Benyamin Rosentzweig // Raleigh-Durham, NC
Fasting is a core element of many days in Jewish practice. In total, there are six days in which fasting is practiced from sundown-sundown or sunrise-sundown. The most well-known of these days are Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av but there are also the less popular fasts of Gedaliah, Asarah B’Tevet, the fast of Esther, and Shivah Asar B’Tammuz.
The most basic reasoning behind fasting is the idea that we are mourning or are, in some other way, calling out to Hashem. An example of this is the fast of Esther, which was originally held to ask Hashem to support Esther as she pleaded to the king for the Jewish people and is now held in honor of that. To a Jew, observance of a fast day shows dedication to G-d and remorse or mourning for an event depending on the occasion.
On a higher level, fasting also relates to the introspection that is practiced every day but especially on fast days. On an average day, a person relies on the outside world to sustain them and keep them occupied; consuming food, water, and the bustling world outside. Particularly on Yom Kippur, we tune out the outside world and focus on ourselves. Our fast gives us the time to nurture our personal relationships with Hashem, using the energy stored within our bodies to keep us going. This allows us to focus on a more pure and individualistic part of ourselves, the part we focus on improving.
This combination of temporary ‘suffering’ per se and internalization allows for a greater degree of focus and clarity on our desire to improve as we mourn or prostrate ourselves before Hashem. In recent years, fasting has been used sparingly in contrast to the past when Jews would fast for many other reasons (such as bad dreams or a tragedy). When Jews come together for a fast it allows us an opportunity to improve ourselves and forge a greater bond with our community.
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