Rabbi, I want to make sure I understand your position practically, not only theoretically.
According to your explanation of Rosh Hashanah 18b, today qualifies as a time of “shalom,” and therefore the minor fasts should no longer have the status they had during the period of “neither shalom nor shemad.”
So practically, if I am a healthy adult and a minor fast is coming, are you saying that I should actually eat and drink and not fast?
Or, despite your understanding that today is “shalom,” should an individual still fast because Klal Yisrael accepted these fasts as a binding minhag and the general community continues to observe them?
If your psak is that one should not fast, I also wanted to clarify:
1. Does this apply equally to Tzom Gedaliah, 10 Tevet, and 17 Tammuz?
2. Does it apply to someone living in chutz la’aretz as well as someone living in Eretz Yisrael?
3. If someone has fasted these fasts his entire life, does he need hatarat nedarim before stopping?
4. Should he still say Selichot or Aneinu if he is not fasting?
5. When Zechariah says these days become “sason v’simcha,” do you hold that they should actually be treated as days of joy in some practical way, or simply that there is no longer an obligation to fast?
I am mainly trying to understand the bottom-line halacha: according to your view, what should a regular healthy Jew actually do on any minor fast?