by Sharon Weiss-Greenberg
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
Two years ago, before Yom Kippur, Maharat Rachel Kohl Finegold, who has spoken on this issue in the past, published “Pregnant and Nursing Women Fasting on Yom Kippur-Reflections” on Morethodoxy.
This piece followed her shiur, “Fasting for Two: Who Makes the Call?” which was published JOFA’s Torch blog before Tisha B’Av. Her shiur spurred a great discussion on my personal Facebook wall. Women shared stories of reluctantly fasting, nervous of the effect that it would have on their unborn children or their nursing supply. I recall one woman in particular giving an hourly update of the wails of her nursing child. She had decided that since her child was almost 1-year-old, and eating supplementary food, that she would fast. For whatever reason, her child was refusing solid food on that particular day. The mother had made her decision before the fast, and despite the change in circumstances, would not revisit her decision. It was painful to read her account on that day.
Read more at http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-yom-kippur-diet-mom-edition/
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Sharon Weiss-Greenberg is the Director of Development at ELI Talks. She is the former Executive Director of JOFA. She was recently named by the Jewish Forward as a "Forward 50" Jew of influence and by the Jewish Week as a person to watch as a "36 Under 36" honoree. Sharon has served as the Rosh Moshava (Head of Camp) at Camp Stone, as the co-director of the Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Harvard Hillel and as the first Orthodox woman chaplain at Harvard University. She has taught at Yeshiva University High School for Girls, Yavneh Academy in New Jersey, and the Denver Academy of Torah High School. Sharon earned her doctorate at NYU. She is an alumna of the Wexner Fellow/Davidson Scholarship graduate program, and ROI Community Member. She studied at The Drisha Institute for Jewish Education and received her B.A. and M.A. from Yeshiva University.