On which days must communal fasts be scheduled, according to halacha 5?
Halacha 5 specifies the sequence Monday–Thursday–Monday, chosen because Mondays and Thursdays carry special spiritual significance and this pattern separates fasts from each other and from the Sabbath.
Question 2
According to halacha 8, what happens if a person falls asleep on the night before a permitted-eating fast?
Halacha 8 rules that while one may eat until dawn on a permitted-eating fast night, sleeping — meaning a sound sleep — constitutes a cutoff: upon waking, even before dawn, eating is forbidden.
Question 3
Under what unique circumstance may an individual fast on Shabbat without having accepted the fast the previous afternoon (halacha 12)?
Halacha 12 carves out a single exception to the acceptance rule: a disturbing dream obligates a person to fast the very next day — even Shabbat — without prior acceptance, because the positive effect of the fast is most potent immediately after the dream.
Question 4
According to halacha 16, if a community fasting for rain sees rain fall before noon, what must they do?
Halacha 16 rules that rain before noon is a Divine answer requiring a full stop: the community eats, drinks, and recites the Great Hallel — specifically Psalm 136 — because this psalm of ultimate praise requires a satisfied spirit and a full belly.
Question 5
According to halacha 13, what is required to make an 'hourly fast' halachically valid?
Halacha 13 validates an hourly fast when a person — who may have already eaten earlier that day — makes a same-day commitment to refrain from eating for the remaining hours of daylight before those hours of fasting begin, entitling him to recite Anenu in the afternoon service.