Editing Jewish holidays (section)

===Other fasts===
{{Main article|Ta'anit}}
Several other fast days of ancient or medieval origin continue to be observed to some degree in modern times. Such continued observance is usually by Orthodox Jews only, and is not universal today even among Orthodox Jews.<ref group=Note>Private fasts are beyond the scope of this article.</ref>

* Fasts for droughts and other public troubles. Much of the Talmudic tractate [[Ta'anit (tractate)|''Ta'anit'']] is devoted to the proclamation and execution of public fasts. The most detailed description refers to fasts in times of [[drought]] in the Land of Israel.<ref>See especially Mishnah Ta'anit 1:4–2:6 and the Gemara on it.</ref> Apparently these fasts included a ''[[Ne'ilah]]'' (closing) prayer, a prayer now reserved for recitation on Yom Kippur only.<ref>Mishnah Ta'anit 4:1</ref>
:While the specific fasts described in the Mishnah fell into disuse once Jews were exiled from the land of Israel, various Jewish communities have declared fasts over the years, using these as a model. Two examples include a fast among Polish Jews commemorating the massacre of Jews during the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising#Jews|Khmelnytsky Uprising]] and one among Russian Jews during anti-Jewish [[pogrom#19th century|pogroms of the 1880s]].<ref>{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Fasting and Fast Days|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6033-fasting-and-fast-days}}</ref><ref name=weinfast>{{cite web|last=Wein |first=Rabbi Berel |title=Days of Fasting |url=http://www.torah.org/features/holydays/daysoffasting.html |work=torah.org |publisher=Project Genesis |access-date=July 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509081738/http://torah.org/features/holydays/daysoffasting.html |archive-date=May 9, 2013 }}</ref> 
:Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel]] has urged fasting in times of drought.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mandel|first=Jonah|title=Chief rabbis call for day of fasting, prayers for rain|url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Chief-rabbis-call-for-day-of-fasting-prayers-for-rain|access-date=July 14, 2013|newspaper=Jerusalem Post|date=November 16, 2010}}</ref> 
* ''[[Fast of Behav]]'' (בה"ב). The fasts of ''bet-hey-bet''—Monday-Thursday-Monday—were established as a vehicle for atonement from possible excesses during the extended holiday periods of Passover and Sukkot. They are proclaimed on the first Shabbat of the month of Iyar following Passover, and at some point in Marcheshvan following Sukkot. Based on the model of Mishnah ''Ta'anit'', they are then observed on the Monday, Thursday and Monday following the Shabbat on which they are announced.
* ''[[Yom Kippur Katan]]'' ("little Yom Kippur"). These fasts originated in the sixteenth-century [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] community of [[Safed]]. They are conceptually linked to the sin-offerings that were brought to the Temple in Jerusalem on each [[#Rosh Chodesh—The New Month|Rosh Chodesh]].<ref>{{bibleref|Numbers|28:15|HE}}</ref> These fasts are observed on the day before Rosh Chodesh in most months, and usually observed on the previous Thursday if Rosh Chodesh is on Shabbat or Sunday.<ref>{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Yom Kippur Katan|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=74&letter=Y}}</ref>