Fast of the Firstborn · Ta'anit Bechorot

Culture of origin: Jewish · Cultural

Holiday sources: Israel · Judaism

Ta'anit Bechorot is kept by firstborn sons on 14 Nisan, the day before Passover, in thanks for the sparing of the Israelites' firstborn when the tenth plague struck Egypt. The fast is usually broken at a siyum, a meal celebrating the completion of a tractate of the Talmud, so many firstborn do not fast in the end. When Passover begins on a Sunday, the fast is brought forward to Thursday, 12 Nisan, by Ashkenazi practice; many Sephardim then do not keep it.