Today is Taanit Bechorot, the fast of the first-born, which commemorates the fact that Jews in Egypt were spared the tenth plague. Because this year the fast would have fallen out on Shabbat, it got moved up to Thursday. At any rate, no one really fasts. Instead, bechorot (first-born sons) attend a siyum exempting them. Just about every synagogue has one after shacharit (morning prayers).

What do you do if you are the parent of a bechor who is too young to fast? The father usually attends a siyum in his place. But I know of a woman who actually fasted on Taanit Bechorot; her husband was also a bechor, so she felt that the obligation fell on her. I don’t know why she didn’t just go to a siyum if she felt it was necessary. My husband is a bechor and I never fasted when my oldest was a baby. (And I didn’t go to a siyum either.) I know there’s not usually much to eat on the day before Pesach, but still.

As my husband was coming out of shul this morning a young woman drove up; she told him she had heard that it was possible to get “yayn bechorim” (wine of the first-born) at that synagogue. The woman explained that she was planning to drink it on Pesach, in lieu of fasting today. My husband had never heard of it. Have you?

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