there was this whole thing today about not drinking water between 2pm and 3pm today. It is discussed in the Shulchan Aruch and, for whatever reason, is considered dangerous - even possibly fatal. The Rama says this is the minhag, but only with water while other drinks are ok (I'm not sure if "other drinks" include water-based drinks that are normally considered water in halacha, such as soda pop, some juices, etc).

In the past few hundred years, at least, this minhag has fallen by the wayside, at least among Ashkenazim. Many poskim have written that the minhag is no longer kept.

The reasons for this minhag are unclear.

I do not want to scoff at a minhag, but I really do not appreciate the dredging up of an old minhag that is no longer followed. It is brought up and presented in a way that is meant to scare people into following it. Again, this is a minhag that has not been kept, at least among Ashkenazim, for hundreds of years already. If somebody privately wanted to keep this ancient minhag, that would be his personal decision, but turning it into a social movement by scaring everyone with the possibility of a fatal result is what I do not like.

The Rabbinate of Modiin even issued a letter stating to not drink water during the affected period..



I look at the dredging up of an old and no longer relevant minhag like this to be similar to the anti-vax movement.

If this was a minhag that was commonly kept, that would be one thing. It would be worth keeping, even though it does not make sense. Dredging up some ancient minhag that has not been widely kept in hundreds of years, and scaring people into it, is ridiculous.