The word Taanit means a day of fasting. In the Jewish yearly cycle there are a number of fasts that we observe to commemorate signifcant and sometimes sad events in Jewish history.

The following is a list of the major fasts that we observe:
1. Yom Kippur: also known as the Day of Atonement is a fast day and is considered to be
one of the holiest days in the Jewish calender.
2. Tish'ah B'av: is a fast day that marks the destruction of the first and second Beit
Hamikdash.
3. Tzom Gedalia: is a fast day to remember the assassination of Gedalia, a governor in
Israel, ending Jewish rule in Israel after the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash.
4. Asarah B'Tevet: is a fast day to commemorate the siege on Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar, an event which eventually led to the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash.
5. Taanit Esther: is a fast day to remember the three-day fast observed by the Jewish
people in the story of Purim.
6. Shivaa Asar BeTamuz: is a fast day to commemorate the breaching of the walls of
Jerusalem before the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.

On all of these fasts we have read from the Torah in Shahrit and minha prayers. For Yom kippur please see the webpage on Yom Kippur. For the rest of the fast days see table below.