Tzom Gedalia): Usually the day after Rosh Hashana.
• Tenth of Tevet (Asara b' Tevet):
• Seventeenth of Tamuz (Shiv'asar b'Tamuz): Beginning of the Three Weeks of semi-mourning beforeTish'a b'Av.

On all fast days, eating and drinking are forbidden. The Tenth of Tevet and the Seventeenth of Tamuz additionally have the same restrictions as the Nine Days. So you may wash or bathe on the Fast of Esther and on Tzom Gedalia but not on the Tenth of Tevet and the Seventeenth of Tamuz. (See Nine Days: Restrictions).
Note On a fast day that has been delayed for Shabbat, there may be leniencies for:

• The mohel, sandak, and father of a baby getting a brit mila to eat after mincha.
• Pregnant or nursing women (this leniency applies to eating throughout the day).

Fast for First Born
Fast for first-born males 13 years old and older, on the day before Passover. This includes first-born cohanim and Levites (levi'im). The fast begins 72 normal minutes before sunrise and ends with kiddush at the seder. However, the widespread custom is to attend a siyum on the day before the first seder so that the first-born men do not need to fast on that day.
 
Personal Fasts
Fast by a groom and bride on their wedding day is an example of personal fasts. This fast begins 72 normal minutes before sunrise and ends with drinking wine under the chuppa.

Categories of Batel/Nullification
Categories of nullification of non-kosher ingredients:

• Never batel.
• Batel b'shishim when the non-kosher substance is less than 1/60th of the total volume of the food.
• Batel barov when the non-kosher substance is less than 1/2 of the total volume of the food.

When Can a Non-Kosher Substance Be Nullified in a Mixture?
Whether a non-kosher substance can be nullified in a mixture depends on 3 factors:

• Whether the owner is Jewish;
• Whether the intended eaters are Jewish; and
• Whether the non-kosher substance was added intentionally as non-kosher.

If the answers to all three cases is yes, the food is never batel.

Food “Nullified in 60 Parts”:
Accidentally Adding Non-Kosher to Kosher Food 

• Less than 1/60 of the volume of the whole.
• Mixed in and not lying on the surface.
• Not intentionally added by a Jew.
• Not listed in “Foods that Never Become Nullified” (below).

Min b'Mino
Substances are only batel when they are similar (“min b'mino”). The substances must be the same type, have the same taste, and have the same appearance (the eater cannot identify them as being different).
Note In such situations, it would be batel barov from Torah (d'oraita) but batel b'shishim (1/60^th) by rabbinical order (d'rabanan).
Example A piece of non-kosher meat is mixed in with kosher meat of more than 60 times the volume of the non-kosher piece. The non-kosher meat is batel b'shishim.
Note As a practical matter, this can only apply to ground meat.
Counter Example Non-kosher chocolate syrup or a non-kosher flavored extract mixed into milk or other liquid or onto a solid would NOT be min b'mino even though both are liquids, since their appearances, flavors, and substance are different.

Too Thin To Make Non-Kosher

• Yayin Nesech
  Wine that has been offered to a pagan god or used for idolatrous purposes (yayin nesech) is forbidden in any amount!
• Mixtures of Milk and Meat
  Mixtures of milk and meat are not ever batel if they were cooked together.
  ExceptionBatel in 1/60^th if:
  • You cannot identify either substance AND
  • The mixture is liquid in liquid or solid mixed with solid.

Examples: Milk from a pig mixed with milk from a cow; ground kosher meat mixed in with ground non-kosher meat.

• Chametz

• Jew Intentionally Adding Non-Kosher Item

• Unflavored or Flavored Non-Kosher Ingredient
  
  Non-Jew Adds Unflavored Non-Kosher Ingredient
  

  Situation A non-Jew adds a non-kosher ingredient that has no flavor. 
  Status The non-kosher ingredient is nullified if less than 1/2 of the total (it does not need to be less than 1/60th--batel ba'shishim).

  
  Non-Jew Adds Flavored Non-Kosher Ingredient

  Situation A non-Jew adds a flavored non-kosher ingredient even if to impart flavor.
  Status The non-kosher ingredient is nullified in 60 parts (batel ba'shishim).
  

  Note If a Jew had told the non-Jew to add the ingredient, the mixture is non-kosher, just as if a Jew had added it. 
• Stam Yeinam Added to Water
  Situation A non-Jew adds—to water--stam yeinam (uncooked/non-mevushal) wine that has been handled while open by anyone other than a shomer-Shabbat Jew.  
  Status As long as the wine is less than 1/7th of the final volume, the mixture is kosher. 

  Note For mixtures with liquids other than water, consult a rabbi. 

• Essential Additives

• Food Bought by the Piece

• Important Food

• Permissible in Future (Davar SheYesh Lo Matirin)

• An egg laid on Shabbat will not be nullified by being mixed with eggs laid before Shabbat.
• Matza made of chadash flour will not be nullified by being mixed with matza made from yashan flour.

• Whole Insects

• Frozen or raw chopped or ground vegetables or spices may be considered kosher even without supervision.
  Reason We assume that any bugs in the food would have gotten partly chopped or disintegrated and therefore nullified.
• If a recipe calls for chopping or grinding herbs or vegetables, you may do so without first checking them for bugs.
  Note However, if you know there are bugs, you may not chop the food for the purpose of making the bugs nullified:  You must still check for insects before cooking or eating the food and if you see any bugs, you must remove them.