1. A pregnant woman and a woman who is nursing must fast on Yom
Kippur the complete fast.
2. A pregnant woman who has a craving for food [even if she
doesn't say "I want food" but her face changes] we whisper in her hear
that it is Yom Kippur. If she is put at ease with the reminder,
then good. If not, we give her food until her spirit is
calmed.
3. Anyone who smells food and his face becomes pale, he is in
danger if we don't give him some of the food so we give him some of it
to eat.
4. A woman who recently gave birth, for three days she may not
fast at all. From the third day until the seventh day, if she
says "I need to eat" we give her food to eat. From then onwards,
she is like any other person. These "days" we do not count them
from hour to hour. For example, if she gave birth on the 7th of
Tishrai in the evening we do not feed her on Yom Kippur unless she
says "I need food". Why? Even though her three days aren't filled
until the evening of Yom Kippur, once she enters the fourth day, it is
considered after three days.
Shulchan
Aruch
Chapter 618:
The Laws of a Sick Person on Yom
Kippur (10 Paragraphs)
1. With regard to a sick person who needs to eat, if there is a
Doctor who is an expert located nearby even if he is a Gentile who
states that if the person does not eat, it is possible that the illness
will worsen and place the person in danger, then we give the sick
person food to eat. It is not necessary for the expert to say
that "maybe he will die". Even if the sick person tells us not
to listen to the Doctor, we listen to the Physician. If a sick
person says that "I need to eat" even if 100 Doctors says that he does
not need food, we listen to the sick person.
2. If one Physician says that the person needs to eat, and
another one says that the person does not need to eat, we feed him.
[The same applies to two vs. two even if one set are bigger experts.]
3. If the sick person and one Doctor states that he does not need
to eat, and another Doctor says that he needs to eat, or if the sick
person says nothing and one Physician says that he must eat and two
Doctors say that he does not need food, we do not feed him.
4. Once two Physicians say that he must eat, we feed him even if
100 Doctors and the patient himself all say that he does not need
food. [The same applies if both the patient and one Physician say
that he needs food and they are at odds with 100 Doctors who say he
does not need to eat, we feed him. We do not say that the reason
the patient said he needs food was because he was listening to the
first Physician.]
5. If the sick person says that he does not need food and the
Physician is in doubt, we feed him. But if the Physician says
that he does not need food and the patient states that he is unsure, we
do not feed him.
6. If the Physician states that he does not know about this
illness, he is considered like a regular person and his word does not
matter. [However if he is sick enough that the majority of
regular people who see him think he is in danger if we don't feed him,
then we feed him.]
7. When we feed a pregnant or sick person, we feed them little by
little in order that it should not reach the minimum requirement to be
liable. Therefore, we feed them two thirds of a medium sized egg
and wait the amount of time it takes to eat 4 eggs (before giving more
food). With regard to drinking, the liable size is enough to make
a cheek full of that person.
8. We let him drink less than the minimum liable amount we just
explained and we wait between drinks the amount of time it takes to eat
4 eggs or at least until it takes to drink two "Riveot". If the
Doctor states that he needs more food than this minimum requirement, or
if the sick person tells us it is not enough (???) then we feed him or
give him to drink as much as he wants.
9. One who has the illness of "Bulmus" which is a sickness that
occurs after a wild animal bite; its sign is that one's eyes become dim
and one is unable to see, we feed him until his vision returns.
And if there is no Kosher food then we feed him non Kosher food.
If there was available two non Kosher foods but one is less of a sin
than the other one, then we give him the lesser one first. [If he
needs meat and there are either the carcass of an animal and a Kosher
animal that needs to be slaughtered, we give him the carcass]
10. A sick person who eats on Yom Kippur and he becomes well
enough so that he is able to say Grace After Meals, he must mention Yom
Kippur in the prayer when he says the passage of Ya'aleh V'yavoh before
Boneh Yerushalayim.
________________________________________________________
Translated by Dr. Jay Dinovitser
6/2/2009
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