Q&A: Concern About Dehydration on Yom Kippur
Concern About Dehydration on Yom Kippur
Question
Hello Rabbi, and happy New Year,
In the last few days I’ve had several anxiety attacks, some of which lasted more than a day. During such an attack the body loses a lot of fluids because there is heavy sweating and diarrhea. I wanted to ask regarding Yom Kippur: would it be permitted to drink less than the minimum halakhic measure in order to avoid a concern of dehydration? And in addition, is it permitted to take a pill with water made unpalatable by adding salt?
Answer
It’s hard for me to answer. You need to ask a doctor what he thinks (preferably a religious one). That is what determines it. If the doctor says you need to drink, then you should ask him whether drinking less than the minimum halakhic measure would also be sufficient. If so, that is preferable. If not, then you should drink normally. Of course, do not take any risk. But mere discomfort does not permit it.
As for the pill, if you can take it without water, that is preferable. If not, and the pill is very medically necessary, then it is certainly advisable to make the water unpalatable. The halakhic decisors wrote that a slight adulteration is enough (a little soap), so that the bad taste and bitterness are noticeable. There is no need to get to the point where you would vomit from it. Dissolving the pill itself, if it has a bitter taste (try it before the fast), may also be enough to make the water sufficiently unpalatable.
If you can lie down at home and not go to the synagogue, and that will save the fast for you (and it is written in Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchatah in the name of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and the Hatam Sofer that this is preferable even if it would prevent the need to drink less than the minimum halakhic measure), that is preferable.